States with school marshal programs typically did so with the understanding that those who have completed the required training can have a gun on hand should a school shooting take place. The term “school marshal” is clearly a play on the “air marshals” that became so well-known following 9/11.

It’s a solid idea, after all. Make sure good people with guns are on hand to deal with bad people with guns. Throwing a stapler won’t stop the next Parkland, but 124 grains of jacketed hollow point just might.

However, Texas had a bit of a flaw in its system. It seemed that school marshals were required to lock their guns up. That introduced a lot of failure points into a system designed to keep kids safe, up to an including making it easier to identify who the marshals are.

Now,  the Texas Senate has fixed that flaw.

After a brief debate, the Texas Senate approved a bill Wednesday that would allow local school boards to let their marshals carry their concealed guns on campuses.

The legislation — Senate Bill 406 by Republican state Sen. Brian Birdwell of Granbury — would eliminate the mandate that trained school marshals, whose identities are kept secret from all but a few local officials, keep their firearms under lock and key.

More specifically, it would give the board of trustees or the governing body of public schools, open-enrollment charter schools, private schools and junior colleges the discretion to decide whether their marshals carry their weapons on their person or in a locked and secured safe.

The measure passed 28-3, with Democratic state Sens. José Menéndez of San Antonio, José Rodríguez of El Paso and Kirk Watson of Austin voting against it. The bill can now be sent to the Texas House for debate.

Unsurprisingly, anti-gunners oppose the move just as they oppose anything else that doesn’t lead us toward disarmament.

Gun control advocates, meanwhile, criticized the passage of the bill. In a statement, the Texas chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, said SB 406 “would make school a much more dangerous place for our children.”

“It’s baffling that lawmakers are trying to strip gun storage standards in our schools,” wrote Hilary Whitfield, volunteer leader with the Texas chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. “That is a recipe for disaster.”

Now, let’s note that Texas school marshals have to undergo 80 hours of training as part of the program. That’s not all that much less than law enforcement officers undergo, and police deal with a whole lot more variety in the potential situations they may face. In other words, school marshals are pretty highly trained.

Yet the Moms crowd still is freaking out?

Of course, they are. The truth is that contrary to what they may claim, they loathe anything to do with the Second Amendment. They want it dead and buried, and anything that represents an expansion of gun rights in any way, shape, or form can’t be tolerated.

Nevermind that a locked-up gun is a useless gun.

Hell, it’s almost like they want there to be slaughter inside of American schools. I mean, they do see a nice boost in donations after that happens, plus the public backs them far more than in times of relative quiet on that front. Was I more tin-foil hat inclined, I’d think they actively hoped for mass shootings.

They wouldn’t do that, now would they?

Anyway, good on the Texas Senate. Here’s hoping the House jumps up on this one quickly and makes Texas schools safer for everyone.