Members of the Republican Party have primarily sought to arm school staff and expand conceal carry laws.
[6] Both parties have also supported policy aiming to assist teens and firearm owners in mental health awareness and treatment.
Various advocacy groups support expanded background checks as well as assault weapons bans, safe storage laws, and other policies.
[7][8][9] The federal government of the United States does not track school shootings, but a number of private organizations do: most notably the Gun Violence Archive.
Their work finds that 31% of school shootings are "dispute/grievance related" (i.e. stemming from a conflict, fight, or gang-related issue), 16% are accidental (when a gun is brought to campus and accidentally discharges), 14% are intentional but indiscriminate in their choice of victims, 11% are suicides or attempted suicides, 9% are unknown regarding the perpetrators intent, 7% are targeting family members or dating partners, 5% are targeting an unrelated victim, 4% are connected to illegal activity such as drugs, and 3% are classified as "other" and don't fit the aforementioned categories.
[16] Psychological Factors: In a 2004 report, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) found that 27% of school shooters are influenced by "suicide or desperation.
[20] Additional research has also found a link between people who have schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and those who test high on scales of psychopathy and engagement in mass violence.
[12][23] He further argues that perpetrators of school shootings are "overconformists" - to a particular idea of masculinity that is threatened by this bullying and which justifies violence revenge.
72% of school shooters report at least one experience of childhood trauma, these include incidents of abuse, loss of a parent, foster care placement, and other traumatic events.
[10] Sociologist Michael Kimmel's work on indiscriminate mass school shootings finds that, among this type of incident, the political ideology of the community may be a correlate.
[12] Kimmel argues that perpetrators of mass violence (in and beyond schools) have been taught and internalized a narrow and specific story about masculinity that he calls "aggrieved entitlement."
Specifically, he argues, adherents demonstrate a learned sense of entitlement that justifies violence and revenge against people who have harmed them.
[24] Most gun owners with accessible weapons in their homes are white men living in rural or suburban areas.
[28] 78% lock building doors, 81% have security cameras, 68% require the use of staff identity cards, 67% have classrooms that lock from the inside, 53% have random locker checks, 11% of high schools have random use of metal detectors, and 13% of primary/46% of secondary schools have security staff present at all times.
[28] One study, however, found that metal detectors significantly decreased the frequency with which students brought weapons to school (from 78% to 14%) in New York City.
Such practices increase parent satisfaction that schools are taking measures to protect children and may, indeed, prevent some incidents of violence.
Perpetrators have learned to circumvent security measures by pulling fire alarms or using 3-D printers to manufacture guns.
[13] Academics suggest that the experience of transferring from small schools with greater support to larger ones might exacerbate mental health challenges experienced by perpetrators.
[33][34] Democrats have primarily focused their efforts on strengthening background checks to ensure that people who have access to firearms do not have a history of domestic violence or other crimes.
For example, Sandy Hook Promise is involved in advocating for the GOSAFE Act which would stop sales of military-style weapons and large-capacity magazines for firearms and background checks for gun purchases.
[7] The Brady Campaign also advocates for background checks, an assault weapons ban, and safe gun storage.