LTE - Think prevention

Regarding "Push to prevent further tragedies ramps up" (Page A1, Saturday), at long last, the movement to arm teachers and staff members in our schools is getting some fair scrutiny in the press. Meanwhile, Houston's police chief, Art Acevedo continues to pooh pooh the movement and asks “Do we really want to see cases of a teacher’s gun discharging and hitting a student?”

The problem for Acevedo is that since 2012, nearly 1 in 7school districts across Texas have allowed teachers and staff to carry concealed weapons, but there has not been a single instance of a teacher even discharging a firearm on campus, much less shooting a student. And many of these campuses also advertise that school staff is armed, introducing a gratifying uncertainty into the lives of potential mass shooters.

Acevedo needs to open his mind to the groundbreaking work being done elsewhere, instead of simply blaming guns for everything. It is clear from the experience in those 172 Texas school districts that guns in the hands of good people is the solution, not the problem.

Pete Smith, Cypress

https://www.chron.com/opinion/editorials/article/Arming-teachers-12714763.php