Fifteen-year-old Josiah Owens is considering owning a gun one day because he wants protection. He doesn鈥檛 want to suffer the same fate as his best friend, whom he says survived a shooting a couple of years ago.

Owens, a sophomore at Disney II Magnet High School on the Northwest Side, was one of 23 Chicago teens ages 13 to 17 who took part in a recent weeklong program to learn about the risks of gun ownership and how to share those statistics with peers through a flashy social media campaign. He joined after a nudge from his mother, who wanted him to 鈥渂uild connections鈥� with other Chicago kids.

The program, which took place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each week day of spring break, was led by nonprofit Project Unloaded in partnership with nonprofit After School Matters, which paid the teen participants $150.

Since 2023, the organization has run a six-week summer program where teens get more time to research gun violence statistics and create catchy social media videos. But the spring break program was a first for Project Unloaded, according to Nina Vinik, founder and president of Project Unloaded.

Project Unloaded focuses on social media creation because that鈥檚 where 鈥測oung people today are going to find information,鈥� Vinik said.

鈥淎ll of our programs combine firearm risk education for young people with social media skill building, so we鈥檙e effectively teaching young people how to use social media as a way to make positive change in their communities,鈥� she said.

Last year, 18.6% of the victims of fatal and non-fatal shootings in Chicago were 19 years old or younger, almost one percentage point higher than the year before but a drop from about 20% in 2023, according to .

A 2022 survey of 989 Chicago parents found that , ranging from hearing gunshots to being shot. One-fifth of those children experienced mental health symptoms as a result.

Last week during Chicago Public Schools鈥� spring break, Owens and his peers showed up to the After School Matters offices in the Kilbourn Park neighborhood and learned some gun ownership statistics: People with a gun at home are twice as likely to be killed, according to According to people who owned a gun were four times more likely to be shot during an assault compared with those who didn鈥檛 have a gun on them.

The teens then learned how to create effective social media campaigns that direct people to a website with more information on studies related to gun ownership. They spent a day with staff from iO improv theater to 鈥渃ome out of their shells,鈥� said Olivia Brown, associate director of youth engagement at Project Unloaded who led the spring break program. They also watched videos from other content creators to learn that a good video has a hook, a main message, and then a call to action, Brown said.

鈥淭丑别y were like, 鈥極h, it鈥檚 kind of like writing a persuasive essay,鈥欌�� Brown said, who agreed with them. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like, you got to get your reader, aka your viewer, on your side.鈥�

The teens practiced shooting videos with their phones. Then, Project Unloaded鈥檚 digital strategist helped them create their final videos with his equipment.

On the Friday of spring break, the last day of their program, the teens presented their videos in groups of three or four. They walked up to the front of the room, some appearing shy, facing their peers and invited guests who included content creators.

Their videos, which lasted less than 30 seconds, will be added to an ongoing advertising campaign created by last summer鈥檚 cohort of teens, called

One group presented a video showcasing a fictional 鈥淭otally Safe News鈥� network, where one of the participants played a correspondent who initially says owning a gun offers safety. Then, the screen bleeps out, and the correspondent fixes the newscast to say owning a gun doubles the risk of homicide.

鈥淔acts don鈥檛 care about opinions,鈥� the correspondent says.

Owens鈥� group made a video where the camera toggles between the teens playing a video game while they discuss the statistics associated with owning a gun.

In another group鈥檚 video, one of the teens says he owns a gun, and his peer walks up and puts a clown wig on him. The audience in the room laughed.

Vinik emphasized that they don鈥檛 鈥渢ell any young person what to do or what to think or what not to do,鈥� rather, they want to arm them with information 鈥渢o make the best decision that they can for themselves.鈥�

The program did appear to change some of the teens鈥� minds: Project Unloaded representatives said they saw a 30% drop among the participants who are interested in owning a gun. One of them is Makayla Mason, 16, who鈥檚 a junior at Lane Tech High School, who said she considered buying a gun when she gets older.

鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 even want to get one anymore,鈥� she said.

Owens, who wants to be a boxer when he gets older, said the social media skills he learned could be useful in helping to promote himself one day.

As for gun ownership? The program didn鈥檛 change his mind: He鈥檚 still considering buying a gun one day.

鈥淣ow I just know the risks of it, which is good,鈥� he said.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at .

Florida professors, university faculty, and teaching assistants could soon be able to openly carry firearms on campus, thanks to a sweeping new measure filed by a Republican lawmaker.

Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Crestview, is sponsoring the legislation, entitled 鈥淪chool Safety,鈥� to address security concerns in higher education. If passed, the bill would remove college campuses as gun-free zones 鈥� marking a significant shift in how Florida handles gun issues.

It would become one of the few Second Amendment expansion bills adopted in Florida since the Parkland massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018, which prompted a higher gun-purchasing age and red flag laws.

In an interview with the Phoenix, Gaetz called his legislation 鈥渟adly timed,鈥� adding that he 鈥渘ever wanted鈥� to file a bill like this.

He referred to a slate of violent incidents in the past few months, including a shooting spree at Florida State University in April, the assassination of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University in September, a shooting at Brown University over the weekend, and, most recently, an anti-Jewish shooting in Australia that left 15 dead.

鈥淲e鈥檙e living in a world where our institutions are being threatened,鈥� Gaetz said, adding that he鈥檚 already filed another bill aimed at outside of churches, mosques, and synagogues. 鈥淚鈥檓 sorry that I鈥檓 having to do this, but it just seems as though places in our society that we thought were safe, even sacrosanct, are now becoming targets.鈥�

Although he anticipates objections that teachers may abuse the ability to bring a gun to school, Gaetz pointed out that there have been no instances of a school shooting sprouting from an unwell volunteer in the guardian program. This school safety initiative allows trained and vetted school employees to carry concealed weapons on K-12 campuses.

鈥淣one of the parade of terribles have happened that the opponents to the guardian program tried to advance,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hile none of that has happened, people have been killed.鈥�

What else is in the bill?

Gaetz isn鈥檛 this first Florida lawmaker to try to promote campus carry. At the start of the 2025 legislative session, then-Sen. Randy Fine brought his all-encompassing to its first committee 鈥� unlike Gaetz鈥檚, Fine鈥檚 bill would have allowed all students to carry 鈥� but it was voted down. Fine later left to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Gaetz said that the heart of his bill is hardening Florida鈥檚 state colleges and universities by requiring better threat assessments, better responses to threats, and better communications between first responders and faculty in emergencies.

would allow university employees, faculty, and students who are also working for a college to either openly carry or carry conceal weapons on campus. It also would expand the school guardian program to the university level and create an offense of discharging a firearm within 1,000 feet of school.

Gaetz said his measure also would require universities to ensure all classroom doors lock during an emergency 鈥� especially after FSU students during the April school shooting that their doors could not lock. He estimates that around $60 million will end up being appropriated for the effort, in line with what Gov. Ron DeSantis requested in his last week.

An identical bill has been filed in the House by Rep. Michelle Salzman.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

was originally reported by Nadra Nittle of .

For almost three hours, last month in which senators pressed her on everything from to transgender athletes. But none from either party asked her about

That鈥檚 a glaring oversight, according to some leaders working to reduce , while others say that fears about the so dominated the hearing that there was little time to question McMahon about the full spectrum of education topics. , it鈥檚 unclear how McMahon will address the , but her previous comments on gun control and the White House鈥檚 actions on the issue so far suggest to prevention advocates that this administration won鈥檛 make it a priority 鈥� potentially endangering youth, domestic violence victims and other vulnerable groups.

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鈥淭丑别 No. 1 concern amongst American families is making sure we have safe classrooms,鈥� said Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union, a nonprofit organization working to improve educational outcomes and policies for children and families. 鈥淐an we keep our children alive in America’s classrooms? The idea that we would not even ask the next U.S. secretary of education about what she plans to do to keep our classrooms safer is ridiculous.鈥�

Rodrigues, who was in the room during the Senate confirmation hearing in February, said that President Donald Trump鈥檚 plans to dismantle the Department of Education make it imperative to know McMahon鈥檚 approach to school gun violence. On Tuesday, , nearly half of its staff, heightening concerns about its potential demise. Twenty-one attorneys general in Democratic-led states sued the Trump administration over the layoffs on Thursday, arguing that eliminating the staffers was 鈥渋llegal and unconstitutional.鈥�

Gun violence is the leading cause of death for children and teens, based on data from the Centers for Disease for Control and Prevention, and disproportionately kills youth of color. School shootings have steadily increased over time, with recorded this year, according to the K-12 Shooting Database, which tracks gun violence incidents on campuses.

McMahon should have been asked 鈥渉ow she plans to be able to address these very real and very serious issues without having a U.S. Department of Education that is working with states and working with districts,鈥� Rodrigues said.

The Department of Education did not respond by publication time to The 19th鈥檚 request for comment about McMahon鈥檚 plans on gun violence.

During her 2017 confirmation hearing, former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, a Trump nominee, suggested that guns might protect students from grizzly bears, leading to widespread ridicule. Last year, , or Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO), that allow guns to be confiscated from individuals considered a threat to themselves or others.

ERPO, she wrote, 鈥渃ould easily be used to REMOVE Firearms from Law-Abiding Citizens. Chicago and NYC have some of the strictest 鈥榞un laws鈥� in the country and yet they also have some of the highest gun violence. Recently 9 people were killed in 24 hours in Chicago. A pregnant mom was seriously injured and her 11-year-old son who was trying to protect her was killed.鈥�

McMahon argued that it would have been more effective to keep the convicted felon who shot the mother and son in prison than risk removing firearms from individuals without criminal records. Her views appear to align with those of the president, who on directing the attorney general to review all regulations and policies created during President Joe Biden鈥檚 administration that purportedly infringe on the public鈥檚 rights to bear arms and to devise a plan to counteract such restrictions.

鈥淭his administration has made it pretty clear that it is not looking to prioritize gun violence prevention, whether that’s in the nominees that it has put forward, including the education secretary, or the executive order on the Second Amendment that came out of the White House,鈥� said Nina Vinik, founder and president of Project Unloaded, a Gen Z-focused gun violence prevention group. 鈥淭丑别 administration is looking to roll back the progress that’s been made over the last decade or more to reduce gun violence.鈥�

Noah Lumbantobing, former director of communications for March for Our Lives (MFOL), a student-led gun violence prevention organization, said he suspects Trump鈥檚 administration will reverse the policies the group supports to retaliate against the Biden administration.

鈥淚t’s so clearly about vengeance and not at all about children’s safety, so that’s scary,鈥澛爏aid Lumbantobing, who transitioned out of MFOL on Wednesday to step into a new role in the gun safety movement. 鈥淲e still don’t know what’s going to be on the chopping block, but we have no doubt that he’s going to undo a lot of the things that we spent a lot of time fighting for, and even more importantly, things that have saved lives.鈥�

In 2024, gun violence incidents on campuses dropped to 331 from 349 the prior year, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database. Lumbantobing attributes the decrease in shootings to the 鈥渃ommon-sense life-saving solutions鈥� the Biden administration adopted. That includes an executive order Biden issued that expanded the definition of a gun dealer since some gun sellers were not only going undetected but also neglecting to perform background checks on customers.

鈥淣ow, they do have to do background checks and to act responsibly,鈥� Lumbantobing said. 鈥淭hat’s going to get undone. So there’s a lot of danger here, both in undoing some of the laws and also just selectively not enforcing laws that are on the books. It’s going to kill children, and it’s just for partisan gain.鈥�

He also has concerns about how relaxing gun restrictions will affect victims of domestic violence, a problem the Biden administration addressed, in part, through tougher background checks.

鈥淭丑别 tightened loopholes for dating partners to not be able to obtain firearms and potentially harm or kill their partners,鈥� Lumbantobing said of the federal law passed in 2022 that provides states with funding to develop red flag laws and other interventions. If the Department of Justice “chooses not to enforce the laws on the books, no one’s looking out for victims of domestic abuse,鈥� he added.

At least 110 domestic violence-related shootings have occurred at schools from 1966 to the present, the K-12 School Shooting Database reports. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act routes resources to intervention programs to reduce gun crimes, but Lumbantobing said he isn鈥檛 sure if that will happen under the Trump administration. He does give Trump credit, however, for supporting a ban on bump stocks, gun accessories that essentially turn semi-automatic rifles into automatic weapons. In 2017, during Trump’s first term, a gunman used bump stocks to kill 60 people and wound hundreds of others at a Las Vegas music festival.

鈥淪o there’s some hope that we have that he’ll not be as constrained by GOP orthodoxy there, but it’s not looking good,鈥� Lumbantobing said. 鈥淗e moves with the wind.鈥�

That the Trump administration has chosen not to continue the Office of Gun Violence Prevention established during Biden鈥檚 tenure has also worried gun control supporters. Although Trump did not formally eliminate the office, he has yet to hire personnel to maintain it, Lumbantobing said. The office no longer has a functioning website either.

