Kentucky Senate Committee will discuss the innovative bill. Armed guardians could protect schools

On Thursday, the Kentucky Senate committee approved a proposal for a new bill providing new methods of protecting students in schools. It concerns the introduction of armed security.

The bill is sponsored by Republican Senator Max Wise, and it aims to increase safety in Kentucky schools by making it possible to hire military veterans or law officers on retirement by schools. The guardians would be armed and protect students on the school premises.

The Senate Education Committee has already accepted this document, which will now be scrutinized by the full Senate. If passed, then the House will have to approve it.

"The school resource officer is - first and foremost - the hiring goal that all of us want for our Kentucky public schools. But the guardian is a well-measured approach that we may fit in a school district’s need. In my opinion, a guardian in an elementary or campus location is better than having nothing at all. The basic need is to protect lives and property, " Wise told the committee, quoted by the Washington Times.

According to US News data, from 2018 to 2023, 18 school shooting incidents occurred. One of the most infamous is the Marshall County High School shooting from 2018, when 15-year-old Gabriel Ross Parker opened fire into a crowd of students in school. As a result of this terrible act, two 15-year-old students lost their lives, and 14 were injured. Parker was sentenced twice to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 20 years.

Sources: Washington Times, US News