A School Safety Bill Democrats and Republicans Can Both Agree On

In our current political environment, any bill of substance that’s approved on a bipartisan basis should be pretty big news, and one that’s adopted with unanimous support from both Republicans and Democrats is a major accomplishment. 

It’s surprising to me, then, that there’s been so little coverage of HB 1316 in Illinois, which is now on its way to Gov. J.B. Pritzker. In a state where the two major parties are routinely at loggerheads on gun bills, criminal justice reform efforts, and almost every other issue under the sun, it’s remarkable that there wasn’t one dissenting vote on a bill aimed at improving school safety.

HB1316 is a result of an incident in Murrayville Republican State Representative CD Davidsmeyer’s district tin which a student threatened to commit an act of gun violence against another student after they were released from school on an “early out” day.

The victim told school administrators who did not notify the principal immediately since it was just a threat. The victim’s parents got involved after hearing that nothing was done immediately to the student who made the threat. 

He says gun violence is something he takes “extremely serious.” The bill was approved unanimously in the House and Senate.

It’s a sad commentary on the state of journalism in this country that a a news story about a particular bill managed to leave out any detail about what the legislation actually does), but thankfully it wasn’t too hard to find that information elsewhere. According to a synopsis of the bill on the Illinois Legislature’s website, HB 1316:

Amends the School Code. Requires all school officials to immediately notify the office of the principal in the event that they: observe any person in possession of a firearm on school grounds; become aware of any person in possession of a firearm on school grounds; or become aware of any threat of gun violence on school grounds. If there is a report filed notifying a local law enforcement agency of any of such event, requires the principal to immediately notify the student’s parent or guardian and, in coordination with the local law enforcement agency, to attempt to meet with the student’s parent or guardian to ensure the student does not have access to a firearm.

It’s sad that this actually needs to be codified into law, but the fact that at least one school principal in Illinois was kept in the dark about a threat to a student is equally depressing. 

Despit the fact that this bill was approved unanimously, I do think there’s still some room for improvement. Why must principals be notified only about threats of “gun violence” on school grounds? If a student is threatening to stab a classmate or run them down with their car, isn’t that equally as serious? 

Another concern is that the bill doesn’t actually require the principal to take any action once they’re notified that a threat has been made or a student is found with a gun in their possession. Common sense suggests that a principal would get local police involved if that happens, but if lawmakers are going to mandate that the school principal is notified of a threat, they should go ahead and require the principal to alert authorities as well instead of leaving it up to their discretion. 

Despite those issues, it’s good to see Republicans and Democrats come together on something that should improve school security, keep kids safe from harm, and doesn’t impact or infringe on the rights of lawful Illinois gun owners. I wish it would happen more frequently, but as long as Democrats insist that the Second Amendment is incompatible with public safety there’s not much room for common ground.