TexasCHLforum.com

pushpullpete wrote:ELB, why publicize the info at all. I realize that will deter most who mean to do harm, ...

(emphasis added by ELB)

That is in fact a very good reason to publish it right there! Any security policy that deters most of those who would contemplate harm is a very good one indeed. Why would we not implement something that deters most just because it might provoke a few?.

Firstly, keeping who is individually armed and where they stash their arms is a good idea so those individuals can't be targeted in advance, whether at school or on the street. But completely hiding the fact that they exist lets the school continue to be identified -- publicly identified -- as a gun-free-zone with particularly vulnerable and valuable targets, -- that is what encourages some hooplehead to "make a statement". We have discussed the failure of GFZs at length on this forum, why would we keep one of our most valuable entities a GFZ?

Secondly, it is a moot point. All the schools identify themselves as having armed staff anyway. Public schools have a public process they have to go through (if not by law then by public opinion) to arm their staff anyway, so it's not a secret. Every link I put in that other thread I mentioned is to a newspaper article or a school policy on a public website. Some, like the school b4aftr mentioned, put signs up! They want people to know. Why not discuss it here?

Thirdly, publication serves a public interest by getting the public used to the idea, advertising for the cause, in a much more positive way than say, oh, crowding a representative's office and calling him names. The fact that many schools are doing it takes the stigma away, it starts shifting the question from "I'd never let my school do that" to "hmm, I wonder if we should consider it" to finally "Why are we NOT doing it?" This will emanate into the community in general, and help weaken anti-2A opposition in general. Most people are not really too independent in their thinking, they will only start reconsidering when they see significant portions of the herd turning a new direction (see gun rights over the past 30 years). Normalizing a policy that the majority has in the past thought out of bounds is a skill the Left mastered long ago, it is something we should learn.

I would not publsize the fact. All schools should be armed. Make the perp guess. That's why I carry concealed and will not be OCing.

ELB, I have in my life done some foolish things but I do not consider myself stupid, you bring up several valid points that I agree with and had not considered. Thank you, sir. Hopefully I will never be too old to learn.

pushpullpete wrote:ELB, I have in my life done some foolish things but I do not consider myself stupid, you bring up several valid points that I agree with and had not considered. Thank you, sir. Hopefully I will never be too old to learn.

Ok I hope you don't think I thought you stupid, that was not the case at all! Thank you for your thoughtful reply.

ELB, no I do not think that. At 60 years old, thin skinned is not really an option . What I said/say is what I think and/or feel, kinda what you see is what you get type of guy. Some times I get a little ahead of myself.

pushpullpete wrote:ELB, no I do not think that. At 60 years old, thin skinned is not really an option . What I said/say is what I think and/or feel, kinda what you see is what you get type of guy. Some times I get a little ahead of myself.

In the mean time, I did some reading around and discovered that earlier this year, KXAN asked TCOLE and DPS for a list of districts that have implemented a School Marshal program. TCOLE refused to provide the names. KXAN took it to the Texas AG who told TCOLE they had to provide the names of the districts. I don't know if KXAN ever got it, I haven't found anything by googling around, but they may not have gotten it because in the mean time the legislature passed a law requiring (as I understood it after a quick read) TCOLE to not release that information, but the law does require a school district to tell a parent or guardian (but only a parent or guardian) whether or not the school has a School Marshal -- if the parent asks (and apparently they tell ONLY the parent that asked). I had no idea there was any legislation affecting School Marshals, but turns out there was more than one bill and it all flew completely under my radar.

I think that law was a poor piece of work. For one, for reasons I stated above I don't think know which districts have a School Marshal program presents any kind of problem, and two, limiting the information only to parents or guardians that ask is also wrong, public schools are just that, public, everyone pays for and is responsible for them.

The bill I referenced above: SB 996 Relating to notifying a parent or guardian whether an employee of a school is appointed school marshal and the confidentiality of information submitted to or collected by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement in connection with a certification for appointment as school marshal.

From the Analysis

S.B. 996 provides that all information collected by TCOLE in regard to its administration of the school marshal program shall be kept confidential. This change would allow the agency to classify as confidential any information regarding an individual school marshal, or information regarding those school districts and campuses with an active school marshal. The bill further requires that a school disclose, in writing, if any employee is a school marshal if asked, in writing, by a parent or guardian of a student enrolled at the school.

...

(h) Requires the school district or open-enrollment charter school to provide the parent or guardian written notice indicating whether any employee of the school is currently appointed a school marshal if a parent or guardian of a student enrolled at a school inquires in writing. Prohibits the notice from disclosing information that is confidential under Subsection (g) (providing that the identity of a school marshal appointed under this section is confidential, except as provided by Section 1701.260(j), Occupations Code, and is not subject to a request under Chapter 552, Government Code).

ELB wrote:The bill I referenced above: SB 996 Relating to notifying a parent or guardian whether an employee of a school is appointed school marshal and the confidentiality of information submitted to or collected by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement in connection with a certification for appointment as school marshal.

From the Analysis

S.B. 996 provides that all information collected by TCOLE in regard to its administration of the school marshal program shall be kept confidential. This change would allow the agency to classify as confidential any information regarding an individual school marshal, or information regarding those school districts and campuses with an active school marshal. The bill further requires that a school disclose, in writing, if any employee is a school marshal if asked, in writing, by a parent or guardian of a student enrolled at the school.

...

(h) Requires the school district or open-enrollment charter school to provide the parent or guardian written notice indicating whether any employee of the school is currently appointed a school marshal if a parent or guardian of a student enrolled at a school inquires in writing. Prohibits the notice from disclosing information that is confidential under Subsection (g) (providing that the identity of a school marshal appointed under this section is confidential, except as provided by Section 1701.260(j), Occupations Code, and is not subject to a request under Chapter 552, Government Code).

haha Dang it man, now I have to get out my reading glasses.

I'M all for it. The more our public schools get like Israel's the safer the kids will be.

Middle Age Russ wrote:My Heavens!! They've set up an ARSENAL of ASSAULT WEAPONS and trained a small MILITIA for a small rural school!! Who in their right mind would endanger the kids with the presence of all these instruments of death and destruction??

These people may be associated with a known terror group. Al-ge-Bra!

OneGun wrote:

Middle Age Russ wrote:My Heavens!! They've set up an ARSENAL of ASSAULT WEAPONS and trained a small MILITIA for a small rural school!! Who in their right mind would endanger the kids with the presence of all these instruments of death and destruction??

These people may be associated with a known terror group. Al-ge-Bra!

SWMBO liked it too!