Jill Biden promotes safe gun storage to reduce school shootings

The first lady kicked off a White House initiative to promote safe gun storage on Thursday, leading a town hall meeting for school principals with Education Secretary Miguel Cardona. The initiative is part of an executive order President Joe Biden issued last year to reduce gun violence by focusing on preventative measures like background checks and safe storage. The Biden administration’s town hall on Thursday emphasized the importance of educating principals, parents, and students on the importance of safe gun storage to prevent mass shootings. A report by the Department of Homeland Security’s National Threat Assessment Center suggests that, of all targeted school shootings in the past 40 years, 76 percent of attackers got the firearm they used from a family member's home.

What kind of tools are they giving schools? The Department of Education is providing schools with informative guides for parents and students, explaining the importance of preventative measures to lock up firearms to protect schools and communities. The Department of Justice also released an informative guide on different storage methods and practices for safely storing firearms, which the White House touts as “the most comprehensive guide on safe storage ever released by the federal government.”

Dig Deeper:  Read Leo Briceno’s report on what behavioral experts say can be done to prevent school shootings.