School Shooting Safety and Preparedness Act
Bill: S.4162 | Sponsor: Sen. Bennet, Michael F. (D-CO)
Policy area: Education

Summary:
School Shooting Safety and Preparedness Act
This bill requires the Department of Education (ED) to publish an annual report on indicators of school crime and safety.
The report must collect specified information, including
ED must direct the National Center for Education Statistics to collect and publish specified data on school shootings.
The center must collect information on the existence or absence of specified measures at the time of the shooting, including physical and other types of security measures, a communication plan with local law enforcement, a response plan that includes coordination with local agencies, and an active shooter response plan.

To require the Secretary of Education, in consultation with the 
  Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to 
publish an annual report on indicators of school crime and safety that 
       includes data on school shootings, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``School Shooting Safety and 
Preparedness Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Title 18 definitions.--The terms ``firearm'' and 
        ``ammunition'' have the meanings given such terms in section 
        921 of title 18, United States Code. The term ``large capacity 
        ammunition feeding device'' has the meaning given such term in 
        section 921 of title 18, United States Code, as in effect on 
        September 1, 2004.
            (2) Mass shooting.--The term ``mass shooting'' means a 
        shooting during which three or more individuals, not including 
        the shooter, were injured or killed in one location or in 
        multiple locations in close proximity.
            (3) School.--The term ``school'' means--
                    (A) an early childhood education program (as 
                defined in section 103 of the Higher Education Act of 
                1965 (20 U.S.C. 1003));
                    (B) an elementary school (as defined in section 
                8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
                1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801));
                    (C) a secondary school (as defined in section 8101 
                of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
                (20 U.S.C. 7801)); and
                    (D) an institution of higher education (as defined 
                in section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
                U.S.C. 1002)).
            (4) School shooting.--The term ``school shooting''--
                    (A) means an event or occurrence--
                            (i) during which one or more individuals 
                        were injured or killed by a firearm; and
                            (ii) that occurred--
                                    (I) in, or on the grounds of, a 
                                school, even if before or after school 
                                hours;
                                    (II) while the victim was traveling 
                                to or from a regular session at school; 
                                or
                                    (III) while the victim was 
                                attending or traveling to or from an 
                                official school sponsored event; and
                    (B) does not include an accidental shooting.

