(NewsNation) — Five years ago today, 14 students and three staff members were killed in a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
In the wake of that tragedy, calls for gun reform grew louder, setting off a national debate on gun and school safety policy.
A group of Parkland student survivors became campaigners for stricter gun control, part of a push that led to changes to state and federal laws.
Also in the last five years, heartache has spread to more communities as students again became the targets of gun violence. Most recently, this week a shooting incident at Michigan State University left three dead and five injured. And last year, 19 children and two adults were killed in a shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
Like Parkland, the shooting in Uvalde reignited the gun reform debate, leading to sweeping legislation signed this year.
Here’s what has changed since Feb. 14, 2018:
Federal gun policy changes
After the shootings in Las Vegas in 2017 and Parkland in 2018, the Trump administration issued a ban on what are called “bump stocks” — attachments that enhance a firearm to enable it to fire in quick succession.
The ban was faced with immediate legal challenges, but the Supreme Court decided not to take up cases seeking to overturn it. Yet last month, a federal appeals court in New Orleans acted to block the ban.
More recently, Congress passed and President Joe Biden signed into law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022, following the school shooting in Uvalde.
The law was the most sweeping change in federal gun laws in decades, investing more in mental health care, expanding background checks for Americans under the age of 21 and making it harder for perpetrators of domestic violence to obtain firearms.
Biden has also advocated for a nationwide ban on semi-automatic weapons — something a gun reform group of Parkland survivors has adamantly supported — but the measure has failed to garner the Republican support it would need to pass Congress.
Red flag laws
Not long after the Parkland tragedy, the state of Florida enacted what’s called a “red flag law.” Under these laws, the government can issue a Risk Protection Order (RPO) that can prevent for a period of time people who have shown signs of violent intent from owning a gun.
People who receive RPOs are often struggling with mental illness or substance abuse.
Florida’s Broward County, where Parkland is located — has vigorously filed RPOs since the law’s inception.
From 2018 to mid-2022, Broward County received 709 requests for RPOs, Assistant General Counsel Ksenia Vance told NewsNation last summer. The county ended up filing 376 of those requests and rejecting the other 333.
Including Florida, 19 states currently have red flag laws in place, but some jurisdictions have barely used them.
Critics of red flag laws worry that they infringe on people’s rights by denying them access to firearms even when they haven’t been convicted of a crime. But Vance insisted that each RPO has adequate checks and balances.
“It goes through several steps before we even get to the point of filing. … By law the longest it can be imposed for is 12 months,” she said in July.
Vance argued that educating police about how the laws work is essential to making sure a jurisdiction is actually using them.
Self-imposed firearm bans
In 2018, Washington became the first state in the country to allow residents to place themselves on a list of individuals who are banned from purchasing firearms. They then have to wait at least seven days before taking themselves off the list.
The purpose of the law was to enable people who are suffering from mental health crises to proactively take steps to protect themselves.
Democratic state Sen. Jamie Pedersen told NewsNation in December that it’s a way to take steps to curb violence without having the state impose involuntary restrictions.
“It’s a libertarian kind of tool, right? It’s an option that’s available for people. So, there’s nothing particularly oppressive about it,” he said in December.
Virginia and Utah also joined Washington in implementing such a system. But as of a year ago, just 20 people had used the system in Washington. Pederson argued that one key to increasing its utilization is increased education about the system.
Re-examining school safety policies
Even before Parkland, most public school students went through lockdown drills — where students prepare for a potential active shooter. Most states require schools to do these drills.
But the drills have come under increasing scrutiny over the past few years. Research has shown that students who go through the drills see an increase in anxiety; it’s also not clear if the drills are actually helping students stay safe.
Texas recently overhauled its system for performing lockdown drills in an attempt to make them less traumatizing.
While lockdown drills are still required, active-threat exercises — where an actual shooting is simulated — are now voluntary. Schools are also encouraged to plan their drills in consultation with mental health professionals.
