President Donald Trump wants to put guns directly in the hands of teachers to keep kids safe in school.

Many people are wary of the idea, but Texas already allows teachers to be armed if they go through training to become school marshals.

No one will disclose exactly how many educators bring guns to Texas schools — the state has deemed that information confidential for their safety. But the Dallas lawmaker who introduced the legislation authorizing school marshals says about 100 people — mostly in smaller, rural districts — have gone through the training, though some might not have completed steps to earn certification.

Trump's call to let teachers carry guns in schools closely mirrors the solution that Texas has already found and needs to expand, said Rep. Jason Villalba, R-Dallas.

“It’s understandable that parents would be nervous about having guns on campus,” Villalba said. “That’s why we created this to be tailored and narrow — so that the educators will also be highly trained peace officers. And so far, the response has been favorable.”

But many, particularly educators, don't like the idea of more teachers being armed.

“It’s a bad idea. It’s always been a bad idea, and it will stay a bad idea,” said Clay Robison, spokesman for the Texas State Teachers Association. "Teachers are there to teach, and they will protect their kids as the teachers did their best to do in Florida. Steps need to be taken to reduce the number of guns floating around in hands of wrong people. Guns in the hands of teachers are not the solution. It’s a cop-out.”

The conversation about arming more teachers was renewed by Trump after last week’s shooting attack in Florida, where 17 students, teachers and staffers were killed at a high school.

Amid calls for stricter gun control and more mental health services, Trump said a key way to prevent school shootings would be to arm up to 20 percent of teachers in a school.

"This would be obviously only for people who were very adept at handling a gun, and it would be, it's called concealed carry, where a teacher would have a concealed gun on them," Trump said Wednesday. "They'd go for special training and they would be there and you would no longer have a gun-free zone. Gun-free zone to a maniac — because they're all cowards — a gun-free zone is, 'Let's go in and let's attack because bullets aren't coming back at us.'"

On Thursday, National Rifle Association leaders restated their sentiments that more armed security would stop school shootings.

Texas' school marshal law doesn't actually allow teachers to keep guns on their persons. Any school marshal that has routine, regular contact with students must keep his or her firearm locked up on campus but accessible.

Other campus staffers — such as campus administrators — who aren't necessarily in close contact with students every day can carry guns.

A school board must approve the use of school marshals. The Argyle ISD board, in the Denton area, was among the first to do so.

Educators in the program are trained in decision-making skills, violence prevention, legal issues related to the duties of a peace officer and even active-shooter scenarios. The 80 hours of training also includes timed shooting exercises at various distances.

Some are hesitant to allow any teacher with a concealed handgun license to pack heat on campus.

That includes Dallas ISD Police Chief Craig Miller. He spent 30 years in the Dallas Police Department — including stints in homicide, vice and the bomb squad that placed him at 75 officer-involved shootings — before joining the district in 2011.

He's seen how difficult it was for even veteran officers to react and recover after using force on someone.

"I look at that in comparison to a school administrator who's maybe got their CHL," Miller said. "If an armed gunman were down a long hallway 50 yards away, I wouldn't want someone to take a shot with kids running back and forth across the hallway."

Miller was critical of the school marshal law when it passed, so he worked on the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement panel that developed the curriculum and procedures for how it should be implemented.

Now he can see the benefit of school marshals in rural areas where law enforcement is spread out between communities, but he's still reluctant to encourage more educators to carry guns into schools, calling it a "break-glass-in-case-of-emergency" solution that's best avoided if possible.

"One thing that people lose sight of in these shootings is that it takes place in the blink of your eye," Miller said. "These things are over in 30 seconds, 45 seconds, 2 minutes max. ... Even with a school administrator down another hall armed, they may not be able to get there in time to do something."

But Villalba said expanding the program to more schools — even those in urban areas — could make all the difference in situations when seconds count. He had hoped there would be significantly more school marshals five years into the law, but he said the word-of-mouth promotion of the program and limited training opportunities have stunted its growth.

As Gov. Greg Abbott has called for a renewed look at school safety, Villalba wants the state to look at ways to expand the school marshal program through more funding for training and education. Since the law passed in 2013, it has been expanded to authorize school marshals in private schools and community colleges as well.

"We wish we never had to deal with this, but unfortunately, we do," Villalba said.

So far, there have been no publicized reports of incidents involving school marshals on campus.

Gretchen Grigsby, spokeswoman for the law enforcement commission, said it sees a significant increase in calls from schools following national tragedies like the one in Florida, but that doesn't always translate into districts signing up.

Separate from the marshal program are local school board policies that might offer ways for employees or board members to bring guns onto campuses.

Federal law restricts firearms on school property, but local boards can authorize their presence under certain circumstances. As of Thursday afternoon, 172 Texas school districts had policies allowing licensed employees and/or board members to have guns, according to the Texas Association of School Boards. That can include security guards.

Texas has nearly 350,000 teachers and about 1,200 districts and public charter schools.

Despite the real threat of mass school shootings, experts say schools have never been safer.

In light of the Florida case and the January school shooting in Kentucky that left two dead and 18 injured, the Council of Chief State Schools Officers — made up of the top education leaders in all of the states — announced Thursday that it was convening a panel to focus on ways to improve school safety.

"I believe it is time for K-12 education to step up to the plate and seriously address the social and emotional well-being of our children," Kentucky Education Commissioner Stephen Pruitt said in a statement. "We must ensure there is proper training for staff and support for all students. Without that, we are destined to keep reliving the tragedy."

Staff writer Corbett Smith contributed to this report.

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