gun control and school safety

With everything that has happened lately with school shootings and other shootings around the world and here in the United States, the question looming is what do we do now? I think our first step is to close the loop hole in gun show sales. I also believe we should do more in depth back ground checks, fingerprinting, etc for someone buying a gun. I also believe that if someone in the household has mental problems and is prone to violent behavior, there shouldn't be a gun allowed in the house. But what are some of the facts? According to http://www.justfacts.com/guncontrol.asp "Firearms are generally classified into three broad types: (1) handguns, (2) rifles, and (3) shotguns.Rifles and shotguns are both considered "long guns." A semi-automatic firearm fires one bullet each time the trigger is pulled and automatically loads another bullet for the next pull of the trigger. A fully automatic firearm (sometimes called a "machine gun") fires multiple bullets with the single pull of the trigger. Ownership: As of 2009, the United States has a population of 307 million people. Based on production data from firearm manufacturers, there are roughly 300 million firearms owned by civilians in the United States as of 2010. Of these, about 100 million are handguns. Based upon surveys, the following are estimates of private firearm ownership in the U.S. as of 2010: Households With a Gun Adults Owning a Gun Adults Owning a Handgun Percentage 40-45% 30-34% 17-19% Number 47-53 million 70-80 million 40-45 million * A 2005 nationwide Gallup poll of 1,012 adults found the following levels of firearm ownership: Category: Percentage Owning a Firearm Households: 42% Individuals: 30% Male: 47% Female: 13% White: 33% Nonwhite: 18% Republican: 41% Independent: 27% Democrat: 23% * In the same poll, gun owners stated they own firearms for the following reasons: Protection Against Crime 67% Target Shooting 66% Hunting 41% Crime and Self-Defense: * Roughly 16,272 murders were committed in the United States during 2008. Of these, about 10,886 or 67% were committed with firearms. * A 1993 nationwide survey of 4,977 households found that over the previous five years, at least 0.5% of households had members who had used a gun for defense during a situation in which they thought someone 'almost certainly would have been killed" if they "had not used a gun for protection.' Applied to the U.S. population, this amounts to 162,000 such incidents per year. This figure excludes all 'military service, police work, or work as a security guard.' * Based on survey data from the U.S. Department of Justice, roughly 5,340,000 violent crimes were committed in the United States during 2008. These include: simple/aggravated assaults, robberies, sexual assaults, rapes, and murders. Of these, about 436,000 or 8% were committed by offenders visibly armed with a gun. * Based on survey data from a 2000 study published in the Journal of Quantitative Criminology, U.S. civilians use guns to defend themselves and others from crime at least 989,883 times per year. * A 1993 nationwide survey of 4,977 households found that over the previous five years, at least 3.5% of households had members who had used a gun 'for self-protection or for the protection of property at home, work, or elsewhere.' Applied to the U.S. population, this amounts to 1,029,615 such incidents per year. This figure excludes all 'military service, police work, or work as a security guard.' * A 1994 survey conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that Americans use guns to frighten away intruders who are breaking into their homes about 498,000 times per year. * A 1982 survey of male felons in 11 state prisons dispersed across the U.S. found • 34% had been "scared off, shot at, wounded, or captured by an armed victim" • 40% had decided not to commit a crime because they 'knew or believed that the victim was carrying a gun' • 69% personally knew other criminals who had been 'scared off, shot at, wounded, or captured by an armed victim.' Vulnerability to Violent Crime: At the current homicide rate, roughly one in every 240 Americans will be murdered. A U.S. Justice Department study based on crime data from 1974-1985 found: • 42% of Americans will be the victim of a completed violent crime (assault, robbery, rape) in the course of their lives • 83% of Americans will be the victim of an attempted or completed violent crime • 52% of Americans will be the victim of an attempted or completed violent crime more than once. 1997 survey of more than 18,000 prison inmates found that among those serving time for a violent crime, '30% of State offenders and 35% of Federal offenders carried a firearm when committing the crime.' Criminal Justice System: Nationwide in 2008, law enforcement agencies reported that 55% of aggravated assaults, 27% of robberies, 40% of rapes, and 64% of murders that were reported to police resulted in an alleged offender being arrested and turned over for prosecution. Currently, for every 12 aggravated assaults, robberies, sexual assaults, rapes, and murders committed in the United States, approximately