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Trump’s School Safety Panel Criticizes News Coverage of Shooters

Trump’s School Safety Panel Criticizes News Coverage of Shooters

(Bloomberg) -- A commission President Donald Trump established to study school shootings recommended no major changes to state or federal gun laws and criticized some news coverage of the incidents for glamorizing the perpetrators.

The commission, led by Education Secretary Betsy Devos, said that schools should work with local law enforcement to train and arm school personnel, though not necessarily teachers. The commission’s report will also encourage law enforcement agencies to obtain court orders restricting people considered dangerous from obtaining firearms.

But the commission said those orders should carefully consider due process and Second Amendment protections, according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters on the recommendations.

“Sadly, incidents of school violence are too common,” DeVos said in the briefing, prior to the report’s release.

The report will say journalists shouldn’t publish pictures of school shooters, among other criticisms of coverage, Devos said.

Trump established the commission after the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida that left 17 dead and 17 others injured. The commission’s report won’t recommend federal funding to arm school employees, and says doing so makes the most sense on campuses where local law enforcement may take longer to respond, according to the senior administration official. The official asked not to be identified discussing the commission’s work.

Trump sparked a debate over risk-protection orders during a March gun-control meeting at the White House, in which he said he liked the idea of confiscating guns from potentially dangerous people ahead of a court hearing. His suggestion prompted concern from gun advocacy groups and Republican lawmakers, who said it would likely violate the Constitution.

To contact the reporter on this story: Justin Sink in Washington at jsink1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Kathleen Hunter

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