Republican leaders in Texas have rebuffed the idea of gun reform in the wake of the school shooting there last week. Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan…
Republican leaders in Texas have rebuffed the idea of gun reform in the wake of the school shooting there last week.
Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has an idea to stop school shootings, and fire safety experts aren’t very happy with it.
“We may have to look at the design of our schools moving forward and retrofitting schools that are already built. There are too many entrances and too many exits,” Patrick said.
Many had called for stricter gun reform measures after the second mass shooting in a high school within the last three months, but Republican leaders in Texas have rebuffed these suggestions. Texas Governor Greg Abbott instead suggested taking “action” to prevent school shootings, but would not say exactly what he had planned.
Dan Patrick said schools could look into the possibility of limiting the entrances and exits and placing an armed guard at each of these doors. The suggestion was met with widespread ridicule, especially among fire safety experts who noted that limiting the number of exits in the case of an emergency would be a recipe for disaster.
Left-leaning organizations and news outlets seized on Patrick’s remarks, which also mentioned abortion as a cause of school shootings and suggested that teachers carry guns.
Texas GOP Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick actually tried to blame abortion for the shooting at Santa Fe High School https://t.co/UyO7Pdn006
— Shareblue Media (@Shareblue) May 20,2018
Despite Dan Patrick’s suggestion that schools need fewer doors, gun reform advocates have continued their push to implement measures like universal background checks and a nationwide minimum age to purchase firearms, especially on semi-automatic weapons. The student accused of carrying out the school shooting in Texas allegedly used a shotgun and a.38 revolver, both of which he had taken from his father. Both guns were purchased legally.
