Here’s how Arizona gubernatorial candidate Karrin Taylor Robson wants to keep kids safe in school
Jun 15, 2022, 4:45 AM
(Facebook Photo/Karrin Taylor Robson)
PHOENIX — Arizona gubernatorial candidate Karrin Taylor Robson offered various ideas Tuesday to keep children safe in school following last month’s shooting in Texas.
Robson, a Republican, told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Gaydos and Chad Show the solutions are school resource officers and mental health aid.
“Our kids need to be protected and the fact that our schools have taken school resource officers out of the school is unconscionable,” Robson said.
“When I’m governor, we will make sure that school resource officers are available in every school and because we know there’s a mental health crisis, I will also significantly increase state funding for counselors.
“Our kids are the most vulnerable in our society and our failure to protect them is a failure of our society and we have to fix that.”
Both the U.S. House and Senate have responded in an attempt to rein in gun violence after 21 children and adults were killed in a shooting at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school in May, and prior to that 10 people were killed in another shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.
An outline of the Senate’s tentative bipartisan gun bill would make it harder for young people or those who are considered a threat to buy guns and attempts to address mental health and school safety concerns.
The House bill, which fell mostly along party lines, raises the age limit for purchasing a semi-automatic rifle to 21 years old and prohibits the sale of large ammunition magazines among other regulations.
Robson, who said she has been a proud gun owner for decades, is concerned about cracking down on law-abiding gun owners.
“I’m a strong defender of the Second Amendment. Always have been,” Robson said. “I don’t believe you eliminate this kind of violence by taking away people’s constitutional rights or cracking down on law-abiding gun owners.”
The House’s bill is unlikely to pass the U.S. Senate as support would be needed from 10 Republicans, while the potency of the Senate bill is unclear as details of the plan remain in negotiation with the two parties.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.