鈥淲hat’s so dangerous is that we may not notice it today or tomorrow, but in a year, two years, whenever the next mass shooting happens, I think we’ll be able to look and see it’s because Trump stopped enforcing the law,鈥� Lumbantobing said.

The Office of Gun Violence Prevention represented a bipartisan approach to gun safety because it allowed the White House to focus on prevention in a holistic way that drew on government resources but did not require the creation of any new laws, Lumbantobing said.

鈥淗ow do we fix this 鈥� within the constraints that we have? They made massive progress on that,鈥� he said. 鈥淕etting rid of that office is a refutation of that very premise, and I think it is a real dangerous one. If you can’t agree with us that children dying is a bad thing, boy, are we in trouble.鈥�

Several states, including California, Massachusetts, Maryland and Wisconsin, have opened 鈥� or passed legislation to open 鈥� their own offices of gun violence prevention, suggesting that states and not the federal government will take the lead on curbing gun violence prevention during the Trump administration.

鈥淚 think we’re going to continue to see a world where gun safety exists in some places and not others,鈥� Lumbantobing said. 鈥淭hat’s not the America that young people deserve.鈥�

Although he would have liked to see senators ask McMahon more questions about school shootings during her confirmation hearing, he said their focus on the potential abolishment of the Department of Education was appropriate. Getting rid of that federal agency would be an attack on gun safety because of the work it does to reduce school shootings.

鈥淭丑别 Department of Education has a critical role in that work and could have a bigger role,鈥� Lumbantobing said. 鈥淛ust last year, we worked with Secretary [Miguel] Cardona to do a safe storage campaign to encourage parents. We understand that people are going to own guns. There’s nothing wrong with that if you own a legally obtained firearm. But it’s important that folks store those firearms safely because, otherwise, they show up in places we don’t want, in school shootings, in instances of domestic violence or interpersonal violence, even amongst young people or kids shooting themselves accidentally.鈥�

While March for Our Lives collaborated with Cardona on a safe storage campaign, Lumbantobing does not anticipate engaging in such work with McMahon.

鈥淪he has expressed no interest in that,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e would love to, but she won’t. Trump has come out and said that he wants to be the very best friend possible to the NRA [National Rifle Association], so we know how she’ll approach it, whether she takes an ax to the Department of Education or just starts to unwind some of the pivotal policies that the Department of Ed pushes to keep kids safe.鈥�

Trump鈥檚 Cabinet picks are not the only concern of gun violence prevention groups. They also fear the impact of the 鈥� recent decision that rescinded the federal restriction on 18-to-20-year-olds buying handguns. More than one mass school shooter has fallen into this age group. In 2022, an . Four years before that, a 19-year-old fatally shot 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. In 2012, a 20-year-old shooter struck down 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

鈥淔or the Fifth Circuit to say that trying to address the scourge of gun violence and its impact on young people with reasonable age restriction on handgun purchases is not permissible under the Second Amendment is potentially a real setback in terms of trying to address youth gun violence in this country鈥� Vinik said.

Without being able to rely on government intervention or cooperation, gun prevention advocates are coming up with their own solutions to address youth gun violence. Project Unloaded, for example, hopes to shift the culture around gun use by providing young people with facts and figures about the drawbacks of firearms, including increased risk of homicide, suicide and accidents.

鈥淲hen we give them that information in a way that’s really engaging and accessible, they do increase their awareness of what those risks are, and it does lead them, in many cases, to shift away from a desire to use guns in the future,鈥� Vinik said.

Since young people often learn about guns online, particularly on social media or through gaming platforms, Project Unloaded recently launched a campaign called 鈥溾�� that involves a collaboration with about a dozen gamers who are also content creators on Tiktok, YouTube and Instagram. The campaign, Vinik said, aims to instill this message into youth: 鈥淧lay hard when you’re in a video game, but in real life, at home, in your community, you’re safer without guns.鈥�

There are things bigger than politics, state legislators declared on the floor of Michigan鈥檚 state House, as legislation to implement school safety requirements and mental health assessment standards passed Tuesday evening with bipartisan support.

It鈥檚 been just over three years since by another student who brought a gun to school and opened fire on the school community. Just as the loved ones of Tate Myre, 16; Hana St. Juliana, 14; Justin Shilling, 17; and Madisyn Baldwin, 17, will never forget the pain of the Nov. 30, 2021 killings, neither will lawmakers, Rep. Luke Meerman (R-Coopersville) told members of the state House.

鈥淲e must show the people of Michigan, we as lawmakers can come together and produce solutions that address real need in the state,鈥� Meerman, who is a sponsor of the bill package, said. 鈥淔rom where I stand, these bills are long overdue. I鈥檓 grateful to vote yes on these bills today.鈥�

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Michigan state Rep. Luke Meerman (R-Coopersville) speaks in support of a school safety package on the House floor on Dec. 10, 2024. | Photo: Anna Liz NicholsMeerman, along with Rep. Nancy DeBoer (R-Holland) on House Bills and which would replace the with a School Safety and Mental Health Commission housed in the Department of State Police.

The would-be-replaced School Safety Commission was created under Gov. Rick Snyder, after the deadly Parkland High School shooting in Florida in 2018 where a 19-year-old opened fire, killing 17 people at the school. The commission has been charged with evaluating safety measures in Michigan schools and making recommendations for improvements.

Codifying a School Safety and Mental Health Commission is being pursued by lawmakers in recognition of . The commission would specifically examine and make recommendations to improve school safety measures and mental health support, with members consisting of experts in law enforcement, education, mental health, school threat assessments and community programming with youth, as well as having a current student or recent high school graduate on the commission.

House Bill and House Bill received 89-19 votes, passing with widespread bipartisan support and with two members not voting.

Amongst the 鈥渘o鈥� votes was Republican Rep. Josh Schriver who represents Oxford and voted against every bill in the package Tuesday

Under House Bills and , all schools in Michigan would be required to adopt uniform terminology for emergency response starting in the 2026-2027 school year.

Michigan State Police would be mandated under the legislation to create language all schools use, so terms like 鈥渓ockdown鈥� and 鈥渟helter in place鈥� mean the same thing across the board and law enforcement can respond accordingly should there be an emergency.

House Bill received a 94-15 and House Bill received a 93-16 with one lawmaker not voting.

In the face of the threat of school shootings, it鈥檚 important to note that , Rep. Kelly Breen (D-Novi) told lawmakers Tuesday. But students don鈥檛 always feel safe while they鈥檙e trying to learn.

鈥淎 few years ago, my daughter asked me one of the worst questions a child could bring a parent, 鈥楳ama, what do I do if my teacher tells me to run and I can鈥檛 find my little brother?鈥�,鈥� Breen told members of the state House. 鈥淣o parent ever wants to answer that.鈥�

Michigan was once again rattled by another school shooting in 2023, when three students on Michigan State University鈥檚 campus were killed by a gunman the evening before Valentine鈥檚 Day, Breen lamented.

After the tragedy at MSU, lawmakers passed several gun violence reforms including and implementing .

And as survivors of school shootings in Michigan and the families of the students the state has lost demand justice and change, Breen said lawmakers have the opportunity to stand alongside them.

Breen鈥檚 bill in the package, House Bill , requires all schools to create a behavior threat assessment and management team by October 1, 2026. The team would have to define prohibited or concerning behaviors that are indicative that a member of the school community might hurt themselves or others. The team would also be expected to perform monitoring for such behaviors, creating reporting mechanisms for members of the school community to identify concerning behavior and facilitate the school鈥檚 responses to intervene.

The team is required to have a school administrator, a mental health professional and a school resource officer or another member of law enforcement.

While the other bills in the package cleared the politically divided state House with the vast majority of votes, House Bill cleared with a 57-51 vote, with one lawmaker not voting.

Rep. Gina Johnsen (R-Odessa) unsuccessfully proposed an amendment that would have allowed non public schools to opt out of creating behavior threat assessment and management teams and would have specified that members of the clergy could be eligible to fulfill the role of the mental health professional on such teams if non public schools wanted to participate.

The bills will now head over to the state Senate in the final days of the legislative session.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan J. Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com.

Kamala Harris鈥� new running mate is an unabashedly progressive midwestern governor who appeals to veterans, hunters and football fans. If elected, he鈥檇 also be the first K-12 educator since Lyndon Johnson to be vice president, boasting the deepest connection to public schools of any candidate in recent memory.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is a former high school teacher and football coach who enacted a free college tuition program and expanded free school lunch statewide. But Walz, 60, a former congressional lawmaker who is in his second term as governor, may also carry left-of-center baggage that weighs down the ticket in a tight presidential race, observers said.

Walz rose to prominence earlier this year by informally leading Democrats鈥� turn to calling Republicans 鈥渨eird,鈥� suggesting in interviews that they鈥檙e out of touch and relying on culture-war fodder instead of issues Americans care about. 

Tim Walz first year as a high school football coach and geography teacher

鈥� Andy Kaczynski (@KFILE)

鈥淲ho鈥檚 sitting in a bar in Racine, Wisconsin, saying, 鈥榊ou know what we really need? We need to ban 鈥淎nimal Farm.鈥濃�� Nobody is!鈥� Walz with MSNBC.

In a introducing himself released by the campaign Tuesday, Walz described the 鈥渟mall-town鈥� values he learned growing up in Nebraska and later tried to instill in his students: 鈥渞espect, compromise, service to country. And so when I went into government, that’s what I carried with me.鈥�

Harris echoed those themes in a speech at Temple University in Philadelphia Tuesday evening, calling him 鈥渢he kind of teacher and mentor that every child in America dreams of having and that every kid deserves.鈥�

As governor, Walz put forward an education agenda that unions have cheered, signing a nearly state budget last year that significantly increased funding for the state鈥檚 public schools. He also signed into law a new $1,750-per-child tax credit that he said will help reduce childhood poverty.

Walz enacted for Minnesota families earning less than $80,000 per year. Analysts predict it鈥檒l cost the state around $117 million in fiscal year 2025 and $49.5 million annually after that.

With a $17.5 billion budget surplus last year, Walz promised 鈥渢o put it behind our teachers so we can educate our children.”

Despite the 鈥渉istoric鈥� spending, school districts throughout Minnesota last spring were facing massive cuts, the one-two punch of the end of COVID recovery aid and enrollment losses. 

The state鈥檚 second-largest district, St. Paul Public Schools, projects a $150 million deficit for the 2024-25 academic year. Minneapolis Public Schools anticipates a $116 million shortfall. And even the most prosperous Twin Cities suburbs must explain the disconnect to families who moved there for their well-funded schools.

Free lunch for all

Walz enlisted in the Army National Guard after high school and attended Chadron State College. He earned a social science degree in 1989, and spent a year in one of the first government-sanctioned groups of American educators to teach in China.

Walz went on to serve full time in the Army National Guard, retiring in 2005 as a command sergeant major. 

He and his wife, Gwen, met while teaching in Nebraska. They worked together at Mankato, Minn., West High School, where he taught social studies and coached football. She taught English and later served as a district administrator. 

Former colleagues said the couple were powerhouse teachers who balanced out each other鈥檚 energy-levels. He was animated, they . She was more reserved.

鈥淗e came in very outgoing, very gregarious,鈥� former social studies teacher Pat Griffiths told The Post. 鈥淚f there were 100 people in a room and 99 loved him, he would work on the one who didn鈥檛 until they did too.鈥�

Another colleague told of a prank that a group of teachers played on Walz during his first semester there: They printed out a fake gift certificate for a free turkey as a bogus 鈥渨elcome gift,鈥� to be collected at a local grocery store. 

Walz returned to school with the turkey. 

In 2006, he won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, defeating a Republican incumbent in Minnesota鈥檚 rural First District, which typically leans Republican. He served six terms before being elected governor in 2018.

These days, Walz is widely known on the national stage for last year鈥檚 Minnesota Free School Meals law, which made school breakfast and lunch free for all students, regardless of income. It made Minnesota the fourth state to do so after California, Colorado and Maine. Currently, offer free meals to all students.

At the time, Walz said the measure 鈥減uts us one step closer to making Minnesota the best state for kids to grow up.鈥�

During debate on the bill in March 2023, state Sen. Steve Drazkowski, a Republican, questioned whether food insecurity was even an issue in the state, saying, 鈥淚 have yet to meet a person in Minnesota that is hungry. I have yet to meet a person in Minnesota that says they don鈥檛 have access to enough food to eat.鈥�

A video of his speech went viral, garnering on X and plenty of criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike.

Recent coverage suggests that though the program is popular and the state鈥檚 surplus helps keep it afloat, the free-meals program than expected: an extra $81 million over the next two years and $95 million in the two years after that.

Walz has also criticized education savings accounts, saying they don鈥檛 help rural areas. Support for these accounts, championed by conservatives, may have hurt Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro鈥檚 prospects to become Harris鈥� running mate. 

