WASHINGTON, D.C. | Three weeks after a gunman killed 17 at a Florida high school in Parkland, state and federal lawmakers are still responding with possible solutions.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-Willsboro) has signed onto two bills designed to cull violence in schools.
The STOP School Violence Act of 2018 would invest in early intervention and prevention programs to prevent school violence by authorizing the Department of Justice to offer grants to states to train students, school personnel, and law enforcement “to identify signs of violence and intervene to prevent people from harming themselves or others.”
A second bill co-sponsored by the lawmaker would allow the attorney general to make grants to local education agencies to “acquire and install devices” that allow for immediate notification of emergency response personnel, law enforcement, or officials in an emergency.
“These two pieces of legislation that I am supporting today are common sense reforms to prevent gun violence in schools and better protect our children,” Stefanik said in a statement.
Stefanik, a card-carrying member of the NRA, is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, voting last December in support of a measure that would allow people with concealed carry permits to cross state lines with their firearms.
The lawmaker has also co-sponsored legislation that would improve the federal background check system and supports banning “bump stocks.”
Stefanik last month urged[1] House Speaker Paul Ryan to bring up her standalone legislation to improve the federal background check system, allowing stakeholders to better share mental health and criminal record histories between local agencies and a federal background check database.
The measure has broadband bipartisan support, said the lawmaker, who pushed for its passage before the end of the week.
But lawmakers broke for the weekend on Friday without direction from the president or a clear legislative outline.
President Donald Trump has been inconsistent in his stance on gun control, cycling through numerous ideas since the shooting, including raising the minimum age to purchase “assault-style” weapons and arming teachers.
GILLIBRAND AND SCHUMER
U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York last week outlined a three-point plan to combat gun violence, including expanded background checks, closing the “gun show loophole” and bringing a proposed federal ban on assault weapons up for debate.
Schumer slammed Trump on Sunday for promising robust measures in a televised meeting with lawmakers[2] last week, but then retreating after meeting with the NRA.
“Backing off to a special interest group like the NRA is not leadership. It’s not what a president should do,” Schumer said at a news conference.
Schumer called for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Ryan to put the Democratic-supported bills on the floor for a vote.
Gillibrand also took a more forceful approach, endorsing Schumer’s proposals and calling on
