Thursday, May 24, 2018

Post Parkland (and now Santa Fe) - Call to action


Immediately following the Parkland mass public shooting, I asked readers of the Liberty Takes Effort blog to ACT by contacting their governors and state legislators to demand immediate passage of Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) laws within their states.
  
If you acted - great.  I am going to ask you to do more to protect children in our schools.   If you did not – you can jump on board now.

The fatal shooting of 10 and wounding of 14 at Santa Fe High School in Texas last week is just one more warning that this can happen anywhere.

Florida passed an ERPO law within weeks of the Parkland mass public shooting.  Reasonable people demanded reasonable action and reasonable elected officials acted.   Florida’s new law has been used several times already to intervene and separate a person at the intersection of dangerousness and fire arm access. 

Vermont and Rhode Island recently passed ERPO laws and 20 additional states are considering them (AK, AL, AZ, HI, IA, IL, MA [legislature voting very soon], ME, MI, MN, MS, NJ, NV, NY, OR, PA, TN, TX, VA, WY.)  Is your state listed?   Is it not?  Have you expressed your opinion to your state legislator and governor?  Have you encouraged your family and friends to take action?  Waiting for the next election is not the answer!


The goal remains as stated in previous blog posts:

REDUCE THE PROBABILITY THAT A MASS PUBLIC SHOOTING WILL OCCUR IN A SCHOOL THROUGH PREVENTION, INTERVENTION, AND DETERRENCE and MITIGATE THE EFFECTS OF AN ACTIVE SHOOTER SHOULD PREVENTION, INTERVENTION, AND DETERRENCE FAIL

The strategy is to support proposals that have a high probability of effectiveness in advancing the goal and are achievable within the constraints of law and the reality of fire arm ownership and related political culture in our society. 
 
There is no silver bullet for this problem.   Many calls for action are counterproductive in that they tend to increase fire arm sales and harden resistance to change among the 100 million households with fire arms that might otherwise have supported reasonable and achievable changes that may improve school safety.

Change on this specific issue will require a multifaceted approach that is complicated. It will require effort and time.  It will require consensus. It will require the consent of many who own fire arms.

I conclude that there is much that can be accomplished to reduce mass public shootings in schools that will also have a broader impact on fire arm deaths generally. 
 
To aid my readers in acting in this regard I have provided below three template letters that can be used by my readers to write to officials who must enact the changes that, frankly, most Americans (including most fire arm owners) want to see enacted.

Please use these templates, modify them as you see fit, but please - take action.

State Secretary of Education/Mayor/School Board Chair and Superintendent

Dear (Personalize to each):

The all too frequent occurrence of mass public shootings at schools deserves a robust and continuous evaluation to identify actions that can be taken to reduce its likelihood and mitigate its effect when it occurs.

As an official with direct responsibility for policies related to the safety of students within our schools I request that you provide me with information regarding specific actions you are taking to increase safety in our schools.

I specifically request information on the following:

Threat identification and intervention. What are you doing to identify students that may have discipline or mental health histories of dangerousness?   How is that information shared with law enforcement?  How do you plan to advocate for or integrate with an Extreme Risk Protection Order law?

Facility Security.   Are you changing the designs of schools to improve security?  How are you going to incorporate changes into existing structures?   How are you addressing gatherings outside of your buildings such as drop-off/pick-up times, outside athletics, recess, etc.?

School Culture. Are you implementing policies and techniques that ensure the greatest likelihood that students will report a threat?   Have you evaluated the impact of psychotropic drug prevalence in our schools?  Are you creating a culture to identify and correct isolation within your school?  Have you empowered teachers to step forward to report a concern of dangerousness.

Mitigation.  What actions are you taking to reduce the impact of an active shooter in schools?  What policies have you created?  Are armed and trained school resource officers going to be deployed?  How often are school and law enforcement meeting and training together.

Knowledge Growth.  Florida established the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission to investigate system failures in the Parkland school shooting and prior mass violence incidents.  The commission is to develop recommendations for system improvements. An initial report from the commission is due by January 1, 2019. 

The Trump administration's Commission on School Safety is scheduled to provide a draft best practices report by fall and a final report by the end of the year. 

What action have you taken to prepare for incorporating quickly lessons learned in these two reports?   
I look forward to your response.

                                                                                                   xxxxxxxx


Governor/State Senator/State Representative

Dear: (personalize to each)

The all too frequent occurrence of mass public shootings at schools deserves a robust and continuous evaluation to identify actions that can be taken to reduce its likelihood and mitigate its effect when it occurs. 

As an official with direct responsibility for policies related to the safety of students within our schools I request that you provide me with information regarding specific actions you are taking to increase safety in our schools.

I request specific information on your actions to advance the following:

Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO).  [Each state is different so tailor to your state] ERPOs are a tool that must be available to intervene where dangerousness and fire arms intersect.   If your state has one inquire about its implementation and effectiveness.  If your state does not have one demand it and ask what they are doing to put it into law.