one person is sentenced to prison for committing such a crime.A 2002 U.S. Justice Department study of 272,111 felons released from state prisons in 1994 found that within three years of their release: • at least 67.5% had been arrested for committing a new offense • at least 21.6% had been arrested for committing a new violent offense • these former inmates had been charged with committing at least 2,871 new homicides, 2,444 new rapes, 3,151 other new sexual assaults, 2,362 new kidnappings, 21,245 new robberies, 54,604 new assaults, and 13,854 other new violent crimes. • Of 1,662 murders committed in New York City during 2003-2005, more than 90% were committed by people with criminal records. Washington, DC: In 1976, the Washington, D.C. City Council passed a law generally prohibiting residents from possessing handguns and requiring that all firearms in private homes be (1) kept unloaded and (2) rendered temporally inoperable via dis-assembly or installation of a trigger lock. The law became operative on Sept. 24, 1976. On June 26, 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, struck down this law as unconstitutional. Britain: In 1920, Britain passed a law requiring civilians to obtain a certificate from their district police chief in order to purchase or possess any firearm except a shotgun. To obtain this certificate, the applicant had to pay a fee, and the chief of police had to be "satisfied" that the applicant had "good reason for requiring such a certificate" and did not pose a 'danger to the public safety or to the peace.' The certificate had to specify the types and quantities of firearms and ammunition that the applicant could purchase and keep. In 1968, Britain made the 1920 law stricter by requiring civilians to obtain a certificate from their district police chief in order to purchase or possess a shotgun. This law also required that firearm certificates specify the identification numbers ('if known') of all firearms and shotguns owned by the applicant. In 1997, Britain passed a law requiring civilians to surrender almost all privately owned handguns to the police. More than 162,000 handguns and 1.5 million pounds of ammunition were "compulsorily surrendered" by February 1998. Using 'records of firearms held on firearms certificates,' police accounted for all but fewer than eight of all legally owned handguns in England, Scotland, and Wales. Chicago: In 1982, the city of Chicago instituted a ban on handguns. This ban barred civilians from possessing handguns except for those registered with the city government prior to enactment of the law. The law also specified that such handguns had to be re-registered every two years or owners would forfeit their right to possess them. In 1994, the law was amended to require annual re-registration. In the wake of Chicago's handgun ban, at least five suburbs surrounding Chicago instituted similar handgun bans. When the Supreme Court overturned the District of Columbia's handgun ban in June 2008, at least four of these suburbs repealed their bans. In June 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (5-4) that Chicago's ban is unconstitutional. Background Checks and Criminals' Sources of Guns: Under federal law: • It is illegal and punishable by up to 10 years in prison for the following people to receive, possess, or transport any firearm or ammunition: someone convicted of or under indictment for a felony punishable by more than one year in prison, someone convicted of a misdemeanor punishable by more than two years in prison, a fugitive from justice, an unlawful user of any controlled substance, someone who has been ruled as mentally defective or has been committed to any mental institution, an illegal alien, someone dishonorably discharged from the military, someone who has renounced his or her U.S. citizenship, someone subject to certain restraining orders, or someone convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor. • It is illegal and punishable by up to 10 years in prison to sell or transfer any firearm or ammunition to someone while "knowing" or having "reasonable cause to believe" this person falls into any of the prohibited categories listed above. • It is illegal to "engage in the business of importing, manufacturing, or dealing in firearms" without a federal license to do so. • It is illegal for any federally licensed firearms business to sell or transfer any firearm without first conducting a background check to see if the buyer/recipient falls into any of the prohibited categories listed above. • It is illegal for anyone except a federally licensed firearms business to sell, buy, trade, or transfer a firearm across state lines. Under federal law, private individuals are not required to a conduct a background check before selling or transferring a firearm to someone who lives in the same state, but it is illegal and punishable by up to 10 years in prison for a private individual to sell or transfer a firearm while "knowing" or having "reasonable cause to believe" that the recipient falls into one of the prohibited categories above. Some states such as California require background