California Senator Anthony Portantino has introduced a bill that would require parents to disclose whether or not they keep guns in their homes. The bill would also require searches of a student's belongings if a credible threat of violence exists.

Portantino introduced the bill shortly after the November Oxford High School shooting in Michigan which claimed the lives of four students. The 15-year old suspect, Ethan Crumbley, was arrested after he allegedly brought a gun to school and used it to target his classmates. In an attempt to display accountability, prosecutors also arrested Crumbley’s parents, Jennifer and James Crumbley. The couple is facing multiple counts including involuntary manslaughter. The prosecution alleged that the Crumbleys had a hand in the devastating events because they gave their son the gun and ignored warning signs by failing to respond to school administration regarding concerns about the 15-year-old.

Portantino explained that “inaction” was a catalyst for the events that unfolded in Michigan. “Inaction leads to a tragedy,” Portantino explained. “By empowering school districts with information and the mandate to investigate, we’re taking that inaction off the table.”

As detailed by the bill, California’s Department of Education will be required to consult with the Department of Justice to create a “model content” in which schools can act in the event of a threat or perceived threat that the student is homicidal based on writings, postings or other beahvior defined in the bill. If schools perceive a threat, they must contact local law enforcement. In concert with law enforcement, officials will then be allowed to search a student’s belongings for any firearms.

Parents of students in both public and charter schools will also need to share information regarding whether or not there are guns in the child’s household. The school system will do this by sending home annual documentation that provides a place for parents and guardians to provide gun ownership information. The forms would also require parents and guardians to detail storage and accessibility information about their firearms. Schools could also include information related to the safe storage of firearms.

After announcing the new bill, Portantino explained, “When in approximately 68% of school shootings the firearm was taken from the student’s home, friend, or relative, California needs to move the needle and take prudent public safety steps to address this problem." Portantino adds, "When we know that in 93% of those incidents the attack was planned in advance and in many instances threatening or concerning communications prior to the attack elicit concern from parents, friends, and educators, we must move from threat assessment to protective action without hesitation.”

Portantino’s bill aims to fight back against the steady climb in school shootings over the past decade. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, there were record numbers of school shootings between both 2018-2019 and 2019-2020. Portantino details that 164 of the 1,316 school shootings since 1970 have occurred in California alone.