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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

California bill would require students’ parents to detail gun ownership

The proposed bill seeks to address the fact that in the majority of school shootings the weapons comes from the student's home or from a friend or relative.

(CN) — A newly proposed California bill would require parents of public and charter schools students to disclose whether any guns are kept at their homes as well as how they are stored.

State Senator Anthony Portantino, a Democrat, introduced the bill that he said prioritizes student safety by increasing available information on gun access and safe at-home storage of firearms. The bill also would require schools to search a student's property on campus for firearms if there's a credible threat of violence.

“When in approximately 68% of school shootings the firearm was taken from the student’s home, friend, or relative, California needs to move the needle and take prudent public safety steps to address this problem," Portantino said in a statement Wednesday. "When we know that in 93% of those incidents the attack was planned in advance and in many instances threatening or concerning communications prior to the attack elicit concern from parents, friends, and educators, we must move from threat assessment to protective action without hesitation.”

The senator cited the school shooting last November in Oxford, Michigan, where a 15-year-old sophomore killed four students with a handgun his parents has bought him earlier that month, as an example of the often fatal consequences that occur when warning signs are ignored,

Families of the victims have sued the Michigan school, accusing the teachers and counselors of not doing enough to stop accused gunman Ethan Crumbley from carrying out the rampage even though he exhibited “strange” and “bizarre” behavior.

“With common sense proactive measures, we can prepare educators and parents to identify red flags and ultimately prevent tragedies,” Portantino said.  “In many cases of a school shootings there were warning signs. Recent events in Michigan show that there sometimes is hesitancy in acting on them, which could lead to tragic results."

The proposed bill would require the California Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Justice, to develop "model content" for public or charter schools for threats of mass shootings. If a school becomes aware of a credible threat, it must immediately report that threat to law enforcement and, in consultation with law enforcement, search the student's belongings for firearms.

Parents would need to disclose whether any firearms are located at the home of the student and details on ownership, storage and accessibility of those firearms. Schools would be required to include information about the safe storage of firearms in an annual notification provided to the parents or guardians. 

There have been 1,316 school shootings in the U.S.. since 1970, with 164 occurring in California, according to Portantino's statement.

Data from the National Center for Education Statistics show that the number of shootings has been climbing in the years prior to the Covid-19 pandemic that caused schools to suspend in-person teaching. The school years 2018-19 and 2019-20 both saw a record of 75 school shootings, with 32 and 27 deadly shootings respectively.

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Categories / Criminal, Government, Politics, Regional

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