Almost 3 hours last month Linda McMahon sat through a confirmation hearing The senator pushed everything on her Teacher payments For a transgender athlete. But neither party asked her School gunshot.
That’s an obvious oversight, according to some leaders working on reductions Young people’s gun violence. Others say there is a fear Possibility of the Ministry of Education closure Therefore, there was little time to control the hearing and ask McMahon about the full scope of the topic of education. It is unknown who McMahon is. He was confirmed as Secretary of Education on March 3rd.deal with Gun violence epidemic. However, her previous comments on gun control and the White House’s actions on previous issues suggest that the administration advocates that it will not become a priority.
“The number one concern among American families is to ensure there are safe classrooms,” said Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union, a nonprofit organization that works to improve educational outcomes and policies for children and families. “Can we keep our kids alive in American classrooms? The idea that we won’t even ask the next U.S. Secretary of Education about what she’s going to do to keep our classrooms safer is ridiculous.”
Rodriguez, who was in the room during the Senate confirmation hearing in February, said President Donald Trump’s plan to demolish the Department of Education would be essential to know McMahon’s approach to gun violence at schools.
Gun violence is the leading cause of child and teen deaths, based on data from disease centres for control and prevention, and disproportionately killing young people of color. School shootings are steadily increasing over time Shooting at 40 schools It was recorded this year, according to tracking incidents of gun violence on campus.
McMahon should have been asked, “How can we plan ways to address these very realistic and very serious issues without a US Department of Education working with our states and with our districts?”
The Ministry of Education did not respond at the time of publication to a request on the 19th for comments on McMahon’s plans for gun violence.
During a 2017 confirmation hearing, Trump’s candidate, former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, suggested that guns could help students protect students from the Grizzly Bears, leading to widespread ridiculous laughs. last year, McMahon took him to social media to express concerns about the Red Flag Actor an extreme risk protection order allows guns to be confiscated from individuals deemed a threat to themselves or others.
The protection order “can be easily used to remove firearms from law-abiding citizens. Chicago and New York have the strictest “gun laws” in the country, but nine people have recently been killed in 24 hours.
McMahon argued that it was more effective to maintain a convicted felon who placed his mother and son in prison than to risk removing firearms from individuals with no criminal history. Her views appear to be consistent with the president’s view. On February 7th, the executive order was issued. It is said to instruct the Attorney General to review all regulations and policies created during President Joe Biden’s administration, and violate the citizens’ rights to bear arms and devise plans to counter such restrictions.
“The administration has made it clear that it is not trying to prioritize gun violence prevention, whether it is a candidate that includes the Secretary of Education or a second amendment executive order coming out of the White House.” “The administration is trying to roll back progress made over the past decade to reduce gun violence.”
Noah Lambantving, former communications director for March, a student-led gun violence prevention organization, said he suspects the Trump administration will reverse the policies the group supports to retaliate against the Biden administration.
“It’s scary because it’s very clear about vengeance and there’s absolutely no child safety,” said Lumbantobing, who recently moved to a new role in the gun safety movement. “We still don’t know what’s on the chopping block, but there’s no doubt he’ll try and turn back a lot of what we spent so much of our time and, more importantly, life-saving things.”
In 2024, the number of gun violence on campus fell to 331, from 349 the previous year, according to the K-12 school shooting database. Lumbantobing attributes the decline in shootings to the “general lifesaving solution” adopted by the Biden administration. This includes an executive order issued by Biden that expands the definition of gun dealers as some gun sellers are not only undetected, but also fails to perform background checks on customers. ”
Now they need to do background checks and act responsibly,” Lumbantobing said. So there are many risks here, both by revoking some laws and not enforcing the laws found in the book. It’s going to kill a child, and it’s just for partisan interests. ”
He is also concerned about how relaxing gun restrictions will affect victims of domestic violence. This is an issue that the Biden administration addressed in part through more stringent background checks.
” A bipartisan, safer community law Lumbantobing has strengthened the tough loopholes for dating partners to prevent the federal law passed in 2022, which was passed in 2022, which funds the Department of Justice to develop Red Flag Act and other interventions, and to prevent the partner from being able to kill them.
