Experts Urge Gun Safety and Mental Health Investments Over Costly School Security Gadgets

On a bright day in Grapevine, Texas, drones hovered above a test dummy at the National School Safety Conference. “We use drones to stop school shootings,” said Justin Marston of Campus Guardian Angel, whose pepper-ball drones are marketed as a defense tool. This display highlights a booming $4 billion school security industry that, as Everytown for Gun Safety’s Sonali Rajan warns, offers products with “absolutely no evidence guiding their effectiveness.”

The proliferation of bullet-resistant whiteboards, panic buttons, and facial recognition tech reflects a growing focus on gadgets over solutions. Tom McDermott of CEIA USA admitted, “It’s not right. We need to solve this problem. It’s good for business, but we don’t need to be selling to schools.” Even trauma kits once aimed at EMTs are now pitched to districts. Vendors argue preparedness is necessary—“Some people want to put their heads in the sand,” said SAM Medical’s Sarah McNeeley—but the deeper issue persists: easy access to firearms.

Jillian Peterson of the Violence Prevention Project emphasized that shootings are often preventable through community care, not gadgets. She explained, “There are often two key reasons they change their minds: The first is that they had trouble accessing a firearm—safe storage laws are crucial. The other is that someone helped a young person find hope while they were in crisis.” Researchers argue billions spent on high-tech deterrents could fund counselors, mental health programs, and safe storage initiatives that address root causes.

Gun safety experts note that more than 400 school shootings since Columbine demonstrate that arming schools and selling tech hasn’t solved the problem. Locked doors saved lives in Minneapolis, but they are not enough. “We’re spending billions of dollars that could be going to mental health or counselors, all the stuff that we know creates inclusion,” Peterson said, criticizing the cycle of fear-based spending.

While school resource officers like Sarah Mendoza value personal connections—“My connection with the kids is so important because they’re the ones who are going to come and tell me what’s going on”—the pro-gun reform perspective is clear: real safety starts with reducing gun access and strengthening emotional support, not turning classrooms into fortresses.

Link: NPR