WASHINGTON D.C. - On Monday, federal lawmakers are meeting to discuss the recently-filed School Shooting Safety and Preparedness Act.
What You Need To Know
- Link to join 10:30 a.m. Zoom press conference
- The bill creates a federal definition for "school shooting" and establishes an annual reporting for indicators of school crime as it relates to school shootings.
It's legislation that tracks school shooting data and works to prevent another tragedy like at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
Florida lawmakers Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Ted Deutch, alongside Georgia Representative Lucy McBath are briefing the public virtually on this new legislation.
The bill also plans to track data on shooters' motivation and how the weapons are acquired.
It also directs the Department of Education to collect the safety and prevention protocols in place at a school at the time of the shooting, including building design and response plans.
This comes as the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Commission is raising concerns about statewide silent panic buttons to 911 not working.
"With some of these vendors, right now, the app may be loaded on the phone and the personnel in the schools may have it, but they push that button, it's not going anywhere," Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said.
Those panic buttons were created because of "Alyssa's Law" in honor of a student killed in the Parkland shooting.
Enacted this school year, it required schools to implement a mobile panic alert system.
The news conference starts at 10:30 a.m. Monday.