Fire Arm Safety.   The federal government has failed to enact many laws that could help to reduce the probability of mass public shootings in our schools that have wide public support - to include most fire arm owning households.  I would like to know what you are doing in our state to implement the following proposals [again, each state is different so tailor]:

                 Universal Background Checks
                 Secure storage and locking devices for all fire arms

Fire Arm Training.  There should be a gradation for training required for the purchase of fire arms.    What are you doing to implement specific requirements for single shot and semi-automatic training requirements in our state?  Are you acting to ensure that training incorporates adequately a focus on securing fire arms properly to prevent unauthorized use or theft?

School Safety.   What are you doing to aid school systems to implement better physical security in our schools, to improve reporting of threats by students and teachers, to change school culture, and mitigate the impact of an active shooter who enters a school or attacks gatherings outside the school?  The School Safety and Mental Health Services Improvement Act of 2018 was introduced in the Senate in March and a companion bill in the House.  What is the status of those bills?  Are you a cosponsor?

 Knowledge.  Florida established the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission to investigate system failures and develop recommendations for system improvements. An initial report from the commission is due by January 1, 2019.   The Trump administration's Commission on School Safety is scheduled to provide a draft best practices report by fall and a final report by the end of the year.   What action are you taking to coordinate early acquisition of their findings and to implement lessons they learn into our state?

I look forward to your response.

                                                                                                        xxxxxxxxxxxx



White House/U.S. Senators/U.S. Representative

Dear: (personalize to each)

The all too frequent occurrence of mass public shootings at schools deserves a robust and continuous evaluation to identify actions that can be taken to reduce its likelihood and mitigate its effect when it occurs. 

The federal government is essential to bringing about necessary changes to increase safety in our schools.  It has largely failed in that regard.
   
I request information on your actions to advance the following:

Accountability.  The FBI had adequate information to thwart the Parkland mass public shooting and others.  It failed to fulfill its responsibility.   It must be held accountable.  What have you done to hold individuals in the FBI accountable and what oversight are you exercising to ensure that when a warning is provided it is acted upon?  

Fire Arm Safety.   The federal government has failed to enact many laws that could help to reduce the probability of mass public shootings in our schools that have wide public support to include most fire-arm-owning households.  I would like to know what you are doing to implement the following:

Universal Background Checks
Secure storage and locking devices for all fire arms

National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).   The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 incorporated the Fix NICS Act.  The fix is not adequate in that it is primarily an incentive system for contributing organizations to upload their data into the system.  There should be mandates and strict penalties for failure to upload along with incentives.   In addition, states should be informed of denials by the system.  What are you doing to tighten NICS and support the NICS Denial Notification Act (S. 2492) and its House companion bill (H.R. 4471)? 

Illegal Fire Arm Trafficking.    In 2016, 289,223 firearms were recovered by law enforcement and traced by the ATF in the United States.  Major cities see 2,000 to 6,000 illegal weapons recovered from crime scenes annually.   Universal Background Checks and holding fire arm dealers and owners accountable for secure storage is essential to reducing illegal trafficking.  What are you doing to advance efforts to reduce illegal trafficking?

Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO).  Several states have passed ERPOs.  Many others are considering them.  What are you doing to aid states in their implementation?

School Safety.   What are you doing to aid school systems to implement better physical security in our schools, to improve reporting of threats by students and teachers, to change school culture, and mitigate the impact of an active shooter who enters a school or attacks gatherings outside the school?  Specifically, what funding have you authorized and what guidance have you provided states

Knowledge.  The Trump administration's Commission on School Safety is scheduled to provide a draft best practices report by fall and a final report by the end of the year.   What action are you taking to ensure this study is comprehensive and will be coordinated rapidly with states.

Research.    The 2018 Budget permits the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to once again conduct research into the causes of fire arm violence.    There is a dearth of authoritative detailed data on homicides, suicides, and mass public shootings.  Comprehensive data and research is needed.

Research is required into the effects of childhood psychiatric drug use within our schools.  Nearly 8% of adolescents are taking psychiatric drugs.  It is impossible to find accurate data on mass pubic shooters’ use of prescription medications.

Technology has transformed life, particularly for young people.  While there is more connectivity than ever in history children are feeling more isolated.  They are finding compatriots online.   So much of how children and adolescents traditionally have engaged one another has completely changed from direct personal interaction to distant one-way online interaction.   What is the impact of this tectonic shift on the emotional stability of children and in its extreme – those who would commit mass public shootings?

What action are you taking to authorize and appropriate funds to the CDC to conduct research in these areas. 

I look forward to your response.


                                                                                         xxxxxxxxxxx

1 comment:

  1. I would like to thank my FB Friends and Liberty Takes Effort blog readers who acted on the call to write to government leaders and demand action to reduce the probability of and mitigate the effects of mass public shootings at schools. Your efforts were rewarded in Massachusetts this month.

    Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed a Red Flag law this month. This more than doubles the number of states who have enacted Extreme Risk Protection Order type laws to eleven since the Parkland shooting.

    Governor Baker has also asked the state legislature to appropriate $70 million of a state surplus to more social workers and mental health professionals and physical security improvements in schools.

    ReplyDelete

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