Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) touted legislation she’s introduced in the Senate to turn America’s schools into fortresses in an effort to stop school shootings.
On Tuesday’s installment of Fox News Tonight, host Kayleigh McEnany noted the Biden administration’s opposition to Republican calls to “harden” schools to prevent or mitigate mass shootings. She accused the administration of having a double standard because the White House itself is heavily guarded.
In the wake of the ongoing spate of school shootings – including whatever the most recent one was – Republicans have dismissed calls to enact gun restrictions despite broad popular support. Instead, they say the government should focus on the schools themselves.
“It is just unseemly that there would be such a rejection of this by the Democrats,” Blackburn said of the opposition to her bill, the Securing Aid for Every School Act. “Everybody should be for the SAFE School Act, Kayleigh. They should want to do this tomorrow.”
The bill would create a $900 million grant program to help furnish public and private schools with security resources.
“I tried to get it passed last year after the Uvalde shootings,” she continued, referring to the shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers in Texas last year while hundreds of armed law enforcement officers stood by and did nothing.
The senator then suggested that military veterans and retired police – some of whom she noted might be grandparents
“But to have this grant pool and to allow local school systems a local law enforcement to work together to bring in veterans and retired law enforcement to serve as a security officer at a school – they know how to use weapons,” Blackburn continued. “They know to de-escalate situations. I’ve talked to a lot of them. They like this idea. They are grandparents like we are – my husband and I are grandparents – and they want to be there to help protect children.”
She said her bill will also provide money for security cameras, as well as bullet-proof doors and windows.
“And bulletproof doors and the film on windows, the locks that are necessary to be certain that children are safe in that school environment so that parents can have the confidence that their children are going to be safe,” she concluded.
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