Thank you Diane Feinstein

[spin]

91. Of course not. There are things that can be accomplished in the near future...

that will reduce tragedies like school shootings by those with severe mental issues and even an attack launched by terrorists.

1) Improve physical school security.

8 Ways to Improve School Entrance Security
March 23, 2017 Randy Atlas, Ph.D., FAIA, CPP

By adopting these elements, you’ll be able to prevent the entry of unauthorized individuals or delay their access until law enforcement can be summoned.

Many school and university buildings in the United States have been constructed to achieve an inviting and open campus style, with multiple buildings, multiple entrances and exits, big windows and many opportunities for privacy.

Unfortunately, these design configurations are not conducive to security and lockdown. To address these protection challenges and deter broken windows, burglary and vandalism, school architecture went through a period of fortressing that resulted in schools with almost no windows and produced fortress-like enclaves.

Incorporating the principles and practices of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) in the design and remodeling of schools can contribute to the safety of the campus while reducing the target hardening and fortressing effects of a bunker mentality.
https://www.campussafetymagazine.com/hospital/8_ways_to_improve_school_entrance_security/

2) insure that adequate well trained armed security are present on campus. Such security should enter a building if necessary rather than take cover outside. Police should also provide cover EMTs when they both arrive on the scene as the EMTs may be able to save some victims from dying.

3) Identify and treat those who have severe mental issues that make them a danger to others. Input the names of such individuals into the NICS background check system so they can’t legally purchase firearms.

4) Make sure data about those who have a violent criminal record are entered into the NICS background check system in a timely manner.

FBI's gun background-check database is missing records of millions of cases
by Devlin Barrett, Sandhya Somashekhar, Alex Horton
Washington Post

The FBI's background-check system is missing millions of records of criminal convictions, mental illness diagnoses and other flags that would keep guns out of potentially dangerous hands, a gap that contributed to the shooting deaths of 26 people in a Texas church this week.

Experts who study the data say government agencies responsible for maintaining such records have long failed to forward them into federal databases used for gun background checks - systemic breakdowns that have lingered for decades as officials decided they were too costly and time-consuming to fix.

As the shooting at a Texas church on Sunday showed, what the FBI doesn't know can get people killed. In that case, the gunman had been convicted at a court-martial of charges stemming from a domestic violence case. Officials say the Air Force never notified the FBI of his conviction, so when he purchased weapons at a retail store, he cleared the background check.

The FBI said it doesn't know the scope of the problem, but the National Rifle Association says about 7 million records are absent from the system, based on a 2013 report by the nonprofit National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics. That report determined that "at least 25% of felony convictions . . . are not available" to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System maintained by the FBI.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-fbi-gun-background-check-system-missing-records-20171110-story.html

5) Insure that when somebody is busy waving red flags and is reported to the authorities that the report is taken seriously and investigated. Advising citizens that they “See something, say something” is useless unless such reports are taken seriously. Of course this applies to the authorities at both the local and national levels.

Of course gun control advocates can and will push for a new Federal Assault Weapons Ban but realistically it would take a miracle to pass such legislation in a Congress controlled by Republicans and with a President who has a concealed carry license and views NRA members as patriotic.

The last attempt to pass a new AWB failed in 2013 on a Senate vote of 40 to 60 and that Senate had a Democratic majority.

The bottom line is we need to do what we can to reduce the number of mass shootings. Simple measures can save lives.