checks for all firearms transactions, including those conducted between private individuals. Denials: In the 10-year period from November 30, 1998 to December 31, 2008, about 96 million background checks for gun purchases were processed through the federal background check system. Of these, approximately 681,000 or about 1% were denied. During 2002 and 2003, out of 17 million background checks resulting in 120,000 denials, the federal government prosecuted 154 people (about one-tenth of 1% of the denials). According to federal agents interviewed in a 2004 U.S. Justice Department investigation, the "vast majority" of denials under the federal background check system are issued to people who are not "a danger to the public because the prohibiting factors are often minor or based on incidents that occurred many years in the past." As examples of such, agents stated that denials have been issued due to a 1941 felony conviction for stealing a pig and a 1969 felony conviction for stealing hubcaps. The same investigation audited 200 background check denials and found that 8% of denied applicants were not prohibited from lawfully possessing a firearm. During 2008, applicants appealed about 19% of the 70,725 background check denials issued that year. Of these, about 23% were later overturned and the applications approved. Allowances: As of 2010, federal law does not prohibit members of terrorist organizations from purchasing or possessing firearms or explosives. Between February 2004 and February 2010, 1,225 firearm and three explosives background checks for people on terrorist watch lists were processed through the federal background check system. Of these, 91% of the firearm transactions and 100% of the explosives transactions were allowed. Under federal law, individuals who have been convicted of a felony offense that would typically prohibit them from possessing firearms can lawfully possess firearms if their civil rights are restored by the requisite government entities.[84] As of 2002, 15 states automatically restore the firearm rights of convicts upon their release from prison or completion of parole, and 6 other states automatically restore the firearm rights of juvenile convicts upon their release from prison or completion of parole. In 2004, the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice wrote that this system may result in a paradoxical situation in which someone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence is permanently barred from owning a firearm, while someone who kills his spouse has his firearm rights restored after serving his sentence. Enforcement: To undergo a background check, prospective gun buyers are required by federal regulations to present "photo-identification issued by a government entity." Using fake driver's licenses bearing fictitious names, investigators with the Government Accountability Office had a 100% success rate buying firearms in five states that met the minimum requirements of the federal background check system. A 2001 report of this investigation states that the federal background check system "does not positively identify purchasers of firearms," and thus, people using fake IDs are not flagged by the system.[89] Gun Shows: 'A gun show is an exhibition or gathering where guns, gun parts, ammunition, gun accessories, and literature are displayed, bought, sold, traded, and discussed.' Roughly 2,000-5,200 gun shows take place in the United States each year. Gun shows 'provide a venue for the sale and exchange of firearms by federal firearms licensees (FFLs).... Such shows also are a venue for private sellers who buy and sell firearms for their personal collections or as a hobby. In these situations, the sellers are not required to have a federal firearms license. Although federal firearms laws apply to both FFLs and private sellers at gun shows, private sellers, unlike FFLs, are under no legal obligation to ask purchasers whether they are legally eligible to buy guns or to verify purchasers' legal status through background checks....' In the three-year period from October 2003 through September 2006, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) conducted 202 operations at 195 gun shows, leading to 121 arrests and 83 convictions (with some cases still pending as of June 2007). A 1997 U.S. Justice Department survey of 14,285 state prison inmates found that among those inmates who carried a firearm during the offense for which they were sent to jail, 0.7% obtained the firearm at a gun show, 1% at a flea market, 3.8% from a pawn shop, 8.3% from a retail store, 39.2% through an illegal/street source, and 39.6% through family or friends.[94] Right-to-Carry Laws: Right-to-carry laws permit individuals who meet certain 'minimally restrictive' criteria (such as completion of a background check and gun safety course) to carry concealed firearms in most public places.