“Solving” Gun Violence Through More Surveillance

The sign of a functioning country my friends:

 A new bill aimed at beefing up school security could include armed drones guarding Texas schools.

The bill filed by State Rep. Ryan Guillen will be taken up during the 89th Texas Legislative session that begins in January.

Guillen’s bill focuses on strengthening safety and mental health support in Texas public schools by using armed security officers, which has already been a challenge for many school districts. It also offers using drones armed with “less lethal” capabilities like pepper spray “or other mechanisms” as an alternative.

ncluded in the bill is an increase in school safety funding from $10 per student to $100, which schools could spend on expenses like hiring security guards or starting a drone program. The flexibility would allow schools to meet the requirement of an officer or drone for every 200 students.

There would still be a baseline of at least one armed officer on campus with the bill.

The idea of armed drones isn’t new. Taser developer Axon said in 2022 that it was building drones that would “prevent the next Uvalde, Sandy Hook or Columbine.”

Axon, which sells Tasers and police body cameras, initially floated the idea of a police drone to its ethics board and a group of experts. However, some were worried about weaponizing drones in over-policed communities of color.

Axon founder and CEO Rick Smith said he made the idea of a Taser-equipped drone in schools public after he was “catastrophically disappointed” in the response by law enforcement at Robb Elementary School, which led to 19 students and two teachers being killed.

Well, it’s true that the Uvalde Police Department was made up of complete and utter cowards who let innocent kids die. But I wonder if we could think of other ways to keep our children safe at school, such as maybe limit guns. Plus I am already waiting for the drones to be in every classroom to make sure the teachers aren’t saying anything offensive to the ears of Ken Paxton and Dan Patrick and Greg Abbott.