A student huddles in the back of a classroom.The lights are dimmed, the door barricaded by a single desk. The students have been prepped for this kind of situation, so why is it so scary now? Maybe, it has something to do with the fact that an assault rifle is still legal in over 40 states even after mass shootings at places like Sandy Hook Elementary School and a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado.

When did a person’s second amendment right start to contradict the right to live?

In the first 46 weeks of this year, there were 45 school shootings. Let me state that again, 45 school shootings. The most recent school shooting at the time of publication occurred on November 15, 2019 at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California. The incident – once again – shook the nation. With our national average increasing to roughly one school shooting a week, many feel that we have finally reached a time where gun reform must happen. Of course, when gun reform is discussed, it sparks different emotions in people.

When asked her reaction to the Santa Clarita shooting, Paint Branch security guard Ms. Marquitta Anderson said that “Every school is run differently and I can’t speak on their security, all I can say is that school should be a safe place.”

PB English teacher Mr.Ellis thinks that the Santa Clarita shooting may be the final straw in creating some form of gun reform. “This cycle of violence that we have is creating an unsafe space for students. Their priority shouldnt be fear of getting shot at, but learning, ” he says.

Currently in the United States, seventeen states and the District of Columbia have passed extreme risk protection orders, or so-called red flag laws, to prevent gun violence. Maryland strengthened its gun laws in 2018 by enacting an extreme risk protection order law, banning bump stocks and similar products that simulate automatic fire, and allocating millions of dollars to urban violence prevention programs. As a result, the state’s gun laws jumped from sixth to fourth-strongest in the country. Maryland’s gun death rate per one-thousand people is 12.3, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
By creating new regulations and laws, school systems in those states should, ultimately, be safer. However, that does not mean that any school is truly protected, which is why school districts all over the U.S. – including Montgomery County Public Schools – have put in place active assailant drills to prepare for situations. Just like fire drills, students in our schools now prepare for gun violence. Of course, parents send their kids to school expecting a quality education and safety, but schools have decided that because there are incidents, students must be prepared.

But how does a screen describing what an active assailant is like actually help out schools? Could anything be done to better prepare security guards, students and staff? Ms. Anderson, from PB Security, says “Training; constant training and security needs to be done. More needs to be done so we train with police and school staff to formulate a plan and ensure safety procedures.”

PBHS sophomore Christina Anderson states, The drills are useful in some cases, however, it isn’t always when we’re gonna be sitting in the middle of a classroom so they need to be expanded so we can practice in all different situations. We need to be prepared for all times.”