Democratic Assemblymember Chris Ward speaks at a press conference on legislation that would create standards for school shooting drills. The legislation would ban fake gunfire and require advance notice. (AP Photo/Trân Nguyễn)
"When it comes to fire drills, we are not filling the halls with smoke and turning up the thermostat," he said. "We should not be doing the same to our kids when it comes to active-shooter drills."
With school security ballooning into a multibillion-dollar industry in recent years, some groups are pushing lawmakers to do away with shooter drills. A 2021 study by Everytown for Gun Safety and the Georgia Institute of Technology associated active-shooter drills with an increase in depression, stress and other mental health issues among students.
The legislation would require the state Department of Education to provide standardized guidance on active-shooter drills. It also would ban the use of fake gunfire, require schools to notify parents about a shooter drill before and afterward and make a schoolwide announcement before a drill begins.
Schools would also have to design age-appropriate drills and make mental health resources available afterward.
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"Currently, there are no standardized processes for school shooting drills, which is mind-boggling to me," said Democratic Assemblymember Mike Gipson, who supports the bill. "This is a commonsense piece of legislation."
Ireana Marie Williams, a member of Students Demand Actions at California State University, Sacramento, said shooter drills and lockdowns are traumatizing for students. Williams was locked out of her classroom when her high school went into lockdown a few years ago. She didn't know if it was a drill or not.
"There are no words, no way for me to describe the sheer horror of feeling like a sitting duck, waiting for a gunman to turn the corner and start shooting," Williams said Tuesday. "Every lockdown, every drill, every second spent scanning for exits is a type of gun violence."
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