Texas Bill Pays $25,000 to Teachers Who Carry Guns for Classroom Defense

The Texas House passed a bill last week that would pay an extra $25,000 to K-12 teachers who get training and carry a gun during school hours for classroom defense.

K-12 Dive noted the bill, House Bill 13, would arm teachers under the state’s “School Sentinel” program, while also requiring the teachers to get training on “mental health first aid” and trauma-level medical preparation.

HB 13 passed the Texas House last week by a vote of 125-21.

The New York Post reported Texas has had the “School Sentinel” program for about 11 years, and it allows teachers to voluntarily take part in being armed for classroom defense. Those that volunteer to do so are referred to as “guardians.”

Until now,  “fewer than 400 teachers have signed up to be guardians.” The goal with HB 13 is to reward teachers who volunteer to be armed for school safety.

State Rep. James Talarico (D) criticized HB 13, saying, “Even teachers who don’t want to carry guns may feel like they are financially pressured to do so just so they can provide for their families.”

On December 13, 2018, Breitbart News observed the commission that investigated Florida’s February 14, 2018, Parkland high school shooting voted 13-1 to in favor of arming teachers.

The news of the commission’s vote came just under a month after Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, head of the Parkland investigatory commission and a one-time opponent of arming teachers, admitted that studying the attack on the school had forced him to change his stance on arming teachers.

On November 21, 2018, Breitbart News reported Gualtieri saying, “People need to keep an open mind to it as the reality is that if someone else in that school had a gun it could have saved kids’ lives.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. AWR Hawkins holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.