Gun safety group: Washington students safer this year thanks to I-1639

Most kids across the state headed back to school right after Labor Day weekend. For many families, that can lead to concerns about gun violence.

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This year, gun safety advocates say students heading back to class are safer than ever in Washington state. But they stress one point to remember.

“School shootings make up just a very small fraction of the gun violence that we see across the country and here in Washington state,” said Kristen Ellingboe with the Alliance for Gun Responsibility.

Still, thinking about the threat of gun violence on campus has become the new normal for some. That’s only heightened by the fact that we’ve seen school shootings here in Washington, and by the string of mass shootings across the country over the past several weeks, that have thrust the debate over stronger gun laws back into the national spotlight.

That national debate largely revolves around universal background checks and red flag laws, two measures Washington state has already had on the books for years.

On top of that, Ellingboe says more new protections kicked in for Washington in July.

“Initiative 1639’s safe storage provision,” she said. “This is the provision that encourages gun owners to safely store their firearms at home, and this safe storage provision makes a huge difference in protecting our young people from gun violence.”

“We know that the vast majority of school shooters, for example, get (a gun from) their home or from the home of a close family member or friend,” she added.

But it’s about more than protecting against mass shootings.

“The safe storage provision is also critically important for protecting our young people against unintentional shootings, and reducing the risks of firearms suicides among our young people,” Ellingboe said.

She says the new rules for buying semi-automatic weapons that came with I-1639 will also help protect kids this school year.

“We know that semi-automatic assault rifles — especially like the AR-15 — are very common weapons of choice for school shooters and mass shooters,” Ellingboe pointed out. “Initiative 1639 strengthens the standards for purchasing those firearms by raising the purchase age from 18 to 21, and requiring an enhanced background check and waiting period.”

No matter where you land on I-1639, there are several examples of where those new laws may have helped stop school-related tragedies in Washington, from the Marysville-Pilchuck and Mukilteo house party shootings, to the accidental shooting of Amina Bowman at a Bremerton elementary school, as well as the plot to shoot up ACES High School in Everett that just sent a local teen to prison for more than a decade.

New gun laws are not the only changes to help protect kids at school.

Starting this school year, State Rep. Laurie Dolan says parts of a school safety bill she got passed this session are also kicking in.

“This bill is all about providing support before more tragedies occur. They way we’re doing that is we’re doing that through our Educational Service Districts [ESDs], and there’s nine of those around the state geographically located,” Dolan explained.

In each of the nine ESDs, Regional School Safety Centers are being created to train school staff, better coordinate with first responders and more.

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Each of those school safety centers now have a key position in place.

“The threat assessment coordinator who will be doing the training for all the districts within that ESD’s boundaries, training school staff about the threat assessment process,” Dolan said. “What that means is that adults in the school will be more capable of looking at kids each day and seeing if they’re doing well, because if they’re not doing well and if a student is a danger to himself or others, that’s when the threat assessment process will begin.”

That involves people from the school who know that student the best, as well as people from the ESD and first responders doing a real assessment of that particular student.

“To see what needs to happen in terms of that providing some support to that kiddo before a tragedy happens,” Dolan said. “There will be a lot more awareness among staff and they’ll be trained with specific things to look for, and when they’re concerned about a student they can bring that student to this team and then talk it through, and then obviously the parents would be involved when appropriate as well.”

Dolan hopes to get funding for a suicide prevention specialist at the safety centers in the next session.

The safety centers are also partnering with behavioral health specialists in their area.

Other changes from the bill will come in the months and years ahead, including specific training for School Resource Officers, a streamlined emergency training drill program, and more.

Separately, many school districts across the state are also outfitting schools with single entrance points, so that anyone entering school has to come through one, monitored location.

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