There are millions of Americans who are trained and proficient in the use of firearms.
Among those are veterans of the U.S. military.
One senator is eyeing this demographic for purposes of security in the nation’s schools.
Sen. Lindsey Graham is proposing a new program to utilize veterans as school security officers, a plan he intends to codify with legislation in the Senate.
We have hundreds of thousands of well-trained former military members who could bring a lot to the table in terms of school security.
ROTC instructors with firearms training should be allowed to possess weapons to enhance school security.
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— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) June 3, 2022
This won’t be as simple as funneling the veterans into schools with a gun and telling them it’s their job to take down the next school shooter.
The veterans will receive standardized training.
I will be working to create a certification process that allows former military members to go through school security training and become available to school districts throughout the country.
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— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) June 3, 2022
Every branch of the military requires elementary instruction with firearms in initial training.
It’s likely the new training will teach protocols on how to respond to a school shooting.
Authorities hesitated to immediately confront the gunman in the Robb Elementary School massacre in Uvalde.
An on-scene commander treated the situation as a siege, rather than an active shooting with lives imminently at risk.
The killer was only neutralized when Border Patrol and ICE officers disregarded commands from the local police and breached the school, fatally shooting Salvador Ramos.
Initial accounts of the Uvalde shooting suggested that the gunman was confronted by an on-scene officer, but subsequent reports confirmed that entered the school unobstructed by security.
It’s possible that Graham’s idea would assign a trained veteran to schools on a permanent basis, rather than waiting for the police to arrive.
Graham is also proposing federal measures to require schools to be hardened.
Schools should be treated like courthouses, banks, capital buildings, etc when it comes to security.
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— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) June 3, 2022
The South Carolina Republican hadn’t introduced legislation on the school security plan as of Friday evening.
