Some South Carolina lawmakers have proposed charging a fee on all handgun sales to pay for police officers in schools.
Legislation introduced in the House Thursday would attach a 7 percent charge to handgun sales. The money would go into a “School Safety Fund,” which schools could use to fund school resource officers.
The proposal comes after House lawmakers refused to put any money in this year’s proposed budget for school resource officers, despite a push from Gov. Henry McMaster to allocate $5 million made before 17 people were killed in a Florida school shooting.
Even if lawmakers funded the governor’s proposal, the money would barely make in a dent in the $60 million a year state Education Department officials say is needed for an officer in all 1,200 schools.
