Arming more teachers could help tackle gunmen targeting students if there were "four to five guns to one", a senior Texan official has said.
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick was speaking two days after 10 people were killed at the Santa Fe High School, which had an armed guard.
He had previously said schools had "too many entrances and too many exits" and their design should be reconsidered.
The proposal to arm teachers is not a new idea.
After a 14 February school shooting in Florida, US President Donald Trump suggested giving teachers a bonus if they carried guns.
But he clarified via Twitter that "only the best 20% of teachers" - those with military backgrounds or special training - should be allowed guns.
Mr Patrick, a Republican, told CNN that the best way to stop a gunman was "with a gun".
"But even better than that is four to five guns to one," he said.
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Hours earlier, the police chief of neighbouring Houston said he had hit "rock bottom" over failure to enact gun reforms.
Chief Art Acevedo wrote on Facebook that he had "shed tears of sadness, pain and anger" over the shooting.
The shooting was the latest in a series of deadly incidents across the US that have reignited debate about gun control.!