A lifelong hunter, Walz shifted substantially on gun safety, moving from an 鈥淎鈥� rating from the National Rifle Association in 2016 to endorsing an assault weapons ban after the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. At the time, Walz said his then-17-year-old daughter asked him to do more on gun safety. He donated his NRA contributions to charity.

The move turned his rating to 鈥渟traight F’s,鈥� . 鈥淎nd I sleep just fine.鈥�

On Tuesday, after word leaked about Harris picking Walz, gun safety activist and Parkland survivor David Hogg on X, 鈥淚鈥檓 smiling a mile wide right now.鈥� 

Extreme or Norman Rockwell?

Policies like these have earned Walz endorsements on the left 鈥� American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten on Tuesday called him 鈥渁n unabashed champion for public education, for educators and workers.鈥� 

It also doesn鈥檛 hurt that Mary Cathryn Ricker, Walz鈥檚 first state education commissioner, was a former AFT vice president. Before that, she led the St. Paul Federation of Teachers.

At Temple University Tuesday evening, Walz spoke of his 20-year career as a teacher and his wife鈥檚 29-year tenure, saying, 鈥淒on鈥檛 ever underestimate teachers.鈥�

Walz鈥檚 career nearly derailed when he was pulled over in a drunk driving incident as a 31-year-old teacher in Nebraska. As the reported, he was stopped for driving 96 mph in a 55-mph zone. He failed a field sobriety test, but later pleaded guilty to reckless driving, a misdemeanor. He left the state in 1996, when he continued teaching and coaching football in Mankato.

Invoking his time as a coach there, Harris said he was a role model 鈥� on and off the field. She recounted the story of one of the first openly gay students at Walz鈥檚 school, who sought to start a gay-straight alliance 鈥渁t a time when acceptance was difficult to find.鈥�

Harris said Walz 鈥渒new the signal that it would send to have a football coach get involved. So he signed up to be the group’s faculty advisor. And as students have said, he made the school a safe place for everybody.鈥�

But in a tight race, Walz’s progressive credentials could spell trouble for Harris, said Rick Hess, director of education policy studies at the conservative .

Hess called the Walz pick 鈥渁n odd choice鈥� in a race in which Harris already has teachers鈥� union backing but needs to shore up support among independents and conservatives. He suggested that Shapiro might have been a better match for those constituencies.

鈥淵ou couldn’t get the NEA and AFT working any harder for Harris than they already are,鈥� he said. 鈥淪he’s already broken out 鈥榯he full pander鈥� for them.鈥�

Hess said Harris likely chose Walz as a 鈥渧ibe pick鈥� who suits midwesterners in style if not substance: 鈥淗e looks like a big, burly high school football coach, assistant principal, kind of sensible guy from Middle America鈥� who served in the military, 鈥渨hereas Shapiro looks like an investment banker. Part of the calculation might be that that visual is worth plenty.鈥�

Harris may also be trying to 鈥渂uy herself a lot more leeway with the left so she can keep tacking back to the middle on issues 鈥� and the left will be happy because they feel like Walz is one of them.鈥�

It鈥檚 possible centrists or moderates in battleground states will be swayed by Walz, Hess said, but his progressive policy solutions could stop them in their tracks. 鈥淭丑别 guy’s a high school teacher who has been in the National Guard for 20 years,鈥� he said. 鈥淗is politics are extreme, but his profile, his biography, is about as Norman Rockwell as you can get.鈥�

That moment when you鈥檙e a union president, and find out that a teacher and union member is going to be the next vice-president.

We鈥檙e excited for former public school teacher & AFT member to join on the ballot this November!

鈥� AFT (@AFTunion)

But Chris Stewart, CEO of and an education blogger based in Minneapolis, said framing Walz in traditional political terms is misleading. Minnesota may be progressive, but it鈥檚 鈥渘ot wild and crazy. We’re not San Francisco. 鈥� I don’t think people know how purple Minnesota can be,鈥� he said of . 

Despite the divide, Stewart said, Walz has succeeded with a 鈥渧ery slim majority鈥� in the state legislature. 

But rather than judging Walz on a 鈥渓eft-right continuum,鈥� he said, we should look at him as 鈥渏ust a better version of a great American Democrat. He is not left or right in the way that we traditionally think about things. He kind of breaks that binary.鈥�

There were more weapons brought into Washington鈥檚 schools during the last school year than the year before.

That鈥檚 according to a from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, which found an 11.6% increase in weapons on school grounds in the 2022-2023 school year compared to 2021-2022.

During the 2022-2023 school year, 2,275 weapon incidents were reported by Washington鈥檚 public and private schools. Of those, 316 involved possession of a firearm. All of the gun incidents were reported at public schools. Most other reports involved knives, daggers or 鈥渙ther weapons.鈥�

However, the presence of guns specifically increased, 236 incidents involving firearms during the 2021-2022 school year, according to last year鈥檚 report from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

鈥淚 wish I could say I was really shocked by this increase, but sadly I鈥檓 not that shocked,鈥� said Johnny Lupinacci, an associate professor at Washington State University who studies the intersection of schools and social justice.

While national data on the 2022-2023 school year is not yet available, show that, among states, Washington had the 11th highest rate of students bringing firearms to school.

Nationwide, the number of guns showing up in schools is soaring. found 1 in 47 school-age children, or about 1.1 million students, attended a school where at least one gun was found and reported on by the media in the 2022-2023 school year 鈥� and the actual number of guns in schools may be much higher.

Washington has enacted some of the most restrictive gun laws in the country and

Lupinacci praised the state鈥檚 strict gun laws and said his 鈥済ut reaction鈥� to seeing increasing numbers of guns in schools is to make it even harder to obtain a firearm. He said getting a gun remains just 鈥渇ar too easy,鈥� even in some of the most restrictive jurisdictions.

possession of firearms and other dangerous weapons on school grounds, except for security and law enforcement. The law also requires the expulsion of students found in possession of a firearm anywhere on school grounds, although superintendents can modify expulsions on a case-by-case basis.

Lupinacci said students primarily bring weapons into schools because they feel unsafe and believe 鈥渢he only way they could be safe is to somehow arm themselves.鈥�

for American children and teens, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data for 2022, analyzed by Everytown for Gun Safety, a group that advocates for stricter gun laws.

Despite the increase in weapons in Washington鈥檚 schools, expulsions due to weapon incidents were down 49%. Schools chose to suspend students instead: Compared to the 2021-2022 school year, there was a 12% increase in suspensions in 2022-2023.

Lupinacci said 鈥渮ero tolerance鈥� policies around weapons in schools are important, particularly with firearms, and praised Washington鈥檚 schools for reducing expulsions and increasing suspensions, calling the schools鈥� response empathetic but firm.

He also said the solution to reducing weapons in schools involves a 鈥渓arger discussion鈥� about reducing child poverty, increasing school funding and dealing with rising mental health issues among America鈥檚 youth.

鈥淥ur public school systems can and ought to be that safety net in our communities,鈥� Lupinacci said. 鈥淲hat we see is when we don鈥檛 take care of our community, kids experience school in a way where it feels dangerous or unsafe.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Washington State Standard maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Bill Lucia for questions: info@washingtonstatestandard.com. Follow Washington State Standard on and .

A year after the tragic shooting that claimed the lives of three students on Michigan State University鈥檚 campus, students are and trying to honor everything they lost on Feb. 13, 2023.

But they can鈥檛 properly mourn this week, MSU student Saylor Reinders said Thursday at an MSU student rally on the Michigan Capitol steps. As the MSU, Northern Illinois University and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School communities deal with painful anniversaries of shootings at their schools this week, a mass shooting on Wednesday during the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory celebration injured more than 20 people, with one death confirmed as of Thursday.

There have been in 2024 so far.

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鈥淚t鈥檚 everywhere. It鈥檚 all the time. We can鈥檛 escape it,鈥� Reinders said from the Michigan Capitol steps. 鈥淣o words can really describe what the past year has been like, but I can say that despite the anger, sadness, grief, confusion, and just trying to be a college student, we never stopped showing up. I鈥檓 proud of the tireless work of students who showed up right here at the Capitol a year ago, and everyday since to demand change.鈥�

And the pressure was on, MSU student and gun violence prevention organizer Maya Manuel said during a talk with Democratic lawmakers after the rally.

Manuel recalled meeting with lawmakers, including state Sen. Sam Singh (D-East Lansing), exactly a year ago, begging for something to be done. Hundreds of students gathered at the Capitol for a rally just two days after the shooting that killed Alexandria Verner, 20; Brian Fraser, 20; and Arielle Anderson, 19 and seriously injured five other students.

To her surprise, lawmakers introduced gun safety bills days later, which exactly one year after the MSU shooting.

鈥淚 remember looking at you, directly in your eyes and saying that the next one is going to be on you,鈥� Manuel said. 鈥淎nd you took that and you went to your colleagues and you pushed out those bills just two days later.鈥�

The new laws, written in response to the MSU shooting, require gun owners to safely store firearms from minors, implement universal background checks when purchasing a firearm, create extreme risk protection orders and expand prohibitions on firearm ownership for those convicted of crimes involving domestic violence.

But more progress is needed to prevent gun violence in Michigan, Manuel said. MSU was not Michigan鈥檚 first school shooting and the deadly Oxford High School shooting was only two years ago.

鈥淭丑别re鈥檚 so much emotion in the words that I told you when I said that I needed you, and I still need you. So what do you think you guys will do moving forward to push for your colleagues to listen?鈥� Manuel asked the few lawmakers that met with MSU students in the Capitol Thursday: Singh, Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, Rep. Emily Dievendorf (D-Lansing) and Rep. Penelope Tsernoglou (D-East Lansing).

Brinks said the Michigan House鈥檚 current 54-54 partisan split due to two Democratic members winning mayoral races last as a hindrance for further action on gun policy was primarily carried by Democratic votes. Special elections are scheduled for April 16.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 have any Republican members who are willing to vote yes on gun safety,鈥� Brinks said. 鈥淭丑别re鈥檚 a lot of policy left to be done and it can be frustrating to watch from afar. I will also say it鈥檚 frustrating to watch up close so we share a lot of your concerns about that and we鈥檒l continue to work.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan J. Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com. Follow Michigan Advance on and .

For starters, experts suggest, get the kids back into school. Routines matter in the raw aftermath of trauma.

Child health experts say the shooting that killed a mother and wounded several children at the close of Kansas City鈥檚 celebration of the Chiefs鈥� latest championship likely left kids traumatized. Whether they were near Union Station or, for some, just hearing the news.

Schools quickly made social workers and counselors available Thursday and put out advice to parents on how to help children return to a sense of normalcy and safety.

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Some children, the experts say, need to talk about their concerns. That, the experts say, needs to be balanced against dwelling too much on what happened or trying to force conversations that could go wrong.

Wednesday鈥檚 violence came after clinicians saw a troubling mental health hangover from the pandemic.

鈥淩ates of anxiety and depression doubled for young people,鈥� said Dr. Shayla Sullivant, a child and adolescent psychiatrist with Children鈥檚 Mercy Hospital. 鈥淣ow we have more kids that have experienced trauma.鈥�

Multiple school districts told The Beacon that they鈥檙e turning to what鈥檚 familiar 鈥� like going right back to school 鈥� to help restore calm after a calamity.

When disaster strikes, 鈥渋t comes from a place that we didn鈥檛 expect, and we don鈥檛 know how to deal with that,鈥� said David Smith, a spokesperson for the Shawnee Mission School District. 鈥淏eing able to connect people, kids, to the familiar, to the routine, can be helpful and give them a comfort that the world is returning to the world that they know and (where) they feel safe.鈥�

Adults matter, too. Parents and teachers, Smith said, need to recognize and seek support for their own distress 鈥渋n order for us to be there for our kids.鈥�

The shooting marked a 鈥渃ommunity-level trauma,鈥� said Damon Daniel, president of the Ad Hoc Group Against Crime, even in a city that saw a record 182 homicides last year.

鈥淲e live in a city where we鈥檙e not strangers to violence,鈥� he said.

His group worked with prosecutors and other organizations to offer counseling on Thursday at the Kansas City United Church of Christ in Brookside. He said it鈥檚 time to talk with professionals and not to lean on isolation, substance abuse or more violence to cope.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a very complex problem. It鈥檚 not one solution,鈥� Daniel said. 鈥淭丑别re鈥檚 no silver bullet to this.鈥�

For starters, public places might never feel the same to some people after the Union Station shooting. Chris Williams, a counselor with Heartland Therapy Connection, said teenagers and young adults might be particularly damaged by the trauma.

鈥淭丑别re are no public places they can look at and be, like, 鈥業鈥檓 safe here,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淢ore and more children are on guard, looking out.鈥�

He said survivors can experience extreme post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, such as paranoia or fear of loud noises, and will look to adults for assurance.

