Rep. Gabbard Co-Introduces School Shooting Act

Reps. Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02), Lucy McBath (GA-06) and Jahana Hayes (CT-05) on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019, introduced House Resolution 4301, the School Shooting Safety and Preparedness Act.

The bill would create a federal definition for “school shooting” and instructs the Department of Education, in consultation with the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services, to annually report uniform data on indicators of school crime as it pertains to school shootings.

“Classrooms should be a safe place where parents can have peace of mind that their children will be safe and free to learn,” Rep. Gabbard said. “This legislation will help us to gather objective data to better understand how we can come together to prevent the tragedy of mass shootings occurring in our schools.”

H.R. 4301, the School Shooting Safety and Preparedness Act would accomplish the following:

• Create a federal definition for “school shooting,” establishing one standard definition in order to avoid subjective reporting of the circumstances surrounding these incidents.
• Require the Secretary of Education, in consultation with the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services, to publish annual reports on indicators of school crime. The reports would track the number of shootings, the number of people killed, demographics of shooters and victims, the motivation of shooters, types of firearms and ammunition used, how the firearm was acquired and more.
• Track information on the existence or absence of safety and prevention measures at the time of the shooting, such as building designs, communication and response plans, and more.