Changing the response to mass shootings and preventing tragedies since Newtown
We’ve heard it many times. “If we weren’t able to pass gun reform after Sandy Hook, then nothing will ever change.”
Nothing has changed when it comes to the pain in the hearts of the loved ones of those murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. And nothing will ever change that can bring back the innocent children and educators killed on December 14, 2012. But what has changed since that fateful day is the growing gun violence prevention movement and real progress on reforms.
1. Reforms Across America Since Sandy Hook
Since the days just after the school shooting tragedy, we have been advocating for bipartisan reforms on a national and state-wide level. We have successfully written and driven the passage of three federal laws under three administrations. In an era of divisive politics, a nearly unanimous Congress passed our mental health and school safety laws. The bipartisan Suicide Training and Awareness Nationally Delivered for Universal Prevention (STANDUP) Act was signed into law in 2021. The STANDUP Act encourages states and tribes to implement and expand evidence-based suicide prevention trainings.
In 2018, Sandy Hook Promise helped write and pass the bipartisan Students, Teachers, and Officers Preventing (STOP) School Violence Act to provide critical resources for schools to implement violence prevention education. Under this federal law, school districts, municipalities, states, and tribal organizations can apply for funding to ensure budget is never a barrier to making schools safer.
The bipartisan Suicide Training and Awareness Nationally Delivered for Universal Prevention (STANDUP) Act was signed into law in 2021. The STANDUP Act encourages states and tribes to implement and expand evidence-based suicide prevention trainings.
In 2022, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was signed into law. This law provides funding for states to implement Extreme Risk Protection Orders and community-based violence interventions. It also expands the STOP School Violence Act as well as mental health for schools, and includes updates or provisions to many key gun violence issues.
Policy Advances At The State Level
Ohio, Louisiana, and Georgia passed the Safety and Violence Education for Students Act (SAVE Students Act). SHP’s signature school safety model policy, it establishes requirements for life-saving violence prevention training for students. Most recently, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and North Carolina introduced this legislation. Like the states before them, they too are taking steps toward ensuring students know how to recognize the warning signs of someone at risk of harming self, others, or both and what to do next.1.
Minnesota and Indiana have passed the Students Safe at School Act (SSAS Act). Another model school safety policy, the SSAS Act defines active shooter drills as distinct from active shooter simulations before exempting students from mandatory participation in simulations. It also sets clear standards for active shooter drills (should schools choose to undertake them). Among other things, these standards require that active shooter drills be trauma-informed, age appropriate, and provide accommodations for students who need them.
2. Students Leading the Way Against Gun Violence
Ever-evolving and expanding over the years, SAVE Promise Clubs are the largest network of student-led anti-violence clubs in America. Originally founded in 1989 as Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE), the clubs joined the Sandy Hook Promise movement in 2017. Today, it has grown to more than 5,000 clubs nationwide. In big cities, small towns, and everywhere in between, students are organizing to make their schools and communities safer.
Students have also provided direct input on how SHP can improve its model policies. This includes identifying key things individual policies should address. For example, the SSAS Act includes a mandatory post-drill debriefing period before students can be required to return to their regular school day. It also creates opportunity for students to have direct input in their schools’ safety planning processes. These features are directly reflective of students’ recommendations.
In partnership with SHP’s federal policy team, students have also met privately with members of Congress. In these meetings students have discussed the current-day realities of the school experience and the urgent need for expanded mental health services in and outside of the school environment.
3. Public Opinion Significantly Changed
In the aftermath of the Sandy Hook tragedy, a 2013 Pew Research poll1 reported 81% of Americans supported background checks. Today, background checks have near universal support with 92% of people supporting them2.
4. Gun Safety Reform Movement is Gaining Momentum
Nearly 12 million people have made the Sandy Hook Promise to do all they can to protect children from gun violence. The Promise includes encouraging and supporting solutions that create safer and healthier homes, schools, and communities. Millions of people have signed our petitions on issues demanding Congress to keep children safe from gun violence. Thousands more have written and called legislators at the federal and state levels, while others have joined rallies and attended townhalls to explore options for ending gun violence.
5. Evidence is Mounting: Prevention Programs Save Lives
In a landmark study, the United States Secret Service reported that since 2008, every school shooting that has been prevented was due to community members “coming forward when they observed behaviors that elicited concern.” In fact, more than 35 million students and educators have participated in our Know the Signs programs.
1,013 lives have been saved through these programs. In fact, we have helped prevent more than 350 acts of violence with a weapon, including 18 planned school shootings. What’s more, our crisis counselors have prevented untold tragedies. They’ve helped at-risk youth with over 327,000 tips to our hotline through our Say Something Anonymous Reporting System.
What You Can Do to Fight Gun Violence After Sandy Hook
While the climb ahead may seem steep, with all of you by our side, we will continue to move forward. See a timeline of our history and impact over the years.
Together, we can keep our Promise to make our community and our nation a safer, better place. You can be a part of that vision.
And together with the Sandy Hook Promise Action Fund, we can pass more commonsense gun reforms to protect our kids. Join us in calling on Congress to take action.