鈥淲e鈥檙e losing that ability to tell them it鈥檚 gonna be OK,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淭丑别re are no safe spaces.鈥�

Kansas City Public Schools Superintendent Jennifer Collier emailed parents urging them to address the trauma directly.

鈥淲hile our instinct may be to shield them from the harsh realities of the world,鈥� she wrote, 鈥渋t鈥檚 essential to proactively address their concerns, especially with our older students who are more likely to seek information independently.鈥�

The district was still sorting out Thursday how many students were close to the shooting even as it suggested parents limit their children鈥檚 exposure to news coverage.

Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools also enlisted counselors and social workers and told parents that their kids need someone to turn to.

鈥淧eople deal with pain and tragedy differently,鈥� district spokesperson Edwin Birch said. 鈥淭丑别 main thing is just being available.鈥�

At Wichita鈥檚 USD 259, the largest school district in Kansas, administrators strove to return to the routine.

鈥淐hildren are pretty quick to move on to the next thing,鈥� said Stephanie Anderson, who works in the district鈥檚 counseling services. 鈥淭丑别y don鈥檛 dwell on stuff like this, unless they hear adults dwelling on it.鈥�

That, she said, needs to be paired with candor.

鈥�(Don鈥檛) sugarcoat it or don鈥檛 create fear,鈥� Anderson said.

She and other experts suggest parents look for routines breaking down in the aftermath of the Super Bowl parade. Is your child having trouble sleeping? Has their appetite dwindled? Are they crankier than usual?

An adult鈥檚 ear can prove especially helpful, said , a clinical psychologist specializing in children and adolescents at Laurel School鈥檚 Center for Research on Girls in Shaker Heights, Ohio.

She said trusted adults 鈥� family, mental health professionals, school staff 鈥� need to be available. Cordiano said younger children may prefer to process their emotions about the parade shooting through art, and older children will need someone to confide in.

鈥淲hen they have those places to talk,鈥� Cordiano said, 鈥渋t can help them cope.鈥�

The more comfortable kids feel to talk, she said, the better to keep them grounded and feeling safe.

鈥淲hen we shut it down,鈥� she said, 鈥渋t makes it too big or scary.鈥�

Yet exposure to leaves some psyches damaged for a lifetime. Starsky Wilson, president of the left-leaning Children鈥檚 Defense Fund, said gun violence can heighten children鈥檚 risk of abusing drugs and alcohol or weigh them down with depression and anxiety.

鈥淭丑别 normalization of gun violence in society can desensitize children to the impact of violence and contribute to a sense of helplessness or resignation about the problem,鈥� he said in an email to The Beacon.

Wilson said, in turn, that can make it harder to feel secure, form relationships or thrive in school.

鈥淲hen exposed to violence,鈥� he wrote, 鈥渟chool-aged children tend to exhibit lower academic grades and increased absenteeism.鈥�

This story was compiled by Scott Canon based on staff reporting. Suzanne King contributed.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com. Follow Missouri Independent on and .

Florida lawmakers approved a bill aimed at increasing school safety on the sixth anniversary of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Meanwhile, they also were considering rolling back a state law that increased the minimum age for purchasing a gun that lawmakers passed following the shooting.

Lawmakers in the House Education & Employment Committee held a moment of silence Wednesday morning following their vote to approve the school safety legislation to commemorate the 17 people killed in the shooting. The proposal, , from Republican Rep. Dana Trabulsy of St. Lucie County, would require entry points and classroom doors in public schools to be locked unless a staff member is guarding them.

鈥淪adly, there are 17 victims and their friends and families that will never look at Valentine鈥檚 Day the same, and that鈥檚 why the school safety bill was born six years ago, and that鈥檚 why we continue to hear a school safety bill every year so that we can continue to build upon what we鈥檝e learned from previous years and instances,鈥� Trabulsy said.

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Additionally, the law would require the Office of Safe Schools to conduct unannounced inspections of schools to ensure they comply with all safety requirements. Those inspections would happen every three years, and schools found out of compliance would face reinspection within six months.

The proposal passed the committee with unanimous support.

Backslide

On Tuesday, the eve of the mass shooting鈥檚 anniversary, in the House that would lower the age of purchasing a firearm from 21 to 18 and allow someone to get a gun if the Florida Department of Law Enforcement can鈥檛 determine that person鈥檚 eligibility within three days.

鈥淪o as far as I鈥檓 concerned, candidly, that bill and so many others in this building this year are a slap in the face to my community, to the victims and their families, and really is absurd,鈥� said Broward County Democratic House Rep. Dan Daley during the remote Tuesday news conference.

Under the school-safety bill, people would also be prohibited from flying drones over any school without permission from the administration. Republican Rep. Randy Fine said that had been a problem for Jewish day schools, which the committee also approved to receive additional funding Wednesday through a bill he sponsored.

鈥淚 just want folks to know this was an issue that came up after Oct. 7, where drones started flying over Jewish day schools, and FDLE told us, 鈥楾here鈥檚 nothing you could do. They can fly them over,’鈥� Fine said. 鈥淲hile the issue is only affecting Jewish day schools, frankly, drones shouldn鈥檛 be flying over any schools.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on and .

A Michigan jury found Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of the Oxford High School shooter, guilty of involuntary manslaughter Tuesday.

In a , the jury found that Crumbley bore enough responsibility for the deaths caused by her son鈥檚 actions that she should be held criminally liable.

At age 15, Crumbley鈥檚 son shot and killed four of his classmates at Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021, days after his father bought him a gun. Crumbley鈥檚 son was sentenced to life without parole in December.

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Crumbley鈥檚 husband, James Crumbley, has a separate trial scheduled for March.

After two days of deliberations, a jury in Oakland County Circuit Court in metro Detroit delivered the guilty verdict for Jennifer Crumbley on four counts of involuntary manslaughter, one for each of the students killed: Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, Hana St. Julianna and Justin Shilling.

The jury had been tasked by the court to determine whether Crumbley鈥檚 actions warranted involuntary manslaughter charges, which marks new legal ground for determining responsibility for a mass shooting.

Crumbley now faces up to 15 years in prison ahead of her sentencing scheduled for April 9.

Her defense argued during the trial that began on Jan. 25 that Crumbley couldn鈥檛 have known what her son was going to do. She was portrayed as an attentive parent who was aware that her son was going through a hard time, but nothing indicated he would become a school shooter.

鈥淚t was unforeseeable; no one expected this,鈥� Shannon Smith, a lawyer for Crumbley, said in her closing arguments. 鈥淣o one could have expected this, including Mrs. Crumbley.鈥�

But the prosecution argued that Crumbley failed as a parent to perform her legal duty to exercise reasonable oversight to her son to prevent him from harming others and was negligent to the point that it harmed human life.

The prosecution proved Crumbley鈥檚 role in the shooting and how she could have intervened at several points beforehand to get her son help or secured the firearms in the home, but she didn鈥檛, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said in her closing arguments.

鈥淲e have proven beyond a reasonable doubt that she is guilty of four counts of involuntary manslaughter. It鈥檚 a rare case. It takes some really egregious facts. It takes the unthinkable and she has done the unthinkable and because of that four kids have died,鈥� McDonald said.

Despite audibly crying at several points throughout the trial, Crumbley didn鈥檛 have a substantial reaction to the verdict being read. McDonald and other members of the prosecution hugged family members of the slain children.

In addition to the four students who were killed, the shooter injured six other students and a teacher. Molly Darnell, the teacher who was shot in the arm, was the first witness to testify at the start of the trial in January. A total of 22 witnesses spoke during the trial, including Crumbley, members of law enforcement and people who had interactions with Crumbley.

A major element of the prosecution鈥檚 justification for the involuntary manslaughter charges was Crumbley鈥檚 actions the day of the shooting after she and her husband were called to the school because the shooter had done a drawing of his gun on his math assignment.

Four days prior, the shooter and his father went to a gun shop and the father purchased the gun used in the killings on Black Friday as an early Christmas present.

After the meeting at the school where Crumbley and her husband were advised to seek out professional help for their son, the prosecution brought in witnesses from the school and law enforcement to show that neither parent took the shooter out of school for the day. Neither parent checked their son鈥檚 backpack where he had the gun. And neither parent asked their son where his gun was or checked to see if it was still at home.

There had been other meetings with the shooter鈥檚 parents, Shawn Hopkins, the school counselor at the meeting the day of the shooting, said during the trial. He said he was hoping one of the parents would take the shooter home. Although Hopkins didn鈥檛 tell them they had to, he thought it was strange they didn鈥檛.

鈥淪he sat down in the chair; [I] felt she was a little bit distant. 鈥� It felt like it was a little bit of an inconvenience to be there,鈥� Hopkins said of Crumbley during the meeting.

Hopkins said the shooter showed signs of possible suicidal thoughts and he didn鈥檛 want him to be alone. Hopkins added that he did not know that the shooter鈥檚 father had bought him a gun.

In addition to the drawing of a gun, the shooter鈥檚 assignment had the words, 鈥渕y life is useless鈥� and 鈥渢he thoughts won鈥檛 stop help me,鈥� written in addition to other statements and drawings.

When school officials asked Crumbley and her husband to go to the school, Crumbley testified she thought the shooter had sketched the gun in defiance of a recent conversation they had about his falling math grade, during which he had his phone taken away and was told he couldn鈥檛 go to the shooting range until his grade improved.

This was the first time she and her husband had been called to the school on an 鈥渋mmediate鈥� time frame, Crumbley testified and she had told her boss she would be back at work an hour later.

Crumbley said she expected her son to get in trouble and get suspended, but the meeting was 鈥渘onchalant鈥� and 鈥渂rief.鈥�

鈥淭丑别re is never a time where I would refuse to take him home,鈥� Crumbley testified, adding that she told her husband to start calling mental health professionals suggested by Hopkins.

Crumbley said she and her husband lost everything, adding she doesn鈥檛 feel like she failed as a parent and she had no reason to think her son was a danger to anyone else. She said she doesn鈥檛 look back and think she would have done anything differently.

鈥淵ou spend your whole life trying to protect your child from other dangers. You never would think you have to protect your child from harming somebody else,鈥� Crumbley testified, adding that she wished he would have killed her and her husband instead of the other kids at the school.

The shooter鈥檚 father was responsible for gun storage as firearms were not really her thing, Crumbley said. The gun that was bought for her son鈥檚 use was secured using a cable lock and the key to unlock it was hidden in one of the many decorative beer steins throughout the house.

The prosecution 鈥渃herry-picked鈥� evidence to make Crumbley look like a negligent mother and conflate the magnitude of the tragedy with Crumbley鈥檚 parenting, Smith said as part of Crumbley鈥檚 defense. Hours of the trial were dedicated to members of law enforcement going over the gruesome details of the shooting. But Smith said the case came down to the prosecution improperly asking the jury to come to the assumption that Crumbley could have conceived what no parent would think their child would be capable of.

鈥淲hen you look back in hindsight, with 20-20 vision 鈥� it is easy to say this could have been different, that could have been different, this would have changed,鈥� Smith said.

Due to the community impact of the shooting and the future legal implications for parents of mass shooters in the future, the case has garnered national attention.

The jury鈥檚 verdict stands as a reminder to parents and gun owners that they are responsible for ensuring children can鈥檛 access their firearms unsupervised, Nick Suplina, senior vice president for law and policy at Everytown for Gun Safety, said in a statement after the verdict was read.

鈥淧lain and simple, the deadly shooting at Oxford High School in 2021 should have 鈥� and could have 鈥� been prevented had the Crumbley鈥檚 not acquired a gun for their 15-year-old son,鈥� Suplina said. 鈥淭his decision is an important step forward in ensuring accountability and, hopefully, preventing future tragedies.鈥�

The decision marks Michigan setting a standard for the legal response to 鈥渨hen our kids are killed in their sanctuaries,鈥� U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly) said in a statement Tuesday. She applauded .

鈥淭oday is a historic day in Michigan, and really for the whole country. Having watched the Oxford community go through this school shooting firsthand, and seeing the lifelong hole it ripped in the lives of everyone involved, this verdict feels like a small moment of relief,鈥� Slotkin said. 鈥淚t is my hope that it brings a bit of peace to the survivors and to the entire community, as I know everyone in Oxford has worked to heal together over the past two years.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan J. Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com. Follow Michigan Advance on and .

Almost a year after Texas鈥� deadliest school shooting, state lawmakers ordered school districts to secure schools with armed officers and to train more staff to identify students who may need mental health support under legislation set to become law in September.

The new school safety law will grant the Texas Education Agency more authority to make sure schools have robust safety plans to respond to an active shooter 鈥� something about half of all Texas school districts lacked, according to a . Meanwhile, another law will allow schools to use school safety funds to employ unlicensed chaplains for mental health roles, a move some critics could allow religious activists to recruit in schools and further polarize school communities.