[95] Concealed carry holders must also meet the minimum federal requirements for gun ownership as detailed above. * Each state has its own laws regarding right-to-carry and generally falls into one of three main categories: 1) 'shall-issue' states, where concealed carry permits are issued to all qualified applicants 2) 'may-issue' states, where applicants must often present a reason for carrying a firearm to an issuing authority, who then decides based on his or her discretion whether the applicant will receive a permit 3) 'no-issue' states, where concealed carry is generally forbidden As of January 2012: • 40 states are shall-issue: Alaska Arizona Arkansas Colorado Florida Georgia Idaho Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Mexico North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming NOTE: Alaska, Arizona, Vermont, and Wyoming allow lawful firearm owners to carry concealed firearms without a permit. All other shall-issue states require firearm owners to obtain a permit to carry concealed firearms. • 9 states are may-issue: Alabama California Connecticut Delaware Hawaii Maryland Massachusetts New Jersey New York • 1 state is no-issue: Illinois Florida: On October 1, 1987, Florida's right-to-carry law became effective. This law requires that concealed carry licensees be 21 years of age or older, have clean criminal/mental health records, and complete a firearms safety/training course. As of July 31, 2010, Florida has issued 1,825,143 permits and has 746,430 active licensees, constituting roughly 5.4% of the state's population that is 21 years of age or older. └ Florida * On October 1, 1987, Florida's right-to-carry law became effective.[103] * This law requires that concealed carry licensees be 21 years of age or older, have clean criminal/mental health records, and complete a firearms safety/training course.[104] * As of July 31, 2010, Florida has issued 1,825,143 permits and has 746,430 active licensees,[105] constituting roughly 5.4% of the state's population that is 21 years of age or older.[106] [107] * Since the outset of the Florida right-to-carry law, the Florida murder rate has averaged 36% lower than it was before the law took effect, while the U.S. murder rate has averaged 15% lower.[108] * From the outset of the Florida right-to-carry law through July 31, 2010, Florida has revoked 5,674 or 0.3% of all issued permits. Of these: • 522 permits were revoked for crimes committed prior to licensure • 4,955 permits were revoked for crimes committed after licensure, of which 168 involved the usage of a firearm. Texas: In January 1996, Texas's right-to-carry law became effective. This law requires that concealed carry licensees be at least 21 years of age (or 18 years of age if a member or veteran of the U.S. armed forces), have clean criminal/mental health records, and complete a handgun proficiency course. In 2009, Texas had 402,914 active licensees, constituting roughly 2.4% of the state's population that is 21 years of age or older. Since the outset of the Texas right-to-carry law, the Texas murder rate has averaged 30% lower than it was before the law took effect, while the U.S. murder rate has averaged 28% lower. Michigan: On July 1, 2001, Michigan's right-to-carry law became effective. This law requires that concealed carry licensees be at least 18 years of age (or 21 years of age if purchasing a handgun from a licensed dealer), have clean criminal/mental health records, and pass a written firearms safety test. Since the outset of the Michigan right-to-carry law, the Michigan murder rate has averaged 4% lower than it was before the law took effect, while the U.S. murder rate has averaged 2% lower. Accidents: Fatal: In 2007, there were 613 fatal firearm accidents in the United States, constituting 0.5% of 123,706 fatal accidents that year. Fatal firearm accidents in 2007 by age groups: Age Group Fatal Firearm Accidents Raw number Portion of fatal accidents from all causes <1 yrs 1 0.1% 1-4 yrs 18 1.1% 5-9 yrs 20 2.1% 10-14 yrs 26 2.1% 15-24 yrs 155 1.0% 25-34 yrs 94 0.6% 35-44 yrs 91 0.5% 45-54 yrs 82 0.4% 55-64 yrs 57 0.5% 65+ yrs 69 0.2% Non-Fatal: In 2007, there were roughly 15,698 emergency room visits for non-fatal firearm accidents,[123] constituting 0.05% of 27.7 million emergency room visits for non-fatal accidents that year. These emergency room visits for non-fatal firearm accidents resulted in 5,045 hospitalizations,[125] constituting 0.4% of 1.4 million non-fatal accident hospitalizations that year. Harm vs. Benefit: In D.C. v Heller, the 2008 Supreme Court ruling striking down Washington's D.C.'s handgun ban, Justice Stephen Breyer authored a dissenting opinion that was joined by Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. This committee report cites no source or evidence for this statistic. A 1994 survey conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that Americans use guns to frighten away intruders who are breaking into their homes about 498,000 times per year. According to the CDC, there were about 18,498 gun-related accidents that resulted in death or an emergency room visit during 2001[131] (the earliest year such data is available from the CDC[132]). This is roughly 27 times lower than the CDC's 1994 estimate for the number of times Americans use guns to frighten away intruders who are breaking into their homes. Safety: Five critical rules of gun safety from the NRA and other sources: 1) Always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction (whether loaded or unloaded). 