Hall, a Republican from Edgewood, filed a similar bill during the last legislative session. It essentially takes a years-old Texas law that allowed licensed gun owners to carry concealed handguns on college and university campuses and applies it to all public and open-enrollment charter schools across the state.
At the time, he told ABC it was the next logical progression in the state’s campus carry laws to avoid making schools easy targets. "Schools, known as a gun-free zone, might as well hang a neon sign saying, 'If you want to harm kids, come in here,'" Hall told ABC in 2021. "The more people there are who can protect, the safer our society is."
Now, he’s back with virtually the same bill.
“Senate Bill 354, Campus Carry, would simply allow law-abiding citizens with a license-to-carry in schools in the places that are currently banned, such as inside school buildings, or on grounds or buildings where school-sponsored activities are happening,” Hall said in a press release on Thursday. “This would be a critical measure that bans gun-free zones on school grounds that act as magnets towards those who wish violence against our children and educators.”
Under the bill, school districts would also be unable to adopt rules prohibiting licensed teachers from keeping guns in their cars on school property.
Texas has allowed school districts to have certain faculty members carry guns on the premises since 2007 as part of something called the guardian plan. Similarly, the school marshal program created by the state in 2013 allows school districts to choose employees who are licensed to carry a gun to volunteer as school protectors. The program was in response to the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. For about the last decade, these have been the only two options for schools to arm staff members."Having guns in schools is dangerous." – Casey Boland, Richardson ISD teacher
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Law-abiding, sane Texans aren't generally required to obtain a state license to carry a gun in public, but those with licenses can bring guns into locations that otherwise are allowed to restrict them.
Rena Honea, president of Dallas education employees union Alliance-AFT, told the Observer last month that 77% of those polled in that organization were not comfortable being armed in the classroom. “Teachers cannot be expected to become highly trained law enforcement officers and use guns in a crisis without endangering students or themselves,” Honea said.
The marshal program requires applicants to take 80 hours of training and undergo a psychological exam if they want to carry on campus. Of 1,200 school districts across the state, 84 take part in the marshal program, according to The Texas Tribune. Some 280 others have opted in for the less strict guardian plan, in which training is determined by local school boards. Just last month, the Keller Independent School District voted to implement the guardian plan at its school.
If passed, Hall's SB 354 would take effect. Sept. 1. But adding more guns to the equation is something other North Texas school districts have been reluctant to do.
To Casey Boland, a Richardson ISD teacher, arming school teachers and employees doesn't make them any safer. "Having guns in schools is dangerous," Boland said. "Theft, negligence, etc., is too likely, and, unless a teacher also has combat military or SWAT experience, they are not qualified to use a weapon in an active shooter situation. I'm more than a little leery of those who think a concealed carry license equates to that level of experience."
Boland isn't sure that people outside of a school fully grasp what a law like this could mean on campus in real life should the an active shooter scenario occur.
"I'm not questioning the good intention of the sponsor of the bill," she said. "But I do question his understanding of what it is like in a school or classroom, because even most teenagers think this is a really bad idea. I've been asking them all afternoon."
