Abstract
The impact of school shootings has resulted in various legal implications and increased attention on gun legislation; relevant cases will be presented, along with important legislative changes. Additionally, the authors will explore recent calls for action related to defunding of the police in the school system and the potential implications; a necessary discussion given the current times. Interviews with relevant professionals and individuals will be included, including those who have been involved in efforts to create meaningful systemic changes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Alexander, M. D. (2019). School liability in school shooting cases. In School violence in international contexts (pp. 219–228). Springer.
Ali, R., & Moe, C. (2019). School shootings in the U.S.: What is the state of evidence? The Journal of Adolescent health: Official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31122499/
American Counseling Association. (2013, February 11). Student support act: Reducing the student to counselor ratio. https://www.counseling.org/government-affairs/public-policy/public-policy-newsview/position-papers/2013/02/11/student-supportact-reducing-the-student-to-counselor-ratio
Astor, R.A., Bear, G.G., Bradshaw, C.P., Cornell, D.G., Espelage, D. L., Flannery, D., et al. (2018). Call for action to prevent gun violence in the United States of America. https://curry.virginia.edu/sites/default/files/projects/Call%20for%20Action%20FINAL%20for%20DISSEMINATION%202-28-18-3-5-18%20Corrections_422pm.pdf
Bennet. (2012). Fourteen years later, looking back at a school shooting | The killer at Thurston high. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/
Borum, R., Cornell, D. G., Modzeleski, W., & Jimerson, S. R. (2010). What can be done about school shootings? Educational Researcher, 39(1), 27–37. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x09357620
Brady Campaign Press Release. (2011, January 7). One million mental health records now in Brady background check system. BradyCampaign.org. http://bradycampaign.org/media/press/view/1336/
Burke, M. (2019, June 5). Former Parkland security officer Scot Peterson charged with neglect for not entering school. NBCNews.com. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/former-parkland-security-officer-scot-peterson-charged-neglect-not-entering-n1013831
Burstein, P. (2003). The impact of public opinion on public policy: A review and an agenda. Political Research Quarterly, 56(1), 29–40.
Cohen, S. (1972). Folk devils and moral panics: the creations of the mods and the rockers. MacGibbon & Kee.
Chavez. (2020). A school shooting in Jonesboro, Arkansas, kills five. History.com. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/a-school-shooting-in-jonesboro-arkansas-kills-five.
Claire Davis School Safety Act (C.R.S. 24-10-106.3) SB15-213 (2015).
DeShaney v. Winnebago County., 489 U.S. 189 (1989).
Elliott, R. (2015). The real school safety debate: Why legislative responses should focus on schools and not on guns. Arizona Law Review, 57, 523.
Everytown for Gun Safety. Everytown. (2021, February 25). https://everytown.org/.
Fieldstadt, E. (2019, October 17). A mother who warned officials her son was taking a gun to school now faces felony charges. NBCNews.com. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mother-who-warned-officials-her-son-was-taking-gun-school-n1068161.
Fox, J. A., Fridel, E. E., & Shapiro, H. (2018). The menace of school shootings in America (Chapter). In The Wiley handbook on violence in education: forms, factors, and preventions. Wiley.
Genovario, K. (2013, January 11). Suspected school shooter Bryan Oliver: Top 10 facts you need to know. Heavy.com. https://heavy.com/news/2013/01/california-school-shooter-bryan-oliver-taft-high-facts/.
Goodwin. (2013, January 1). Sandy Hook report: Shooter’s mom wanted to buy him gun for Christmas. Yahoo News. https://news.yahoo.com/sandy-hook-report%2D%2Dshooter-s-mom-wanted-to-buy-him-gun-for-christmas-210859068.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS91cmw_cT1odHRwczovL25ld3MueWFob28uY29tL3NhbmR5LWhvb2stcmVwb3J0LS1zaG9vdGVyLXMtbW9tLXdhbnRlZC10by1idXktaGltLWd1bi1mb3ItY2hyaXN0bWFzLTIxMDg1OTA2OC5odG1sJnNhPUQmc291cmNlPWVkaXRvcnMmdXN0PTE2MTQzNDUyMDQxMjcwMDAmdXNnPUFPdlZhdzBBenZnRU4xbmpFTlZfZnh4cmtqZHQ&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAIGV2bN_-YKqgP1BlR3OsbRf0_IInxq_Xmh6nRzNsBnNpoetYQBal_t4vivxszHEMkLTgfaZ_NvfpHrROo0tjTxftZNoA68co46uijrYCPh2XDvgAYY4JLuPv1Tf8ZFsrlgPV35MMtEX2Q8_iyyETSAZuoXI62-JLSHeQJzv-d8I.
Graham v. Florida., 560 U.S. 48 (2010).
Gius, M. (2018). The effects of state and Federal gun control laws on school shootings. Applied Economics Letters, 25(5), 317–320.
Haider-Markel, D. P., & Joslyn, M. R. (2001). Gun policy, opinion, tragedy, and blame attribution: The conditional influence of issue frames. The Journal of Politics, 63(2), 520–543.