2) Always keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot. 3) Always keep the gun unloaded until ready to shoot. 4) Be aware of what is behind your target. 5) When handling firearms, never use alcohol or any drug that might impair your awareness or judgment (including prescription drugs). Constitution: In the Bill of Rights, the Second Amendment to the Constitution reads: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed. Gun control proponents have argued and some federal courts have ruled that the Second Amendment does not apply to individual citizens of the United States but only to members of militias, which, they assert, are now the state National Guard units.In 2002, a federal appeals court panel ruled that 'the people' only 'have the right to bear arms in the service of the state.' Gun rights proponents have argued and some federal courts have ruled that the Second Amendment recognizes 'an individual right to keep and bear arms.' In 2001, a federal appeals court panel ruled that the Second Amendment 'protects the right of individuals, including those not then actually a member of any militia or engaged in active military service or training, to privately possess and bear their own firearms....' James Madison was the primary author of the Bill of Rights,[166] is known as the 'Father of the Constitution' for his central role in its formation,[167] and was one of three authors of the Federalist Papers, a group of essays published in newspapers and books to explain and lobby for ratification of the Constitution.[168] [169] In Federalist Paper 46, James Madison addressed the concern that a standing federal army might conduct a coup to take over the nation. He argued that this was implausible because, based on the country's population at the time, a federal standing army couldn't field more than 25,000-30,000 men. He then wrote: To these would be opposed a militia amounting to near half a million of citizens with arms in their hands, officered by men chosen from among themselves, fighting for their common liberties, and united and conducted by governments possessing their affections and confidence. Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments, to which the people are attached, and by which the militia officers are appointed, forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of. Notwithstanding the military establishments in the several kingdoms of Europe, which are carried as far as the public resources will bear, the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms. D.C. v Heller: In 1976, the Washington, D.C. City Council passed a law generally prohibiting residents from possessing handguns and requiring that all firearms in private homes be (1) kept unloaded and (2) rendered temporally inoperable via disassembly or installation of a trigger lock. On June 26, 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling known as D.C. v Heller, struck down this law as unconstitutional. In D.C. v Heller, the Supreme Court Justices debated the meaning of the phrase 'right of the people' in the Second Amendment. Below are excerpts of this debate: • Majority Opinion (Justice Scalia, joined by Roberts, Kennedy, Thomas, and Alito): The unamended Constitution and the Bill of Rights use the phrase "right of the people" two other times... The Ninth Amendment uses very similar terminology.... All three of these instances unambiguously refer to individual rights, not "collective" rights, or rights that may be exercised only through participation in some corporate body.... ... Nowhere else in the Constitution does a 'right' attributed to 'the people' refer to anything other than an individual right. What is more, in all six other provisions of the Constitution that mention "the people," the term unambiguously refers to all members of the political community, not an unspecified subset. • Dissenting Opinion (Justice Stevens, joined by Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer): The Court also overlooks the significance of the way the Framers used the phrase "the people" in these constitutional provisions. In the First Amendment, no words define the class of individuals entitled to speak, to publish, or to worship; in that Amendment it is only the right peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances, that is described as a right of "the people." These rights contemplate collective action. While the right peaceably to assemble protects the individual rights of those persons participating in the assembly, its concern is with action engaged in by members of a group, rather than any single individual. Likewise, although the act of petitioning the Government is a right that can be exercised by individuals, it is primarily collective in nature. For if they are to be effective, petitions must involve groups of individuals acting in concert. ... As used in the Fourth Amendment, 'the people' describes the class of persons protected from unreasonable searches and seizures by Government