The renewed emphasis on school safety came in response to the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde last year. But despite the new measures, state lawmakers didn鈥檛 listen to Uvalde parents鈥� calls to pass legislation that would鈥檝e raised the minimum age to buy an AR-style rifle from 18 to 21.

All in all, experts say many of the changes will bolster school safety but some requirements, such as for armed officers, may be challenging for public schools to implement by the upcoming school year with limited funding and staffing constraints. The legislation does not punish schools for not having an armed guard at every school.

Here鈥檚 what you need to know about the changes lawmakers made to school safety in Texas.

What prompted these new laws?

Over a year ago, a teenage gunman entered Uvalde鈥檚 Robb Elementary School and killed 19 children and two teachers in what became Texas鈥� deadliest school shooting. Seventeen people were also injured.

Law enforcement didn鈥檛 breach the classrooms the gunman had taken over for more than an hour amid lapses in communication and leadership, according to investigations by state officials and journalists. A state also found 鈥渟ystemic failures鈥� and missed warning signs that the gunman may have been planning a violent attack.

In response, state leaders called for boosting schools鈥� physical security measures to protect them against intruders and addressing student mental health.

Not long after the shooting, some Texas officials, including U.S. Sen. , , though some law enforcement leaders at the time noted it would be challenging to fully staff and pay for such a proposal.

What actions did state leaders take after the Uvalde shooting?

About a month after the shooting in Uvalde, Gov. and state leaders toward school safety initiatives, including silent panic alert technology that was mandated by the TEA to quickly alert police whenever there鈥檚 an intruder in a school.

Abbott also appointed a , a new TEA position, to serve schools and the Legislature as a security expert. He also ordered to see how effective schools are at detecting and stopping intruders.

In February, Abbott made school safety for the regular legislative session, calling on state lawmakers to provide additional funding for school safety and mental health and to 鈥渦se the newly created Chief of School Safety and Security to ensure compliance with all mandated school safety standards.鈥�

What school safety changes did the Texas Legislature make?

Heeding Abbott鈥檚 call, state lawmakers passed . The broad legislation expands and reinforces several existing school safety efforts, like requiring mental health training for more school staff, and outlines more ways schools can use funding for school safety. The law will go into effect in September, but lawmakers gave schools some flexibility to meet the requirements for armed guards and staff mental health training.

Despite the renewed focus on school safety, state lawmakers largely ignored calls from Uvalde parents for more gun regulations. During this year鈥檚 regular session, the families pushed for a bill that would鈥檝e raised the minimum age to buy an AR-style weapon from 18 to 21. The bill saw some traction in the Legislature, but it along with several other proposed firearm safety measures.

HB 3 also creates a new within the TEA to be led by Abbott鈥檚 appointed chief of school safety and security. That department will be tasked with monitoring school districts鈥� compliance with safety requirements, including the intruder detection audits ordered by Abbott. If a district fails to submit school safety information or address any concerns, the new law gives the commissioner of education the power to appoint a conservator to oversee the district鈥檚 school board and superintendent and correct the issues. The law says this corrective action would not apply to school districts that fail to have an armed officer at every school.

How will schools and the state work together to secure campuses?

The legislation also requires more cooperation between the TEA and the , a research center at Texas State University tasked with collecting and sharing school safety information from schools and law enforcement.

The TEA and the center must work together to assess the security of school campuses at least once every four years, and set facility standards for districts at least once every five years. The legislation also directs the TEA commissioner to develop guidelines for districts to notify parents of 鈥渧iolent activity鈥� that takes place or is investigated at the district, and orders the Texas School Safety Center to provide schools with resources they can hand over to parents on how to safely store their firearms.

In addition, school districts must provide the Texas Department of Public Safety and local emergency responders with maps of each school and let them conduct a walkthrough of school buildings. In counties with a population of less than 350,000 inhabitants, sheriffs must also conduct semiannual school safety meetings with local law enforcement officers, emergency responders and school leaders.

The legislation raises the amount districts receive each year for school safety expenses to $10 per student 鈥� an increase of $0.28 鈥� and provides them with an additional $15,000 per campus.

Lawmakers also allocated $1.1 billion in the state budget for the TEA to award grants to help school districts pay for some school safety requirements, like silent panic alerts. School districts will first be able to apply for funds to help them meet minimum safety standards, according to the TEA. In a second cycle, grants will be offered to school districts so they can meet other identified safety needs, the agency said.

The new funding will likely not cover all the costs of implementing the new requirements, according to education associations and school safety experts. Placing an armed officer or guard at every school campus will be particularly expensive, they said.

鈥淓veryone wants to do everything possible to keep students safe, but we are very concerned about our schools鈥� ability to meet all of the new requirements given the limited resources that are available,鈥� said Brian Whitley, a spokesperson for the Texas Public Charter Schools Association. He noted that charter schools are particularly worried because they can鈥檛 levy taxes to help pay for school security upgrades, unlike traditional public school districts.

Will there be an armed police officer at every school?

The legislation directs school districts to have at least one armed officer at each campus during regular school hours. The officer must be a commissioned peace officer from the district鈥檚 own police department, a school resource officer from another law enforcement agency or a peace officer hired as a security officer.

Many school districts already hire some , but they may have to resort to alternatives, such as arming school staff or hiring private security officers, to guard all school campuses.

Jacksonville Independent School District Police Chief Bill Avera said his district has officers stationed at each of its schools. But Avera, who also serves as vice president of the Texas School Police Chiefs Association and as a member of the Texas School Safety Center鈥檚 board of directors, acknowledged other school districts could face challenges doing so.

In addition to paying for an officer鈥檚 salaries and benefits, school districts sometimes also have to take care of equipment costs, like paying for uniforms, gear and patrol vehicles, Avera said.

The Texas Association of School Boards estimates the cost of hiring a police officer for districts could range from $80,000 to $100,000 per year, said Joy Baskin, the associate executive director of policy and legal services for TASB.

And the pool for eligible officers is competitive amid a nationwide shortage of law enforcement job candidates, Avera said. His district, for example, has relied on retired police officers to staff its schools, he said.

鈥淚t takes a minute nowadays to hire a police officer,鈥� he said. 鈥淭丑别re’s a lot of background work. There’s a lot of things that have to be reviewed and checked on to ensure that [officers] are qualified, and so it鈥檒l be interesting with all the school districts looking for officers at basically the same time.鈥�

Texas has more than a thousand traditional public school districts and almost 200 charter school operators or districts.

What happens if school districts can鈥檛 staff their schools with police officers?

The legislation doesn鈥檛 outline penalties for school districts that don鈥檛 meet the armed officer requirement, Baskin said.

If school districts can鈥檛 staff schools with armed peace officers because of financial or staffing constraints, the legislation allows for a school board to claim a 鈥済ood cause exception.鈥� Each school board will determine what these exceptions will look like locally and must outline an 鈥渁lternative security standard with which the district is able to comply,鈥� the TEA told The Texas Tribune.

According to the law, alternative plans can include allowing trained staff members to be armed. A new option in the school safety law approved this year is for districts to contract with a licensed private security firm that has personnel licensed to be armed, Avera said.

Districts can arm their staff members through the state-run school marshal program, which requires 80 hours of training and certification by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, or by setting their own policies 鈥� known as 鈥淕uardian Plans鈥� 鈥� to designate specific individuals to carry firearms.

In from the Texas School Safety Center, 41% of the state鈥檚 more than one thousand school districts reported contracting school resource officers from other law enforcement agencies and 32% employed their own police officers, but about 70% of districts said they hired only between 1 and 5 police officers. About half of districts reported using non-law enforcement security personnel, including 27.4% under Guardian Plans and 6% under the school marshal program.

In a about charter school districts, 30.2% of almost 200 charter school operators in the state reported using non-law enforcement security personnel, including 24.2% who hired private security.

Arming school staff could be less expensive than hiring police officers but still requires vetting and training under the school marshals program. The state pays for school marshal training, but that training is not always widely available, so school districts may still incur travel costs for their staff to be trained, said Craig Bessent, a school marshal in Wylie Independent School District, where he also serves as assistant superintendent of school operations.

鈥淚 wish we would have had more legislative help on that but we didn鈥檛, so we’ll just see how it plays out,鈥� said Bessent, who is also chair of the Texas School Safety Center鈥檚 board of directors.

In addition, finding school employees who want to be armed might be hard. In the past, they have been reluctant to do so. About a month after the Uvalde shooting, showed that Texas teachers do not want to take a gun to school.

Given these constraints, Bessent said school districts are 鈥渟crambling鈥� to figure out how to follow the legislation before it is expected to go into effect in September.

The TEA said it plans to provide additional guidance, including webinars with an overview of HB 3 and school safety-related funding, within the next few weeks.

Districts will likely work to meet the requirements as soon as possible, Baskin said, but it may take some time.

鈥淚 think many districts will want to stay as closely aligned to the statute as possible. In part because they do want to provide the best possible safety for students, but also in part because they would not want to be out of sync with the legal requirements if there were an emergency event,鈥� she said.

State Rep. , the Republican from Lubbock who authored the bill, did not respond to a request for comment on the rollout of the requirement.

What are the rules around guns on campuses?

Schools are generally considered gun-free zones under federal and state laws except in certain circumstances, including in the case of police officers, school marshals and individuals authorized by the school district to carry guns.

A 1990 federal law bans firearms on school property or within 1,000 feet of public and private schools, but the law makes exceptions for law enforcement and individuals licensed to carry. Other in federal law include if the gun is not loaded and is locked away or if the individual has been authorized to carry a gun by the district.

Texas also generally bans guns where school-sponsored activities take place, unless an individual is exempted. HB 3 clarifies that individuals allowed to carry firearms at schools but who aren鈥檛 law enforcement officers can鈥檛 carry out routine law enforcement duties unless there is an emergency that poses a serious threat of injury or death.

How will new Texas laws address student mental health?

Every school staff member who regularly interacts with students will be required to take evidence-based mental health training designed to help school staff identify signs that a student may need mental health support, which Avera said can be crucial to preventing violence.

The legislation allows school districts to stagger the training of staff to meet the requirement by the 2028-2029 school year, but Baskin said districts may work to complete the requirement sooner amid a renewed focus on student mental health, also spurred by the pandemic.

School districts can be reimbursed by TEA for the costs of providing this training to employees, according to legislation, but schools and mental health advocates did not get a dedicated funding stream for mental health. Many that meeting the other school safety requirements will take up most of the available funding.

The Legislature also this session that gives schools the option to use school safety funds to pay for unlicensed chaplains to work in mental health roles. Volunteer chaplains will also be allowed in schools. Policies for chaplains in schools will be up to local school boards. Parental consent is required for school-related mental health services, including chaplains, the TEA said.

And lawmakers to the Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine program, which connects school districts with mental health professionals who can help identify student behavioral needs and help provide access to those services. The program is expected to receive $140 million for the next two years.

Disclosure: Texas Association of School Boards and Texas Public Charter Schools Association have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete .

This article originally appeared in  at, a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at .

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday signed more bills establishing gun safety reforms during a news conference in Royal Oak.

鈥淣o Michigander should fear going to school, work, the grocery store, or their own home because of gun violence,鈥� said Whitmer. 鈥淓xtreme risk protection orders have been proven to reduce suicides, save lives, and keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers and violent criminals.鈥�

Whitmer, a Democrat, called the measure 鈥渃ommon sense action to reduce gun violence and keep families and communities safe.鈥�

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She 蝉颈驳苍别诲听, sponsored by state Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak), that creates the Extreme Risk Protection Order Act 鈥� otherwise known as a 鈥渞ed flag鈥� law.

, sponsored by state Rep. Kelly Breen (D-Novi), prohibits someone from purchasing new firearms while under an extreme risk protection order.聽, sponsored by state Rep. Julie Brixie (D-Meridian Twp.), provides for service of process for extreme risk protection order actions and waive court fees.聽, sponsored by state Rep. Stephanie Young (D-Detroit), places sentencing guidelines for making a false statement in support of an extreme risk protection order.

The bills were part of a Democratic package introduced after the Feb. 13 mass shooting at Michigan State University that killed three students.

Last month at MSU, Whitmer聽the first bills in the package that require safe storage of firearms and ammunition and background checks.

Former U.S. Rep.聽聽of Arizona, a 2011 gun violence survivor, attended the Royal Oak event, as well as Attorney General Dana Nessel, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy and Michigan State University student Troy Forbush, who survived the Feb. 13 campus shooting.

McMorrow, who helped to host the event, said that 鈥渃ountless families across Michigan are devastated by the epidemic of gun violence.鈥�

鈥淭丑别 data is clear that extreme risk protection orders are a commonsense, effective tool to keep guns out of the hands of those who may hurt themselves or others and are already employed by 19 states across the country,鈥� said McMorrow.

