Ben Shapiro wants to turn schools into armed fortresses rather than have gun control

Conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro has shared his belief that the best way to combat mass school shootings isn't to restrict gun sales - it's making them into fenced-off fortresses patroled by armed guards.

On Tuesday, news broke that 21 people, 19 of which were elementary school children, were killed in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Immediately people began responding with calls for gun control reform in Texas and around the US.

Some people, like Shapiro, 38, do not believe gun control laws will prevent mass shootings - instead, they seem to think that fences around schools and armed guards are the solution.

Taking to Twitter, Shapiro wrote, "None of the gun control solutions routinely posited would stop the sort of evil mass shootings we have seen over the past few weeks. When it comes to schools, the answer was and is that we must provide significant security upgrades to every campus."

The conservative commentator followed up his tweet by giving examples of security measures that would protect children in schools such as "armed security guards, protocols on locked exterior doors, lockdown procedures and mechanisms for classrooms, fenced campuses are commonplace and well-accepted."

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Preparing schools for a potential mass shooting has been at the forefront of many's minds since the Columbine school shooting in 1999.

According to research conducted by The Washington Post, of the roughly 79 schools that experienced mass shootings "when asked what, if anything, could have prevented the shootings at their schools, nearly half replied that there was nothing they could have done."

Even schools with surveillance systems, doors only accessible by IDs, and armed police officers could not prevent a shooting from happening.

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Center for Violence Protection says the best way to prevent school shootings is to foster a supportive and healthy school environment and relationships between students and teachers.

In response to Shapiro's tweet, many people expressed doubts about solutions such as increasing security measures.

"So we turn schools and synagogues into armed fortresses. What next? Shopping malls? Supermarkets? Walmarts? Nightclubs? Movie theaters? Christmas parties?" A Twitter user wrote.

"~100,000 public schools in US. Where will you get all these resources to do this ?" another user asked.

"Here in the UK we haven’t had a mass school shooting since 1996 - 26 years ago. Our citizens do not own guns & don’t feel that we require them to feel safe either. The only answer to the problem is gun control." Daryl wrote.

The US notably has a disproportionately higher amount of school shootings than other countries.

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