officials. It is true that the Fourth Amendment describes a right that need not be exercised in any collective sense. But that observation does not settle the meaning of the phrase 'the people' when used in the Second Amendment. • Majority Opinion (Justice Scalia, joined by Roberts, Kennedy, Thomas, and Alito): Justice Stevens is of course correct ... that the right to assemble cannot be exercised alone, but it is still an individual right, and not one conditioned upon membership in some defined "assembly," as he contends the right to bear arms is conditioned upon membership in a defined militia. And Justice Stevens is dead wrong to think that the right to petition is "primarily collective in nature." Ibid. See McDonald v. Smith, 472 U. S. 479, 482-484 (1985) (describing historical origins of right to petition). McDonald v Chicago: In an 1833 Supreme Court case known as Barron v Baltimore, the Court ruled that the rights of the people in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights only had to be respected by the federal government and could be infringed by state governments.[176] During the aftermath of the Civil War in 1868, the United States adopted the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, the first section of which reads: ... No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.... Senator Jacob Howard of Michigan served on the committee that drafted the 14th Amendment, and he introduced it on the floor of the Senate. In this speech, he stated that that the "great object" of the first section of the amendment is "to restrain the power of the States and compel them at all times to respect" the "personal rights guaranteed and secured by the first eight amendments of the Constitution" including 'the right to keep and to bear arms....' In 1982, the city of Chicago instituted a ban on handguns. This ban barred civilians from possessing handguns except for those registered with the city government prior to enactment of the law. The law also specified that such handguns had to be re-registered every two years or owners would forfeit their right to possess them. In 1994, the law was amended to require annual re-registration.On June 28, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (5-4) that this ban is unconstitutional." But now the questions is how do we keep our schools safe? I personally believe that we should do bullet proof and/or glass you can't break, doors you are unable to open from the outside unless you're buzzed in. Some good suggestions from: http://www.education.com/magazine/article/Keeping_Schools_Safe/, are listed below "First, the good news: media reports to the contrary, most American schools are pretty darn safe. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, only about 6% of students between ages 12 – 18 report being scared that they’ll be hurt at school. In fact, our youth are 50 times more likely to be murdered away from school than in it. Still, in the 2003 – 2004 school year, 44% of public schools reported at least one violent incident to the police, and 21 students and 37 staff members were murdered at school. That’s the bad news. While every district has different needs, the National School Safety Center offers these tips for concerned parents: Talk with your kids. Ask if they feel ever feel afraid, if they've ever heard about gangs or weapons on campus, and what the school does to prevent bullying. Does the school enforce no-drinking and no-drugs policies? If they ever heard something alarming (rumors about a school shooting, dating violence, a predatory teacher) would they know whom to tell, and do they feel they could safely report it? Ask what the school is doing to keep students safe. If there were an emergency at school, how would you be notified? If a student seems depressed or aggressive, does the guidance counselor notify his parents and refer him to professional help? Is there a zero-tolerance policy about guns and violence in school? Are there metal detectors and security guards? Does the school partner with local law enforcement or offer fingerprinting for younger children? Even if you live in a safe community, safety should be on the agenda at school board meetings and it should be a top priority for the principal. Empower students. Suggest that the principal appoint student reps to discuss safety at school board meetings, establish an anonymous tip line so students can report threats and crime without fear of reprisal, establish a student disciplinary committee, offer classes on conflict resolution and mediation, and develop mentor-ship and peer counseling programs for newcomers and victims of bullying. If she’s unresponsive, start a parent committee to keep tabs. Get involved. Visit the school during lunch, between classes, and after school. Does the campus feel safe? Did anyone check your ID? Were students wearing gang colors or baggy outerwear that could hide a weapon? Get to know your child’s teachers, and tell them you want to hear from them if they have any concerns about your child’s behavior or safety. Make sure the staff has your work and home phone numbers in case of emergency."