Education and Labor Committee Approves Bill to Help Address Impact of School Shootings on Students and Teachers

WASHINGTON – Today, the Committee on Education and Labor approved the School Shooting Safety and Preparedness Act, legislation to establish a definition of “school shooting” in federal law and collect data on school shootings, which will help measure and address the impact of gun violence on children and educators.

“The Committee has a responsibility to advance evidence-based legislation that ensures the safety of our schools,” said Chairman Bobby Scott at today’s markup. “This is a small, but important step towards ensuring that classrooms are safe places where parents can have peace of mind and children are free to learn.”

The School Shooting Safety and Preparedness Act:

• Defines “mass shooting” and “school shooting” for the first time in federal law
• Directs the Department of Education, in consultation with the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services, to annually report on indicators of school safety for school shootings that occur.

• • This includes statistics on school shootings, such as 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

• Directs the Department of Education to collect the safety and prevention protocols in place at a school at the time of the shooting, such as information on the building designs, and communication and response plans.

The School Shooting Safety and Preparedness Act is endorsed by: Everytown for Gun Safety, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense, National Education Association, American Federation of Teachers, Council of Great City Schools, National PTA, and Newtown Action Alliance.

A fact sheet is available here.

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