Not everyone is comfortable with the idea of armed teachers. I am, and I'm not a particular fan of educators as a whole, though I know some who are fantastic. Others are...troubling.
Still, for those who don't want teachers carrying guns, armed security should be at least a middle ground, right? Especially since most of these are often sworn law enforcement officers, not rent-a-cops.
But things happen. People are human. Mistakes get made.
And one Texas guard is out of work now because of his.
In yet another incident that has sparked concerns about firearm safety in educational settings, a private security officer employed at Bowen Elementary School in the Bryan Independent School District (BISD) was terminated earlier this month for leaving a gun unattended in a staff restroom.
Although the incident posed no immediate threat to students or staff, it highlights ongoing challenges in managing armed security officers on school campuses.
School Security Officer Dismissal Details
The situation unfolded when the private security officer, contracted through TNT Security Solutions, left a gun unattended in the restroom, reports KBTX. A vigilant staff member discovered the firearm and promptly reported it, ensuring that no students came into contact with the weapon. The school district acted swiftly by terminating the officer’s employment, as confirmed by a BISD spokesperson.
BISD communicated the incident to parents via a voice message, acknowledging the potential concerns such events might cause for families.
Campus Safety, where this came from, says there have been "several" incidents, and implies that this is some significant problem.
The thing is, there are somewhere around 23,000 school resource officers in the United States. There may be some armed private security; yet most of them are police officers assigned to duty in public schools.
So, with tens of thousands of armed officers in schools, I don't think I can get that worked up over "several" incidents. We'd need at least dozens per year before it would look statistically significant, after all. This is a blip in the radar that makes headlines because it's scary, sure, but also because it's rare.
Luckily, no one is saying to remove officers from schools over this. (Yet.)
Instead, the expert they cited recommended strict disciplinary action, as well as practical efforts such as making sure guns are securely holstered and that, if removed, are placed somewhere they're in plain sight. I'm not sure how the last one would work in a public school, since kids will wreck anything they can, especially if they don't need it personally, but these are at least solutions that make some degree of sense.
Yet I don't see this as some developing trend, as the writer seems to imply.
I get that the publication is called "Campus Safety," which means they need to appeal to safety-conscious people. Framing it that way would likely draw a lot more attention than suggesting it's not a major thing, but it's irresponsible to pretend there's a threat where there isn't, especially when one considers that these guards are about the only bulwark between a mass killer and his victims many students will ever be allowed to have.
Let's not overblow the problem, just to address the isolated incidents.
Editor's Note: The mainstream media continues to lie about gun owners and the Second Amendment.
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