Dems say proposals to harden school security fail to address ‘gun-violence epidemic’

House Democrats said Thursday that taking up legislation that hardens school security will not keep campuses safe from further deadly mass shootings.

Their preference for tougher gun laws over increased security echoed President Biden’s stance. It also ran contrary to Republican lawmakers’ proposals to fortify U.S. schools against shooters targeting children.

“I think schools need to be secure. But I think it is important to recognize we have a gun violence epidemic in this country and hardening the schools is not going to solve that problem,” said Rep. David Cicilline, Rhode Island Democrat. 

Mr. Cicilline was on Capitol Hill for an emergency meeting of the House Judiciary Committee to markup a package of gun-control legislation proposed by Democrats.

“Every school should be expected to make certain that their facilities are safe and secure,” he said.  “And I know those kinds of reviews are underway in most school districts. But we cannot lose sight of the real problem here is America has a gun violence epidemic.”

House Democrats named the collection of gun laws the “Protecting Our Kids” bill. It includes bills that raise the federal age of purchasing a rifle from 18 to 21; restrict the ammunition magazine capacity, though existing magazines are “grandfathered”; require existing bump stocks to be registered and ban new bump stocks for civilian use. 

Another measure in the catch-all legislation would amend the definition of “ghost guns” to mandate background checks on all sales and create new requirements for firearm storage at home – specifically when minors are present.

The package is expected to pass the Democrat-run House but die in the Senate, which is split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans. House Democrats also say their bill will up the pressure on GOP Senators to back some type of new gun laws.

Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer also shot down federal moves to make schools safer, saying it would not have prevented the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children and 2 adults dead.

“Hardening schools would have done nothing to prevent this shooting,” he said. “In fact, there were guards and police officers already at the school yesterday when the shooter showed up. … The shooter got past all of them with two assault weapons that he purchased. They couldn’t stop him.”

Bolstering school security was far more popular on the Republican side of the aisle, where lawmakers presented it as a more effective deterrent to school shootings than incremental restrictions on gun ownership.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis, Wyoming Republican, last week proposed repurposing federal COVID-19 aid as matching grants for states “to harden their schools.” 

Sen. Kevin Cramer, North Dakota Republican, also called for hardening schools. “If it requires some federal encouragement to do that, I think that’d be fine,” he said.