Dylan Morris, an Oxford High School senior who survived the聽聽in 2021 and later founded 鈥淣o Future Without Today,鈥� testified in support of the gun safety legislation and described the signing as 鈥渉istoric.鈥�

鈥淭his a huge accomplishment today, especially in preventing the continued proliferation of suicides, mass shootings and everyday community violence,鈥� said Morris.

For 24/7 mental health support in English or Spanish, call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration鈥檚 at 800-662-4357. You can also reach a trained crisis counselor through the by calling or texting 988.

Kimberly Mata-Rubio sat before a crowd on Thursday at the Austin Convention Center, hands tightly clasped to tell a story about the darkest day of her life, when she knew her daughter was one of the shooting victims at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.

The crowd intently listened as she described the scenes of chaos and confusion that surrounded that day when 19 students, including her 10-year-old daughter, and two teachers were killed by a gunman in the deadliest school shooting in Texas history.

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鈥淭丑别 days after were just filled with questions. How did this happen to her? How did this happen to me? How did this happen to us?鈥� Mata-Rubio said while her voice quivered with emotion.

Mata-Rubio was one of three keynote speakers for a SXSW EDU school safety panel, held in partnership with The Texas Tribune, that raised questions about gun policy, social media and mental health using the backdrop of the tragic May 24 school shooting.

Nine months ago, she found herself part of an ever-growing community of parents who have lost their children to school shootings.

鈥淚t was comforting to meet them in a way. There is no judgment and they share this pain and they understand,鈥� Mata-Rubio said about meeting other parents whose children died in school shootings. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also terrifying because they are a mirror of what my future is and there is so much pain still. That you never get better. That you will walk around with this pain until your time is over and you are reunited with your loved one again.鈥�

Odis Johnson Jr., executive director of the Johns Hopkins University鈥檚 Center for Safe and Healthy Schools, and Nick Allen, a professor at the University of Oregon and director of the Center for Digital Mental Health, both spoke about the need for gun policy changes before trying to address mental health.

鈥淰ery often mental health is used as an alternative to gun safety policy, but these things must work together,鈥� Allen said.

In the past six decades, the state has experienced at least that have killed a total of nearly 200 people and wounded more than 230 others.

Yet state leaders have repeatedly voted against measures that would limit access to guns, on publicly carrying them while making it harder for local governments to regulate them.

鈥淭丑别re are thousands of laws on the books across the country that limit the owning or using of firearms, laws that have not stopped madmen from carrying out evil acts on innocent people,鈥� Gov. said in to the National Rifle Association just three days after the Uvalde shooting.

But on Wednesday, senators of this legislative session 鈥� one that would close a loophole in state law that had allowed gun sales to people who were involuntarily hospitalized for mental illness between the ages of 16 and 18. The gunman responsible for the Uvalde mass shooting had not been previously hospitalized but did have a history of mental illness.

The term 鈥渁ggrieved entitlement鈥� was used multiple times during Thursday鈥檚 discussion to describe the mindset of certain school shooters.

鈥淥ften the person has a sense they were owed or deserved something from life that they haven鈥檛 received,鈥� Allen explained.

Allen said many men who fit this description do not seek mental health assistance in the first place because they view it as a weakness or a challenge to their manhood.

鈥淒ifferent kinds of programs that help identify these particular young men who are isolated and disassociated might help. It would also be very good if they didn鈥檛 have access to guns,鈥� Allen said.

The state鈥檚 Republican leaders have focused on mental health and school safety as the policy response to the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, mostly resisting gun-control measures.

Texas leaders agreed last year to dedicate more than $100 million in state funds to boost school safety and mental health services following the Uvalde massacre. Nearly half the money 鈥� $50 million 鈥� is going toward bullet-resistant shields for school police officers, while an additional $17.1 million will go to school districts to buy silent panic alert technology.

Texas House Speaker announced his support this week for several bills addressing gaps in school safety, one of which would to adopt active-shooter preparedness plans. The bill would require districts to send maps of each campus to the Texas Education Agency, provide opportunities for law enforcement to conduct walk-throughs of all buildings and lay out the costs necessary to meet the state鈥檚 established safety standards.

鈥淪chools in the top third of the nation for their use of cameras, school resource officers and other security measures had lower mathematical scores and college-going rates than the [schools] in the lower third for security measures,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淭丑别 primary mission of schools is to educate and equip kids to be successful, healthy and happy, and what we have done is double down on surveillance technology that undermines that mission. Students shouldn鈥檛 feel like suspects.鈥�

All three speakers agreed that in order for there to be real change, the gun reform issue will have to be taken on in the political realm.

Last year, President Joe Biden signed into law the first major gun safety legislation passed by Congress in nearly 30 years. The legislation includes incentives for states to pass so-called red flag laws that allow groups to petition courts to remove weapons from people deemed a threat to themselves or others.

鈥淟egislation was a breaking point. It鈥檚 not where we need to be, but the framework is there. The essential components are now there,鈥� Johnson said as the crowd cheered. 鈥淭丑别 problem has been that for a long time, we have lacked the political will to do this and the only solution to this is a political solution.鈥�

This article originally appeared in  a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

A trio of GOP gun measures won approval from lawmakers Wednesday, including a measure that would allow people with concealed weapon permits to bring firearms onto Arizona school campuses.

The Judiciary Committee in the state House of Representatives passed three bills put forward by pro-gun advocates. The committee is chaired by Rep. Quang Nguyen, R-Prescott Valley, who for the Arizona Scorpions Junior High-Power Rifle team and also serves as president of the Arizona State Rifle and Pistol Association.

, sponsored by Sen. Janae Shamp, R-Surprise, prohibits a school board from restricting a parent or legal guardian from having a firearm on school property if they have a concealed carry permit.

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Shamp told the committee that the current law barring weapons on campuses has affected herself and 鈥渜uite a few of her constituents鈥� who had gotten emergency calls about their children and forgotten about a firearm they were concealing either on their person or in their purse.

Gun control advocates who showed up to the meeting in large numbers did not feel the bill was appropriate.

鈥淚鈥檓 opposed to the presence of guns in schools, from kindergarten to colleges, which (the bill) would allow,鈥� Anne Thompson, a volunteer with Moms Demand Action, told lawmakers. Thompson also pointed to metal detectors and security in the House of Representatives, which bars visitors from bringing in weapons, questioning why lawmakers wouldn鈥檛 want similar protection for children at school.

Rep. Alexander Kolodin, R-Scottsdale, expressed his frustration to Thompson over the metal detectors, saying that he has spoken to House leadership about having them removed. That prompted Nguyen to declare that he was currently practicing his 鈥淪econd Amendment right鈥� so everyone in the committee room was 鈥渟afe.鈥�

Mary Cline, president and co-founder of the Students Demand Action chapter at University of Arizona, shared the story of how her father, who was the principal of her school, used a firearm in a domestic violence incident with her mother. Her father also allowed firearms on his campus.

鈥淲e鈥檝e had a lot of bills like this come through our committee in the 11 years that I鈥檝e been here,鈥� Rep. Lupe Contreras, D-Avondale, said. 鈥淥ne thing that I have heard time and time again is that more guns in people鈥檚 hands in a situation of that magnitude is not always the safest thing to have.鈥�

Contreras argued that more guns on school campuses, which saw the this decade, would only make problems worse. That sentiment was echoed by his other Democratic colleagues.

Rep. Melody Hernandez, D-Tempe, said she is concerned about accidental deaths on campuses. In the last five years there have been related to guns being mishandled in schools.

Proponents of the bill, like Kolodin, said it was about the government not restricting a constitutional right while also not criminalizing parents.

鈥淲hy are we making these good, law-abiding citizens into criminals?鈥� Kolodin said.

The bill has already won approval along party lines in the Senate and heads next to consideration by the full House.

Silencer or ear protection?

But SB1331 wasn鈥檛 the only gun measure heard Wednesday morning.

Another proposal that cleared the GOP-controlled committee was , which aims to get ahead of possible future federal legislation on gun laws. Silencers and muzzle suppressors are legal in Arizona, though they are considered a class 3 firearm, which requires a . Rogers鈥� bill removes existing  that conforms with federal guidelines around the equipment.

鈥淭his is a simple bill. It reinforces our right to have this kind of device on a firearm and it keeps it from being on a prohibited list,鈥� Sen. Wendy Rogers, the bill鈥檚 sponsor, told the committee Wednesday, adding that critiques from Democratic members that these devices would make mass shootings deadlier are not 鈥済ermane鈥� to the bill.

鈥淗ow is that not germane?鈥� Rep. Analise Ortiz, D-Phoenix, asked Rogers.

鈥淭丑别se aren鈥檛 the silencers that you see on a James Bond movie,鈥� the Flagstaff Republican retorted.

Rogers argued that silencers are needed so that help hunters and competitive shooters don鈥檛 damage their hearing, although both Rogers and the experts she brought to testify admitted they were not an 鈥渁udiologist鈥� or health professional.

Silencers are available to gun owners in the United States but they have to be registered to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and get approval with the agency. There were 28,942 in Arizona in 2016 and over 1 million registered nationwide. However, state law disallows such devices.

The bill heads next to the full House for debate. It previously passed out of the Senate on a party line vote, with only Republicans in support.

Can鈥檛 discriminate against the NRA

After the mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 dead, banks like JPMorgan Chase and CitiGroup began distancing themselves from the firearm industry. Last year, lawmakers began retaliating.

Texas that bars state agencies from working with any firm that 鈥渄iscriminates鈥� against companies or individuals in the gun industry and the law also requires banks, as well as others, to state that they will comply with the law.

Now, , by Sen. Frank Carroll, R-Sun City West, aims to do the exact same thing in Arizona.

The Texas law has had major repercussions for the state, as JPMorgan underwrote a large number of the state鈥檚 bond deals. Now, billions of dollars in bonds are up in the air due to the legislation and it is estimated to have cost the Texan in interest.

鈥淲e aren鈥檛 opposed to gun manufacturers or anything like that,鈥� Ryan Boyd, a lobbyist for the Arizona Association of Counties, told the committee about the group鈥檚 opposition to the bill. Boyd noted the loss of underwriters Texas has seen as a result of its law and the impact it could have on county treasurers across the state who have to use larger financial institutions for their contracts.

And Jay Kaprosy, a lobbyist representing the Arizona Bankers Association, said that banks are not distancing themselves from gun industries to 鈥渋nfringe on the Second Amendment,鈥� as some lawmakers have suggested, but as part of 鈥渞isk management鈥� practices. Kaprosy also pushed back against claims that firearm industry groups have not been able to secure new banks after certain banks have left them.

鈥淭丑别re are a number of banks that have picked this up as a niche where they have aggressively seeked this out,鈥� Kaprosy said.

Those representing the firearm industry said differently.

鈥淚t takes a lot of time to change millions upon millions of dollars of transactions and to move that stuff over,鈥� Michael Findlay, a lobbyist for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, said to the committee. Findlay said that gun manufacturer Ruger had to move their bank in Arizona. Ruger is worth nearly $1 billion.

The bill has already passed out of the Senate along party lines and will head to the House next for a full vote.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arizona Mirror maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jim Small for questions: info@azmirror.com. Follow Arizona Mirror on and .

In the weeks since the Jan. 6 shooting in Newport News, Virginia, which police almost immediately deemed intentional, new details continue to emerge, but with each revelation the incident becomes harder to understand.

That was especially true this week when the attorney for injured first-grade teacher 鈥嬧�婣bigail Zwerner alleged the school failed to intervene despite at least that the student was carrying a gun. The school board on Wednesday night and the 6-year-old鈥檚 mother, who legally purchased the weapon, still faces the .

Zwerner, 25, suffered a gunshot wound as a bullet passed through her hand and into her chest, police say. Law enforcement officials have said there was an altercation between the boy and his teacher but gave no details; another boy in the class told The Washington Post that Zwerner was shot after she . While injured, she more than 15 other children out of the room to safety, according to police. The wound initially left Zwerner critically injured, but she was released from the hospital Jan. 20. A bullet remains lodged in her body, her lawyer said.

With national attention trained on the shooting and its aftermath, we recap the twists and turns of the disturbing event that encompasses ongoing debates over guns, student mental health, teacher support and school safety.

New details, timeline of events

In the hours before the first-grader shot his teacher, school employees warned leaders at least three times that the student might be armed, including a shrugged-off request to search his pockets and a teary report from another child that the boy had shown him the gun at recess, Zwerner鈥檚 lawyer said in a Wednesday news conference. 

The attorney Diane Toscano laid out goes as follows:

Sometime between 11:15 and 11:30 a.m., Zwerner reported to a school administrator that the 6-year-old child had threatened to beat up a classmate. The administrator took no action to check in with or remove the child, Toscano said.