SEC. 3. ANNUAL REPORT ON INDICATORS OF SCHOOL CRIME AND SAFETY.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Education, in consultation with 
the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 
shall publish not less frequently than on an annual basis a report on 
indicators of school crime and safety. Such report shall be produced by 
the National Center for Education Statistics of the Department of 
Education in consultation with the Bureau of Justice Statistics of the 
Department of Justice. Such report shall include, at a minimum, an 
updated version of the information provided in the National Center for 
Education Statistics report NCES 2021-092 issued in July 2021, and the 
data described in subsections (b) and (d).
    (b) Statistics on School Shootings.--In collecting data on school 
shootings to be compiled in the annual report described in subsection 
(a), the National Center for Education Statistics shall collect at a 
minimum the following data annually:
            (1) The number of school shootings that have taken place 
        nationwide.
            (2) Of the school shootings described in paragraph (1), the 
        number that were mass shootings.
            (3) Of the school shootings described in paragraph (1), the 
        number that were suicides.
            (4) The number of people killed in each school shooting, 
        including--
                    (A) the number of people whose cause of death was 
                attributable to wound by firearm; and
                    (B) the number of people having some other cause of 
                death.
            (5) The number of people injured in each school shooting, 
        including--
                    (A) the number of people wounded by firearm; and
                    (B) the number of people injured in some other 
                manner.
            (6) The time of the shooting and whether it occurred during 
        school hours.
            (7) The demographics of each school, including--
                    (A) the locale code of the school, as determined by 
                the Secretary of Education; and
                    (B) student demographic data disaggregated by--
                            (i) economically disadvantaged students as 
                        compared to students who are not economically 
                        disadvantaged;
                            (ii) each major racial and ethnic group;
                            (iii) children with disabilities as 
                        compared to children without disabilities; and
                            (iv) English proficiency status.
            (8) The personal characteristics of each victim in the 
        shooting, including, at a minimum, the victim's--
                    (A) age;
                    (B) gender;
                    (C) race;
                    (D) ethnicity; and
                    (E) nationality.
            (9) The personal characteristics of the shooter, including, 
        at a minimum the shooter's--
                    (A) age;
                    (B) gender;
                    (C) race;
                    (D) ethnicity;
                    (E) nationality; and
                    (F) relationship to the school.
            (10) The motivation of the shooter, including any real or 
        perceived bias based on race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, 
        or sex (including sexual orientation or gender identity).
            (11) How the shooting was stopped, including--
                    (A) whether the shooter was injured or killed, and 
                if so, by whom; and
                    (B) if not, what was the other outcome of the 
                incident (such as escape, arrest, or suicide).
            (12) The number and type of firearms and ammunition that 
        were used in each shooting, including--
                    (A) the make and model of the firearm;
                    (B) the manufacturer of the firearm;
                    (C) the make and model of the ammunition;
                    (D) the manufacturer of the ammunition;
                    (E) whether a large capacity ammunition feeding 
                device was present at the scene or used during the 
                shooting; and
                    (F) the number of rounds of ammunition fired by the 
                shooter over the course of the shooting.
            (13) Where each of the firearms used in each shooting was 
        obtained and how, including--
                    (A) whether the firearm was registered (if 
                required); and
                    (B) whether the firearm was purchased from a 
                licensed gun dealer or an unlicensed sale.
            (14) If the original purchaser was not the shooter, what 
        was, if any, the original purchaser's relationship to the 
        shooter.
            (15) If the original purchaser was not the shooter and the 
        firearm was obtained from the shooter's home, the gun storage 
        practices being used in the home, and whether the gun owner was 
        charged with failing to properly secure his or her firearm.
            (16) Whether the school had one or more teachers, as that 
        term is defined in section 8553 of the Elementary and Secondary 
        Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7943), who were armed, and if 
        so, whether such armed teacher or teachers stopped the incident 
        by shooting the shooter.
            (17) How long the shooting lasted (the approximate elapsed 
        time between the first and last shots fired).
            (18) The response time of law enforcement to the shooting.
    (c) Historic Statistics on School Shootings.--The Secretary of 
Education shall direct the National Center for Education Statistics--
            (1) to collect, to the extent practicable, the data 
        required in subsection (b) for shootings that occurred before 
        the date of the enactment of this Act; and
            (2) to publish such data as revisions to the most 
        applicable annual reports on indicators of school crime and 
        safety issued by the National Center for Education Statistics 
        before the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (d) Safety and Prevention.--In collecting data on school shootings 
to be compiled in the annual report described in subsection (a), the 
National Center for Education Statistics shall collect, at a minimum, 
information on the existence or absence of the following measures at 
the time of the shooting at schools where a school shooting occurred in 
the previous year:
            (1) Physical security measures, including--
                    (A) building envelopes and interiors designed to 
                protect occupants from human threats; and
                    (B) other physical security measures designed to 
                avert and restrict violence.
            (2) Other types of security measures, including measures 
        designed to preserve open learning environments that positively 
        influence student behavior.
            (3) A communication plan with local law enforcement.
            (4) A response plan that includes coordination with local 
        agencies (such as law enforcement agencies, fire departments, 
        and hospitals).
            (5) An active shooter response plan (including the use of 
        an alert system to notify students, faculty, and parents or 
        guardians).
            (6) Any other similar type of safety or prevention measure 
        in place at the time of the school shooting.
    (e) Rule of Construction.--In collecting data on school shootings 
to be compiled in the annual report described in subsection (a), any 
data disaggregation required by subsection (b) shall not be required in 
the case where such disaggregation would reveal personally identifiable 
information about any individual.
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