Texas House lawmakers have given initial approval to a bill which would strengthen how law enforcement is required to prepare for school shootings.
Texas House lawmakers have given initial approval to a bill that would strengthen how law enforcement is required to prepare for school shootings. The Uvalde Strong Act was authored by former Uvalde Mayor turned State Representative Don McLaughlin.
When he stepped down from Uvalde to run for state office, it was to push for accountability after the disastrous law enforcement response to the Robb Elementary School shooting in May 2022. 19 students and two teachers were killed in the shooting, and multiple law enforcement agencies have been criticized for the nearly 400 officers who waited outside for more than an hour before confronting the shooter.McLaughlin wasn't just one of the first on the scene of the Robb Elementary School shooting in May 2022, he was the mayor at the time. It's a position he stepped down from the next year to run for a seat in the Texas House. “There was chaos everywhere, leadership was nowhere to be found," Mclaughlin said. "Agencies deflected blame instead of stepping up.” The Uvalde Strong Act, or HB 33, is his first piece of legislation, which swept through the House Monday with a 147-0 vote.HB 33 requires law enforcement agencies to meet annually for active shooter training exercises. It also requires those agencies to meet with school districts annually to plan response measures. "It creates a unified statewide response protocol so next time a crisis unfolds, law enforcement won’t have confusion or uncertainty,” McLaughlin said. Safety and Security Consultant Chris Usher with D-Prep Safety calls it an extremely important piece of legislation. "I think the communication part is the key in that bill," Usher said. "And that, to me, is vital, because it's going to require them to actually go there, to that site, to kind of see what's going on." A veteran and former special agent, Usher has 25 years of security experience. He says nothing is more critical than school safety. "Our number one asset is our children going forward, growing up and becoming good members of society," Usher said. While response is certainly important, he says in the future he'd like to see legislation that also tackles prevention. "Whether it's physical security and police response and mental health and technology and you know, all of that stuff together really is what's going to make us safer," Usher said. "It's not one thing."“We owe it to the 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary, and every community across Texas, to make sure this never happens again,” McLaughlin said. The bill needs one more vote before it can go to the Senate for approval, though that chamber has also already passed a similar bill. The final stop would be the governor's desk to be signed into law.
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