Making a Market for Enhanced School Safety

No more running down the wrong road
Dancing to a different drum
Can't you see what's going on
Deep inside your heart?
--Michael McDonald

Nearly all states have laws the prohibit guns in schools. Because violent aggressors prefer to attack weakness over strength and surprise over preparation, the gun free status of schools is a magnet for active shooters. The overwhelming majority of recent mass shootings have occurred in no-carry zones such as schools.

As long as evil walks the earth, defenseless schools will remain targets. Perhaps the bulls eye is growing even larger as shooters-in-the-making scrutinize details from last week's Newtown massacre. It is recognized among law enforcement officials that prospective shooters study past occurrences--including the actions of both shooters and defenders--in order to devise plans that increase the likelihood that evil agendas will be achieved. Given the massive amount of media coverage surrounding the Newtown shooting, future active shooters have been handed plenty of information to advance 'state-of-the-art.'

What has not received much media coverage is that some schools are proceeding differently. Texas law, for example, allows concealed carries in schools with a district's permission. After the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, the Harrold, Texas school district implemented its 'guardian plan' that allows teachers and administrators to carry concealed handguns.

When asked by a CBS news correspondent post-Newtown whether he realizes that some people are horrified about the prospect of guns in schools with kids, the Harrold superintendent responded, "Sure, but it's a pretty horrific thing that happened the other day. And some people are not horrified. Quite a few people we have in our district, since we have a high transfer district, bring their students to us for that protection."

The idea that he is conveying is a market-based solution for enhanced school safety. Schools decide whether their product is more attractive to buyers if they include enhanced safety features such as employees or contractors carrying guns on the premises. Parents decide whether to send their kids to schools that offer those enhanced security features.

If enhanced safety is perceived as a valuable feature, then schools providing it will be rewarded with more students. If enhanced safety is perceived as holding little value, then those schools will lose enrollment accordingly.

This would not be an all or nothing proposition. Because safety preferences among parent 'buyers' are sure to vary, no single school 'seller' model would win out. Instead, sellers will respond to the market, differentiating themselves around market segments positioned to serve the security needs of particular buyer groups.

The Harrold superintendent notes that he has received numerous inquiries from other districts both in and out of state about starting programs similar to Harrold's. This demonstrates that, even in the highly hampered environment of public schools, market forces are at work.

The most favorable outcome from last week's tragedy would be to encourage these market forces to continue.

Let sellers and buyers (a.k.a. the people) freely acting in their own best interest determine levels of school safety best for them. Should free trade occur here, solutions for school safety will evolve that are as diverse as demand in the market.