DALLAS (AP) - The Latest on Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan to improve school safety following the deadly shooting at a Texas high school (all times local):
2:30 p.m.
Many of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s recommendations on how to improve school safety revolve around increasing security at schools and mental health awareness.
Among recommendations Abbott revealed Wednesday are that campuses be “hardened” by actions that could include creating vestibules where doors must by remotely unlocked before visitors can enter, installing metal detectors and having an alarm that would signal there’s an active shooter.
He also suggested the Legislature consider requiring the Texas Education Agency to create a formal review process of school districts’ safety audits.
Other recommendations included training more teachers and school employees to carry handguns on campus.
Abbott is also recommending an expansion of a program that identifies students at risk of committing violence and provides help for them.
He also wants to increase the number of people trained to identify signs of mental illness and increase awareness of a state system that allows people to report people who may be a threat and suspicious activity.
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2:15 p.m.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s recommendations on improving school safety don’t include any major restrictions on guns in the state.
The plan unveiled Wednesday by Abbott includes dozens of recommendations on topics including security at schools, mental health, crime prevention efforts and firearm safety.
Abbott is proposing a change to the state law that says guns can’t be made accessible to children under 17, with exceptions such as hunting or parent supervision. He’s encouraging the Legislature to consider changing the age to include 17-year-olds. The accused gunman in the Santa Fe High School shooting this month that killed 10 was 17 and obtained the firearms used from his father.
Abbott is also encouraging the Legislature to consider adopting a “red flag” law that would allow family, law enforcement and others to file a petition to remove firearms from a potentially dangerous person.
He also wants a new law that would require gun owners to report a lost or stolen firearm within 10 days.
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12:15 p.m.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is recommending dozens of strategies to make schools safer following the deadly shooting at a high school near Houston.
The Republican unveiled a 43-page report of recommendations on Wednesday that includes increasing the presence of law enforcement at schools. He also suggests more mental health screening for students. A handful of recommendations involved gun safety.
Abbott says funding will be aided by federal grants, though some recommendations require state lawmakers to weigh in.
The report was released a day after students returned to Santa Fe High School for the first time since the May 18 shooting that killed eight students and two substitute teachers.
The recommendations follow three days of mostly closed-door meetings last week that Abbott organized after the shooting. The staunch gun-rights supporter met with school districts, shooting survivors and groups on both sides of the gun-control debate, among others.
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12 a.m.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is set to reveal his plan to improve school safety in the aftermath of the deadly shooting at a high school near Houston this month.
Abbott will unveil the plan Wednesday morning at a news conference at Dallas school district headquarters. Last week - just days after the shooting at Santa Fe High School that killed 10 - Abbott held meetings in Austin with a variety of people to help come up with a plan.
Included in the talks were officials from school districts, gun-rights advocates, gun control groups and survivors of shootings.
The Republican governor has been a staunch supporter of gun rights, and there has been little mention of any new weapons restrictions in Texas.
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