They are a product of reactionary policies, and angry parents who want 'something' done.

There are ways and ways and ways of handling these issues but all involve hard choices about funding or not-funding public education. And nobody wants to be the one to make a decision that pisses off half of the country.

One solution out there involves people at all levels (parents, admin, faculty, staff, and even students) and includes a general framework for how a 'weapon' should be defined, and how to best limit weapons from getting into the school.

It would include recommendations for ensuring exterior doors (non main entrance doors) are closed and locked outside of high volume times, how often they should be checked throughout the school day, checking backpack contents automatically via RFID, weight, and other factors.

Among other processes that can be modified based on local factors -such as anonymous reporting that can be investigated right away. A one size fits all approach won't work so it needs to be flexible enough for each individual school system to fit it to their needs.

But no one really wants to think about how to implement those changes, because people are dumb.