An hour later at 12:30 p.m., another teacher told an administrator she had searched the child鈥檚 backpack for a weapon and found nothing, but believed the 6-year-old had put the gun in his pocket before heading outside for recess. The administrator allegedly dismissed the threat, saying the boy 鈥渉as little pockets.鈥�

Soon after 1 p.m., a third teacher told the administration that a child had tearfully confessed that his classmate showed him the gun at recess and threatened to shoot him if he told anyone, Toscano said.

A fourth employee then asked school leaders for permission to search the boy, but was denied and received instructions to wait because the school day was almost over, according to Toscano. 

The child shot Zwerner roughly an hour later, said Toscano.

Under , school staff can search a student if they have 鈥渞easonable suspicion,鈥� a lower bar than the probable cause required of police when searching civilians. Reports by two students to officials that a student possesses a gun at school can represent reasonable suspicion for a search, according to a 1990 court ruling.

Shortly before the Virginia teacher was shot, she sent a frustrated text message to a loved one saying one of her students was armed and her school administration was failing to act, on Wednesday. The outlet did not reveal the identity of the person who received the text or its exact wording.

A spokesperson for Newport News Public Schools declined to comment and noted that the district鈥檚 investigation into the incident is still ongoing.

The shooter鈥檚 family, however, called the shooting 鈥渉orrific鈥� and on Wednesday released a statement through their lawyer, James Ellenson.

鈥淥n behalf of the family of the child, we continue to pray for Ms. Zwerner and wish her a complete and full recovery,鈥� Ellenson said. 鈥淥ur hearts go out to all involved.鈥�

Legal ramifications

Zwerner plans to sue the school district, Toscano said on Wednesday, alleging that officials could have prevented the shooting but failed to act.

The events on Jan. 6 came after weeks or more of disturbing behavior from the student that school officials appear to have downplayed. A Richneck educator spoke anonymously with and said, on one occasion, the boy had written a note to a teacher saying he hated her and wanted to light her on fire and watch her burn to death, but the school administration told the alarmed teacher to drop the matter. The teacher did not specify the date of the incident.

On another occasion, according to the teacher, the boy threw furniture and other classroom items, forcing classmates to hide under their desks. He also, on a separate occasion, barricaded the doors to a classroom, trapping students and an educator inside until a teacher from across the hall forced the doors open from the outside. The boy鈥檚 identity appears to be known by several reporters who have interviewed educators and others who know him, but neither he nor his parents have been identified. 

The 6-year-old has an 鈥渁cute disability鈥� and has been under an intensive care plan at his school, his family said in a Jan. 19 statement through their lawyer.

The family described an unusual arrangement with the school, saying his mother or father had been accompanying the boy in class each day to help manage his disability, and that the week of the shooting was the first time their son had been in school without a parent.

鈥淲e will regret our absence on this day for the rest of our lives,鈥� the family said.

The child is currently at a medical facility after police took him into custody and obtained a temporary detention order.

Virginia is one of 24 states in the U.S. with . Still, it is 鈥渋ncredibly unlikely鈥� the 6-year-old would be charged with or convicted of a crime because children that young are considered incapable of forming criminal intent or being able to understand trial proceedings, University of Virginia legal professor Andrew Block .

The child鈥檚 parents, however, may be in legal jeopardy, juvenile justice experts in Virginia say, even though no one has so far been charged in the shooting.

The mother’s 9-mm. Taurus pistol used in the shooting was stored on the top shelf of her bedroom closet and the weapon had a trigger lock, Ellenson, the family’s lawyer, . Virginia law prohibits leaving a loaded firearm anywhere it is accessible to children under 14, a crime punishable by misdemeanor.

鈥淎 6-year-old cannot go to the store and buy a gun,鈥� David Riedman, founder of the , told 麻豆精品. 鈥淪o if a 6-year-old shoots somebody at a school, it鈥檚 because whoever owned the gun failed to be a responsible gun owner.鈥�

School policy changes

Facing mounting pressure from community members, the Newport News school board Wednesday night voted 5-1 in favor of terminating the contract with its superintendent, George Parker III, effective Feb. 1.

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have to become a much more student-disciplined and safety-oriented board and division, and that is potentially going to require a lot of new direction,鈥� board member Douglas Brown said.

At Richneck Elementary, the principal has left and the assistant principal resigned, according to . Karen Lynch, a principal in the district for 17 years, is leading the school鈥檚 reopening, according to a .

Students will return to campus on Monday, Jan. 30. On Wednesday, the school invited students and families back for a non-instructional, two-hour transition period to get re-accustomed to the building.

The school鈥檚 says it is providing sessions with school social workers or licensed therapists to affected students or families seeking emotional support. However, the listed number went to voicemail when called by 麻豆精品 Thursday, and staff offered no comment on when the soonest available appointments for families seeking the services would be.

Earlier in January, school board Chairman Lisa Surles-Law said the district would purchase 90 walk-through metal detectors, to go in all 45 schools within the roughly 26,600-student district. Richneck Elementary would be the first school in which the detectors would be installed.

The district did not respond to questions from 麻豆精品 asking whether the metal detectors would be in place for Monday鈥檚 reopening. The most recent shooting was the of gun violence on Newport News Public Schools grounds in 17 months.

What鈥檚 next

Newport News is a medium-sized oceanside city on the Chesapeake Bay home to the nation鈥檚 largest military shipbuilding company and several military bases. Roughly half of students who attend the school district are Black, about a quarter are white and the remaining share are Latino, Asian or mixed race. About half of all students qualify for free- or reduced-price lunch.

In the city that, until weeks ago, was best known for building submarines and supercarriers, many questions remain unanswered.

Steve Drew, the city鈥檚 police chief, his team by Friday expects to finish their interviews of children who were in the classroom when the shooting happened, but did not specify when the investigation would be complete.

Reporter Mark Keierleber contributed to this report.

Texas school districts are set to receive nearly $8 million from the Justice Department to improve campus security this year through funding from the bipartisan gun safety law passed this summer. That includes nearly half a million for Uvalde.

The gun safety law allocates $100 million for a DOJ grant program for school districts to invest in safety programs and technology. Twenty-eight Texas school districts were awarded grants through the program, totaling $7,923,719. The grants are distributed via the DOJ鈥檚 Office of Community Oriented Policing Services based on districts鈥� fiscal needs and security proposals.

More school districts were awarded grants in Texas than in any other state. Still, with over 1,000 public school districts in the state, the grants touched only a sliver of Texas鈥� schools.

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But for some of the recipients, the grants are a major boost in security funding. Uvalde received $442,400 from the grant program 鈥� more than the $435,270 the school district allocated for security and monitoring in its 2021-22 budget. In addition to Uvalde, the recipients include some of the biggest urban school districts in the state, such as Austin, San Antonio and Fort Worth. Houston-area school districts received a total of over $1 million, as did North Texas districts.

Uvalde received $69,000 in 2020 to 鈥渉arden鈥� its schools from a Texas Education Agency grant program as part of a after the deadly shooting at Santa Fe High School. Those efforts , but Republicans in both Congress and Texas are digging their heels into school-hardening efforts to prevent future tragedies.

Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath that the agency planned to review the entry points of every school in the state 鈥� which amounts to over 3,000 campuses and as many as 80,000 buildings. U.S. Rep. , R-Los Indios, introduced legislation just before the October recess to redirect $11 billion from the Internal Revenue Service toward state grants for school mental health programs, security and other violence-prevention measures. That includes an additional $300 million for the COPS grants program.

Democrats, on the other hand, have criticized school hardening as secondary to gun control reform. Bridging the two priorities was a central pillar in the bipartisan gun safety legislation, spearheaded by Sen. . It was the and goes far beyond the scope of school safety, including a provision to tighten access to guns for those convicted of domestic abuse. Still, it fell short on several Democratic priorities, including universal background checks, raising the legal age to purchase firearms and the a ban on assault weapons. The bill passed in the Senate on a wide bipartisan basis.

Other Texas Republicans, however, were less supportive of the legislation. Sen. did not vote for the bill, nor did any Texas Republicans in the House except for Rep. , R-San Antonio. Gonzales鈥� district includes Uvalde.

The gun safety law also allocates a further $200 million to help schools with student and faculty training and other violence-prevention efforts.

鈥淣o parent should fear for the safety of their student when they drop them off at school, and no student should be afraid when they walk into the classroom,鈥� Cornyn said in a statement. 鈥淚n the aftermath of the tragedy in Uvalde, I鈥檓 grateful that meaningful solutions are starting to be delivered through this funding to prevent violence, provide training to school personnel and students, and apply evidence-based threat assessments in Texas schools.鈥�

This article originally appeared in , a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

In the ensuing days, cable news channels and social feeds have been full of diagnoses and remedies to this national sickness. Some solutions 鈥� such as common-sense and largely popular gun safety reforms, mental health supports and  better protocols for emergency response 鈥� warrant urgent action. 

But there is another set of supposed solutions that are unserious, uninformed and utterly reckless as they pertain to protecting the emotional, psychological and physical safety of students in school buildings. Worse, these irresponsible suggestions are finding their way into legislation, such as a new law in Ohio (where one of us leads the state鈥檚 second-largest school district) that directly encourages districts to staff schools with armed teachers and personnel.

For people like us 鈥� school system leaders and safety experts who have committed our lives to creating safe spaces for children every day 鈥� the tragedy in Uvalde, Texas, followed by a gunfight among teenagers on a crowded Philadelphia street that , reinforces the urgent need for more credible investments in the support and safety of young people 鈥� not more armed adults. 

The : More guns in schools will simply mean more kids and adults being accidentally shot. Teachers aren鈥檛 trained in gun safety or even in how to use a gun in the unlikely event they happen to be in a position to use one in self-defense. We don鈥檛 want them to be. Can you imagine it? During professional development on Monday, we discuss the science of reading, and on Tuesday, where to shoot if a mass murderer is wearing body armor? 

Further, in too many schools across America, implicit biases lead to the costly and inappropriate criminalization of student behavior, especially for Black students (who, incidentally, have not perpetrated a single mass school shooting). The consequences of these unexamined dynamics will be even deadlier for the most vulnerable students if teachers are encouraged to think of themselves as vigilantes rather than mentors and molders of young minds.

Similarly, may appeal to a visceral instinct to shield children from harm, but they quickly unravel with dire unintended consequences under any reasonable scrutiny. 

Having a single point of entry in and out of a school is dangerous. Obviously, students and staff might have multiple reasons to evacuate, including during gun emergencies. Instructing classroom teachers to lock their doors as a matter of practice is not viable 鈥� administrators need to see what鈥檚 happening in real time to give feedback, build relationships and build collective momentum for progress. Students need to get water and use the bathroom. 

Moreover, many school buildings already lack basic infrastructure like or even . Are we seriously suggesting that they will now become impervious to military-grade weapons? And beyond the fatal practical flaws of these ideas, what about the profound psychological impact of turning schools into military-style fortresses?

It is not enough to argue against these destructive recommendations as though they were worthy of consideration. The mere injection of these ideas into the policy debate is a kind of toxicity, akin to the smog of disinformation that already chokes the country’s democratic process and prevents effective governance. These toxins must be eradicated and summarily dismissed out of hand.

But instead of extinguishing these ideas when when they spark, traditional and social media fan the flames, validating the pundits and politicians who offer up these ludicrous and deeply flawed policies. This quickly derails productive debate over the kinds of solutions our children and communities need. Productive debate is quickly derailed from the kinds of solutions America desperately needs (and which hold ), while these dangerous ideas spread like wildfire through dry brush. Even attempts to extinguish the spread somehow confer validity onto ideas that should have fizzled from the start.

The nation has seen the implications of this vicious circle before. Throughout the COVID pandemic, too many news programs and social media apps gave platform to hucksters who downplayed the effects of the virus, cast doubt on highly effective vaccines and weakened public resolve to tackle a global health crisis. Some brave infectious disease and medical experts did what they could to break through with facts and evidence, but the damage was done. 

Our country shouldn鈥檛 make the same mistake when it comes to the epidemic of gun violence. This moment of public outcry is an opportunity to enact real solutions that truly can lead to safer and healthier schools鈥攊ncluding commonsense gun laws and investments in school infrastructure and mental health. Arming teachers and bringing more guns into schools are not solutions. 

We implore every American 鈥� especially elected leaders and the media who give them lift 鈥� to consider the consequences of reckless and uninformed positions and focus on what it is actually possible to do to protect the nation’s children. 

Cami Anderson has served as a public school superintendent in New York City and Newark, New Jersey. Eric S. Gordon has served as the chief executive officer of Cleveland Metropolitan School District in Ohio since 2011. Dr. William R. Hite has served since 2012 as Superintendent of The School District of Philadelphia, the largest public school system in Pennsylvania.

With Ohio passing legislation that will make it easier for teachers to carry guns in school, educators and youth are sounding the alarm that the bill could make classrooms less safe 鈥� particularly for Black and Hispanic students.

