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Ending 'Gun Free Zones': White House Unveils Plan to Stop School Shootings

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The White House is moving forward with plans aimed at stopping school shootings, unveiling a new plan Monday. 

The plan does not immediately call for increasing the minimum age for buying a gun, as President Trump suggested.

But the president tweeted that his plan involves better background checks, banning bump stocks, and allowing better protection of schools.

"If schools are mandated to be gun free zones, violence and danger are given an open invitation to enter. Almost all school shootings are in gun free zones," he tweeted.

 

 

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos will chair a federal commission to study the proposal.

"Today we are announcing meaningful actions, steps that can be taken right away to help protect students," DeVos said.

She said that "far too often, the focus" after such tragedies "has been only on the most contentious fights, the things that have divided people and sent them into their entrenched corners." 

DeVos described the plan as "pragmatic," saying it will allow flexibility from state to state.

"This is an issue that is best decided by local communities and by states," DeVos said on NBC. "It's not going to be appropriate in every location, but it is going to be appropriate in some places."

The White House has directed the Justice Department to help states partner with local law enforcement to provide rigorous training to qualified volunteer school personnel. 

The White House is also calling Congress to pass the STOP School Violence Act, which would create a federal grant program to train students, teachers, and school officials how to spot signs of potential violence and intervene early. 

The House is expected to vote on the bill next week. 

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