According to the K-12 School Shooting Database, at least 110 domestic violence-related shootings have occurred in schools from 1966 to the present. Bipartisan, safer communities route resources to intervention programs to reduce gun crime, but Lumbantobing doesn’t know if that will happen under the Trump administration. But he’s offering cards by helping to ban bump stocks. This is basically a gun accessory that turns a semi-automatic rifle into an automatic weapon. In 2017, during Trump’s first term, the gunman killed 60 people and injured hundreds of others at the Las Vegas music festival.
“So there’s hope that he’s not constrained by GOP orthodox, but he doesn’t look good,” Lumbantobing said. “He moves with the wind.”
The Trump administration’s choice to not continue the Department of Gun Violence Prevention, which was established during Biden’s tenure, is also worried about gun control supporters. Trump has not officially removed the office, but he has not yet hired staff to keep it up, Lumbantobing said. There are no functional websites in the office either.
“It’s so dangerous, you may not notice today or tomorrow, but I think in a year or two, every time there’s another mass shooting, Trump has stopped enforcing the law, so we can see it,” Lumbantobing said.
The Bureau of Gun Violence Prevention represented a bipartisan approach to gun safety, as the White House was able to focus on prevention in the overall way it extracts government resources, but did not require the creation of new laws.
“How do we fix this… amidst the constraints we have? They’ve made a lot of progress on it,” he said. “Removing that office is a rebuttal to that premise and I think it’s really dangerous. If you don’t agree with us, it’s a bad thing for our children to die, boy, are we in trouble?”
Several states, including California, Massachusetts, Maryland and Wisconsin, have opened their own offices for gun violence prevention or have passed laws that will open.
“I think we continue to see a world where gun safety exists in some places, not elsewhere,” Lumbantobing said. “That’s not America where young people deserve it.”
Lumbantobing would have liked to see the senators questioning more about the school shooting during the confirmation hearing, but he said it would be appropriate to focus on the potential abolition of the Department of Education. Remove that federal agency would be an attack on gun safety, for the work done to reduce school shootings.
“The Ministry of Education plays an important role in its work and could play a bigger role,” Lumbantobing said. “Last year, we worked with our secretary. [Miguel] Cardona is to run a safe storage campaign to encourage parents. We understand that people own guns. If you own a legally acquired firearm, that’s not a problem. But it’s important for people to keep those firearms safe, whether it’s domestic or interpersonal violence, or in the case of school shootings or interpersonal violence, as people show up in places we don’t want. ”
March for Our Lives, which collaborated with Cardona on the Safe Storage campaign, does not expect Lumbantobing to engage in such a job with McMahon.
“She’s not interested in it,” he said. “We want it, but she won’t. Trump came out and said he wanted to be the best friend he could have. [National Rifle Association]so we know how she approaches, whether she takes x to the Ministry of Education, or whether she will start rewinding some of the pivotal policies that Ed Department pushes to keep children safe. ”
Trump’s cabinet picks aren’t just concerns from gun violence prevention groups. They are also afraid of the effects of 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals‘The recent decision to revoke federal restrictions on the purchase of handguns between the ages of 18 and 20. This age group has fallen into several large school shooters. 2022, an The 18-year-old gunman massacred 21 people at Rob Elementary School in Ubarde, Texas. Four years ago, the 19-year-old fatally shot 17 people at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. In 2012, a 20-year-old shooter defeated 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
“To say that the Fifth Circuit’s attempt to address the tragedy of the shooting and the impact on youth with reasonable age restrictions on handgun purchases is not permitted under the second amendment, could be a real setback in terms of trying to address gun violence among young people in the country,” Vinik said.
Unable to rely on government intervention or cooperation, gun prevention advocates have come up with their own solutions to address gun violence among young people. For example, Project Unload hopes to change culture around gun use by providing facts and numbers to young people about the shortcomings of firearms, such as murder, suicide, and increased risk of accidents.
“When we provide that information to them in a truly engaging and accessible way, they raise their awareness of what those risks are and often lead them to move away from their desire to use guns in the future,” Vinik said.
Project Unload recently launched a campaign called recently, as young people often learn about guns online, especially through social media and gaming platforms Leave your guns in the game Working with around 12 gamers who are also content creators for Tiktok, YouTube and Instagram. Vinik said the campaign aims to instill this message among young people.
