America's Growing 'Guard Labor' Force

The February 14 massacre in Parkland, Florida, was the deadliest high-school shooting in U.S. history. In response, the Florida legislature passed a law that raised the minimum age to purchase a firearm; imposed a three-day waiting period; banned bump stocks; and, controversially, enabled school districts to deputize teachers to carry weapons on campus. This “school marshal” program provides $67 million for voluntary gun training and certification, and could result in as many as 37,000 armed staff across the state (including coaches and counselors, but not full-time classroom teachers).

The legislature, however, rejected a ban on firearms like the one used in the shooting. Instead of such significant gun-control measures, Florida took one step further in the expansion of America’s already outsized security-industrial complex.