鈥淚 have no doubt in my mind, it increases the likelihood of school violence,鈥� said Julie Holderbaum, a high school English teacher in Minerva, Ohio. 鈥淚 have no doubt it would lead to more tragedies.鈥�

The law could raise the stakes on disciplinary policies that already target youth of color at rates disproportionate to white students, said Deborah Temkin, a school safety expert at .

鈥淭丑别re is very much a possibility for disproportionate use of force in the event that the decision to use a gun has to be made,鈥� she told 麻豆精品. 鈥淢aking a decision in a split second relies inherently on your biases.鈥�

Gov. Mike DeWine the bill into law June 13. It does not require districts to arm teachers, but gives school boards the option to do so while slashing the required training hours from over 700 to 24.

Ohio joins at least nine other states in explicitly allowing non-security school personnel to carry firearms on school grounds, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Some of those states set no minimum training requirement for armed teachers, but of those that do, Ohio ties Wyoming for the lowest requirement at 24 total hours. Florida, where in 2017 a teen gunman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School killed 17 students and staff, requires the most initial training, at 144 hours.

The Florida also mandates that armed teachers must first undergo at least 12 hours of diversity training, a nod to the possibility that educators carrying weapons could be prone to racial bias.

翱丑颈辞鈥檚 includes no such requirement. 

In the legislation鈥檚 , constituents submitted over 380 written comments; 360 opposed the measure while just 20 favored it. Among the voices urging lawmakers to reject was Kavita Parikh, co-founder of Students Demand Action Toledo. She emphasized that it could harm Black, Hispanic, Indigenous and Asian-American students.

鈥淎rming teachers could lead to a negative culture of fear for students, especially students of color. As students of color are disproportionately disciplined, the notion of arming teachers has also been connected to decreasing high school graduation and college enrollment for these students,鈥� she wrote.

鈥榊ou don鈥檛 pick threats based upon color鈥�

Nationwide, GOP efforts to 鈥渉arden鈥� schools in response to the May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, have over the negative impact of disciplinary policies and school security staff on students of color. Even in preschool, a disproportionate share of Black students face suspensions, starting a chain of events known as the that increases their risk of entering the juvenile justice system later in life.

Several state legislators who backed the Ohio bill told 麻豆精品 either they do not believe racial disparities to be a possible outcome of arming teachers or that they did not consider the issue in the first place.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not anything that I鈥檝e thought about whatsoever,鈥� state Rep. Tom Young, who co-sponsored the bill. Like Young, the overwhelming majority of GOP legislators who backed the bill are white. 

鈥淣o matter who, a threat is a threat. 鈥� You don鈥檛 pick threats based upon color,鈥� he said.

Ohio, however, is the site of at least two police killings infamous for alleged racial bias. White officers shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014 and 13-year-old Tyre King in 2016, both Black boys who were holding toy guns.

At the time, DeWine, then attorney general, called for an of police training on how to correctly identify an active shooter. 

Now as governor, his support for the new measure rolls back the preparation required for teachers to arm themselves on campus and respond to threats. 

鈥淢y office worked with the General Assembly to remove hundreds of hours of curriculum irrelevant to school safety and to ensure training requirements were specific to a school environment and contained significant scenario-based training. House Bill 99 accomplishes these goals, and I thank the General Assembly for passing this bill to protect Ohio children and teachers,” DeWine said in a statement to 麻豆精品.

The specified 24 hours of training are 鈥渋deal鈥� for school staff, said DeWine鈥檚 Press Secretary Dan Tierney. He did not comment on whether the omission of anti-bias requirements was an oversight, nor on what changed the governor鈥檚 mind since calling for increased police training in 2014.

The legislation comes after a June 2021 Ohio Supreme Court decision interpreted an already existing state law on arming teachers to mean school staff were required first to complete over 700 hours of training before carrying guns. While the new bill drops that number to 24, school districts can set a higher bar if they choose. Districts that adopt the policies will have to inform community members that an adult on campus is armed.

Among those opposed to the bill are the Ohio Federation of Teachers, the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio and numerous other groups.

The state did not have any known incidents of gun misuse, nor of teachers unfairly targeting students of color before the 2021 court ruling, Rep. Thomas Hall, the bill鈥檚 sponsor, pointed out in a message to 麻豆精品.

鈥楢lmost instant accessibility鈥�

With a having gone into effect statewide June 13, teachers in districts that allow them to be armed could come to school with their gun tucked into a pocket, waistband or holster.

鈥淲hat we don’t want, in my personal opinion, is for [teachers] to have to run down the hall to a locker and grab a weapon. That kind of defeats the purpose. 鈥� I would want to have [guns] in the classroom, if it鈥檚 the case of a teacher, so that they have access if somebody were to attack an individual classroom,鈥� state Sen. Jerry Cirino, a co-sponsor of the bill, told 麻豆精品.

鈥淲e’re going to have to find the right methods so that we have almost instant accessibility, because that’s how [school shootings] happen,鈥� he continued, 鈥渂ut also not make it possible for a weapon to be grabbed by the wrong person in school, even accidentally.鈥�

Firearms getting into the wrong hands is a concern held by many of the bill鈥檚 opponents. In other states, guns brought to school by teachers have ended up . In one case, a loaded gun fell out of the waistband of a Florida substitute teacher while he was on the playground.

Districts may adopt their own individual protocols for gun safety and storage under the guidance of a statewide advisory team, explained Hall.

He emphasized that the legislation includes mandated de-escalation training to avoid gun use as a means for resolving issues like school fights. 

Cirino, however, said he thinks there could be some circumstances where trained personnel would use firearms not on outside intruders, but on students 鈥� including when youth bring knives or guns to school.

When a student is wielding 鈥渁ny weapon that would be capable of threatening somebody’s life or serious injury, I think there could be a justification for an administrator or teacher to use a weapon,鈥� he said.

He expects large buildings to have 10-12 staff carrying guns and smaller ones to have 鈥渘ot more than a half dozen鈥� in districts that adopt the policies. Other legislators, like Rep. Young, stressed that he only expects smaller rural districts who do not have school resource officers on staff to move forward with arming educators.

Holderbaum, the Minerva English teacher, has been thinking about the potential real-world implications of the legislation in her 1,800-student district. 

A few years ago, her school did a police demonstration with live gunshots in the gym so staff could recognize the sound. From her classroom, she said, the noise seemed like bleachers being pulled out. It troubled her that the sound didn鈥檛 seem out of the ordinary. If teachers were wielding guns, she wondered, how would they differentiate between everyday noises from the gym or cafeteria and gunshots? Would they have to step into the hallway with their finger on the trigger every time they heard something loud? 

Doing so, she thinks, would create a culture of fear at school that undermines learning and student well-being.

鈥淚f I’m in the middle of teaching Emily Dickinson poetry and I hear this noise and I decide to draw a loaded gun and go into the hallway, that’s going to traumatize my kids,鈥� she said. 

鈥淚 don’t want that to become commonplace where they’re used to seeing a teacher pull a gun out.鈥�

鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 feel safe going to school,鈥� said Joshua Oh, a rising ninth grader from Gambrills, Maryland.

鈥淓ven if you 鈥� don’t go to the school where the shooting happened, it鈥檚 still something that鈥檚 in the back of your head,鈥� said Mahbuba Sumiya, who grew up in Detroit and is now a sophomore at Harvard University.

On Monday evening, 麻豆精品 convened members of its Student Council to speak about the ripple effects of the tragic event on their own school communities and to share their thoughts on the issue of gun safety more broadly. Several young people relayed anecdotes illustrating that fear and worry spurred by the shooting reverberate far beyond Texas.

Ameera Eshtewi attends an Islamic private high school in Portland, Oregon. In May alone, there have been multiple Islamophobic attacks on mosques in her community, she said. Those events plus the Texas shooting made it hard for her not to imagine the worst at her school.

鈥淭hinking that someone could go into an elementary school and murder so many kids and then they could hear about our school, and on top of that we鈥檙e Muslim 鈥� they could easily come in and do the same,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 felt terrified.鈥�

At Devin Walton鈥檚 high school in South Torrance, California, the ninth grader began to anxiously take account of safety measures in a way he never had before. He noticed the location of school security officers, surveillance cameras, the locks on the door. He began to imagine how, if an intruder were to enter his classroom, he could use the fire extinguisher hanging on the wall as a possible weapon to defend himself.

鈥淎fter hearing about this school shooting, I鈥檝e started to consider to myself, like, 鈥楢m I safe enough at my school?鈥欌�� he said.

For Maxwell Surprenant, a high school senior in Needham, Massachusetts, an otherwise innocuous task became clouded by worry. The day after the shooting, he was helping carry supplies outside for a pre-graduation ceremony. Having read the news that the Uvalde shooter entered through a side door propped open by a teacher, he couldn鈥檛 avoid a creeping thought.

鈥淚 was looking at some of the doors and wondering, all it takes is for one of these to be left open one day,鈥� he told 麻豆精品 in a phone call separate from the group meeting. 

鈥淭his shouldn’t be something that we should be concerned about,鈥� added Sumiya, who noted that gun possession was common among her peers in high school to protect themselves from street violence, striking fear in her heart and rendering learning nearly impossible. 

鈥淲e’re going to school to get the education that we need. Why is our safety and our life on the verge of, like, you never know what can happen?鈥�

With March For Our Lives youth organizers planning a in Washington, D.C. to demand universal background checks, students agreed that school safety and the prevention of shootings is one of the major issues on the minds of young people today.

鈥淚t’s such an important issue to us, to this generation, particularly because this generation, Gen Z, has really experienced it,鈥� said Diego Camacho, a high school senior in Los Angeles, California.

School shootings have over the past decade. Excluding 2020 when schools were largely remote, there has not been a full calendar year since 2018 鈥� the year of the mass shooting at Florida鈥檚 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that galvanized the March For Our Lives movement 鈥� with fewer than 27 classroom attacks. The highest annual tally before that, spanning from 1999 to 2017, was 16 school shootings. Through only five months this year, there have already been 24.

There鈥檚 a cognitive dissonance to hearing about events that are as terrifying and heart wrenching as school shootings with such regularity and needing to continue going about their lives, expressed students. It鈥檚 weird, said Oh, that when a school shooting happens, it almost feels like a 鈥渘ormal event.鈥�

鈥淚 felt a little numb,鈥� added Eshtewi. 鈥淚 was angry that I felt numb because this shouldn’t be something normal.鈥�

The Uvalde shooting was the deadliest attack on a school since the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, which killed 20 children and six educators. 

In the days after the shooting, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced plans to and ban military-style firearms, including a mandatory buy back program set to begin at the end of the year. Meanwhile, after visiting with survivors and families of victims in Uvalde, Texas, U.S. President Joe Biden said policy changes such as background check requirements or assault weapon bans , which remains gridlocked on the issue.

But while Washington stands still, students are mulling what they think should be the path forward. The Uvalde shooting, said Suprenant, spurred meaningful conversations within his friend group, which spans the full political spectrum.

The high school seniors thought about the stark difference between the requirements for gun ownership and for driving a car鈥攂oth activities that can pose a deadly threat to oneself and others. To earn a driver鈥檚 license, young people must first take a permit test, complete a driver鈥檚 education course and log a specified number of training hours, the teenagers observed, but no comparable preparations are required to purchase a gun in this country.

The accused shooter, who didn鈥檛 have , crashed his grandparents鈥� car before opening fire at Robb Elementary, authorities said. A week earlier, he was able to legally purchase two AR-15-style rifles, according to authorities.

鈥淚t鈥檚 just common sense to all of us that the process should be longer in terms of obtaining a weapon,鈥� said Surprenant. 

The accused shooter crashed his grandparents鈥� car before opening fire at Robb Elementary, authorities said. His grandfather that his grandson, who legally purchased two AR-15-style rifles last month, didn鈥檛 have a driver鈥檚 license.

Sumiya agreed that gun control measures are overdue, but also pointed to deeper issues like poverty and housing insecurity, which she thinks played into the high crime rates where she grew up.

鈥淲hat [are] the underlying concerns making someone go out of their way and then buy a gun?鈥� she wondered. Teachers should be raising those questions and 鈥渢alking about issues like that in the classroom setting.鈥�

Surprenant offered advice to educators looking to facilitate dialogue on gun safety: Give students access to resources through which to inform themselves, but then 鈥渆ncourage kids coming up with their own solutions.鈥�

With little to show for the efforts of adult policymakers to advance gun safety measures, Eshtewi understands that young leaders may have to pick up the torch. That frustrates her, but she sees no other choice.

鈥淲ith any issue I remind myself, if not us, then who?鈥� said the high school junior.

This story was brought to you via 麻豆精品鈥檚 Student Council initiative, an effort to boost youth voices in our reporting. America鈥檚 Promise Alliance helped in the recruiting of our diverse 11-member council and the idea was conceived as part of Asher Lehrer-Small’s Poynter-Koch Media and Journalism Fellowship.