Yvonne Gonzalez
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto discusses campus safety and gun control with a group of students at Las Vegas Academy of the Arts on Thursday, April 5, 2017.
Friday, April 6, 2018 | 2 a.m.
Students across the country have been speaking out both for and against gun control, a split largely absent Thursday when Nevada’s Democratic senator sat down with Las Vegas students to discuss school safety.
The school shooting in Florida that killed 17 led to student walkouts in many cities nationwide in support of gun control, followed by similar action from young advocates of the Second Amendment. In Nevada, where a gunman killed 58 people on the Strip six months ago, a group of students gathered at the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts on Thursday to tell Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto what they hope can be done to curb gun violence.
The students came from several valley schools and were invited to participate after they contacted Cortez Masto’s office about gun safety after Oct. 1, as well as subsequent shootings in other parts of the country. Some were organizers and participants of the March for Our Lives event.
“I know some of you were responsible for the incredible march that we had here, our students and your voices being heard,” Cortez Masto said. “I want to make sure that we’re having an opportunity to always have a discussion.”
Students were generally in favor of varying levels of controls to promote gun safety, with a couple of students emphasizing the need to protect Second Amendment rights. Campus security was also discussed, with students saying more drills for active-shooter scenarios would make them feel safer at school.
Several students pointed to the need for more education and awareness on campus about where counselors are and who students can go to if they suspect someone is capable of becoming violent. Some said the Stop School Violence Act recently passed by the House doesn’t go far enough, and Cortez Masto said there isn’t enough funding for resources.
Las Vegas Academy junior Rachel Rush, a March for Our Lives protester and member of the Nevada Youth Legislature, said that many of her family members own guns but that she sees the need for gun control.
Rush said that it felt disrespectful that the conversation about bump stocks didn’t turn into real action from the federal government until after the shooting in Parkland, Florida.
Federal agencies are in the process of regulating bump stocks, though legal experts say an administrative change would be more susceptible to lawsuits than congressional action. Several versions of bump stock bans were introduced after the Oct. 1 shooting but did not move forward.
“It felt like what happened here didn’t matter when it was the worst mass shooting in modern American history,” she said. “It felt like people just forgot about us.”
Cortez Masto pointed to several developments in Congress since the shooting. She said the omnibus spending plan recently passed by Congress fixes a loophole that was highlighted after a Texas church shooting. The fix, which had been introduced in legislation cosponsored by Cortez Masto, seeks to ensure better crime reporting from federal agencies to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
The omnibus spending bill also says agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can research the causes of gun violence. The National Rifle Association said in a statement that the spending bill reiterated current policy, which is that the CDC cannot use appropriations “to advocate or promote gun control.”
If the NRA were right, Cortez Masto told the Las Vegas Sun, that research would already be available from government agencies and not just nonprofit organizations and independent groups.
“Of course no federal agency should be advocating,” Cortez Masto said. “They can’t, it’s against the law on any issue. They can go out there, like in this instance, and gather the data that’s important to study, and we’ve never had that happen.”
Cortez Masto told the students, many juniors and seniors, that Congress can’t stop at these changes. She said students should speak out and weigh in when they’re eligible to vote.
Other gun control bills introduced in Congress — including one to reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban and restrict magazine capacity — haven’t advanced, Cortez Masto said.
“The issue here is having the ability to debate it on the floor of the Senate,” she said after the roundtable. “Leadership that controls the Senate right now is blocking any type of debate from taking place.”