Heiman, A. (2021, February 9). School district had no duty to warn about potential danger posed by MSD shooter: Judge. NBC 6 South Florida. https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/parkland-school-tragedy/school-district-had-no-duty-to-warn-about-potential-danger-posed-by-msd-shooter-judge/2378414/
Hernandez, K. A., Ferguson, S., & Kennedy, T. D. (2020). A closer look at juvenile homicide. SpringerBriefs in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38168-4
Honberg, R., Kimball, A., Diehl, S., Usher, L., & Fitzpatrick, M. (2011). State mental health cuts: The continuing crisis. National Alliance on Mental Health.
Justia. (2019, June 20). Education Law. Justia. https://www.justia.com/education/.
Katsiyannis, A., Whitford, D. K., & Ennis, R. P. (2018). Historical examination of United States intentional mass school shootings in the 20th and 21st centuries: Implications for students, schools, and society. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 27(8), 2562–2573.
Miller v. Alabama., 567 U.S. 460 (2012).
Miller, M., Hemenway, D., & Azrael, D. (2007). State-level homicide victimization rates in the U.S. in relation to survey measures of household firearm ownership, 2001–2003. Social Science & Medicine, 64, 656–664.
Miller, J. (2017). 24 Images of the Heartbreaking Jonesboro Middle School Massacre. HistoryCollection.com. https://historycollection.com/24-images-heartbreaking-jonesboro-middle-school-massacre/.
Monroe, A. D. (1998). Public opinion and public policy, 1980–1993. Public Opinion Quarterly, 62(1), 6–28.
NASP (2018). Preventing Mass Violence Requires Access to Mental Health Services and Reduced Inappropriate Access to Firearms. National Association of School Psychologists (NASP). https://www.nasponline.org/about-school-psychology/media-room/press-releases/preventing-mass-violence-requires-access-to-mental-health-services-and-reduced-inappropriate-access-to-firearms
NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007, H.R. 2640, 110th Cong., 1st Sess. (2007).
Page, B. I., Shapiro, R. Y., & Dempsey, G. R. (1987). What moves public opinion? The American Political Science Review, 81(1), 23–44.
Pickler, N. (2013). Obama mental health conference to expand beyond issues of gun violence. Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/03/obama-mental healthn_3377808.html
Peterson, L. (2018, May 18). What is the dickey amendment?. POPSUGAR News. https://www.popsugar.com/news/What-Dickey-Amendment-44099512
Roper v. Simmons., 543 U.S. 551 (2005).
Rosenberg, J. (2014). Mass shootings and mental health policy. Sociology and Social Welfare, 41(1), 107–122.
Saad, L. (1999, April 23). Public views Littleton tragedy as sign of deeper problems in country. Gallup News Service. http://www.gallup.com/poll/3898/public-views-littleton-tragedy-signdeeper-problems-country.aspx
Schildkraut, J., & Hernandez, T. C. (2014). Laws that bit the bullet: A review of legislative responses to school shootings. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 39(2), 358–374.
Singh, R. (1999). Gun politics in America: Continuity and change. Parliamentary Affairs, 52(1), 1–18.
Skiba, R., Reynolds, C. R., Graham, S., Sheras, P., Conoley, J. C., & Garcia-Vasquez, E. (2008). Are zero tolerance policies effective in the schools? An evidentiary review and recommendations. American Psychologist, 63(9), 852–862. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.63.9.852
Solodev. (2018). Office of Safe Schools. Florida Department of Education. http://www.fldoe.org/safe-schools/
Sonner, S. (2006, May 27). Teen gets house arrest in Nev. Shooting. AP NEWS. https://apnews.com/0f88a3b41c83210a09a4f67fa09f9c2f
Soraghan, M. (2000). Colorado after columbine: The gun debate. State Legislatures, 26(6), 14–21.
Springhall, J. (1999). Violent media, guns, and moral panics: The columbine high school massacre, 20 April 1999. Paedagogica Historica, 35(3), 621–641.
Storey, K. (2019, August 21). How Gun Laws-and Gun Norms-Have Changed Since the Parkland Shooting. Esquire. https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a26290650/parkland-shooting-one-year-later-gun-law-changes/.
Strode, M. (2019, July 17). Bowe Cleveland awarded $3.8 million in damages for 2013 Taft school shooting. The Bakersfield Californian. https://www.bakersfield.com/news/bowe-cleveland-awarded-3-8-million-in-damages-for-2013-taft-school-shooting/article_10c515c0-a820-11e9-b492-7783a9cd6c21.html
The Mental Health Services for Students Act of 2019 (HR 1109 / S 1122, 116th Congress).
TriData Division, System Planning Corporation. (2009, November). Mass Shootings at Virginia Tech Addendum to the Report of the Review Panel. https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/prevail/docs/April16ReportRev20091204.pdf
Wamsley, L. (2019, May 2). Florida Approves Bill Allowing Classroom Teachers To Be Armed. . https://www.npr.org/2019/05/02/719585295/florida-approves-bill-allowing-classroom-teachers-to-be-armed.
Washington Post. (2008). 4 summary of key findings – The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/metro/summary.pdf
Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, H.R. 3355, 103d Cong., 2nd Sess (1994).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Poland, S., Ferguson, S. (2021). Legal Issues in the Context of School Shootings. In: Lessons Learned From School Shootings. SpringerBriefs in Psychology(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75480-8_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75480-8_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-75479-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-75480-8
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)