Spokane leaders address school gun safety on Sandy Hook Anniversary
News Story by Cassy Benefield | FāVS News
The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting claimed 26 lives — 20 first graders and six educators — in Newtown, Connecticut, on Dec. 14, 2012. Twelve years later, the tragedy continues to shape national debates about school safety and gun policy.
Spokane City Council Member Paul Dillon recalls Sandy Hook, the second deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, and its aftermath. At that time, he worked for Sen. Andy Billig in the Washington State Legislature.
“I remember after Sandy Hook really shook the world, it felt like OK, we have a window to really pass gun control and safety measures that have eluded the other Washington (D.C.),” Dillon said.
He also remembers two gun-related events when he was growing up in Indianolo in Kitsap County. Two boys he knew, one a neighbor, the other a junior high classmate, were affected by gun violence. The neighbor was shot in the back of his head and killed, and his classmate accidentally shot and injured his hand while loading his grandfather’s gun he stole to protect himself from being jumped.
“These experiences really shaped me. I have been a really strong advocate seeing since then seeing how these laws do make a difference,” he said.
Dillon sponsored the Gun Violence Prevention for a Safer Spokane ordinance, which passed 5-2 in July. This law bans firing a gun in the city, bans bringing firearms into public-owned facilities and revises gun forfeiture laws so guns used in crimes do not go back on the street.
“Looking back at the year, [it’s] probably one of the ordinances that I’m most proud of,” Dillon said.
Washington one of leading states for gun law strength
He also said Washington has been at the forefront in the nation passing responsible gun safety measures. History and research also reveal this.
The Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility, a non-profit that advocates for gun safety, highlights the bills and initiatives they have helped pass since 2013 on their timeline. Everytown Research & Policy ranks states on their gun violence rate and gun law strength and reports the Evergreen State’s gun death rate as below the national average. For gun law strength, they place Washington in the top 10, up to 9th place from 10th last year.
There have been several recently-passed gun safety laws in the state, such as background checks on all gun sales, dealers required to have licenses to operate and the prohibition of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
One of the more current laws require schools to notify families about secure firearm storage, something the Spokane Public School (SPS) Board of Directors took seriously.
Local schools do their part to increase gun safety
In 2022, the SPS board unanimously adopted a resolution to inform district families about the importance of firearm storage, noting gun fire storage saves lives.
In addition, 2021 Washington statistics show gun fire was the leading cause of death for children in the state, with 45 youth dying from it that year.
As for SPS teaching children a specific age-appropriate lesson on safety, this is a work in progress with no given date to be finished, said Ryan Lancaster, executive director of SPS Communications.
These future lessons will highlight several key messages, including schools are generally safe, students have access to mental health support when needed, violence is never the answer and social media engagement should be limited with healthier coping strategies increased.
Despite not having this lesson complete, SPS has enacted a multi-layered approach among its staff and protocols to ensure campus safety. From hiring Campus Safety Specialists for each school (sometimes more than one) to partnering with local law enforcement agencies “for a high-level of response training,” Lancaster said.
“In most cases, threats fortunately turn out to be non-credible, but we of course have a duty to immediately respond and assume that a threat could be credible until the investigation is complete,” he said. “Often, this requires dozens of school district staff and law enforcement to act at all hours of the day and into the night as we strive to ensure the safety of students and, in the case of my team, accurate, adequate communication with constituents and the media.”
Sandy Hook Promise school programs
Sandy Hook Promise (SHP) sponsors in-school programs to help children take active roles in their schools to help prevent gun violence. Two of them are Know the Signs and Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE) Promise Clubs.
Over 127,000 youth and adults across 321 Washington schools have participated in the Know the Signs programs. More than 750 students are involved in 23 SAVE Promise Clubs throughout the state, helping create positive school cultures where everyone looks out for one another.
In Spokane County, six out of 19 school districts within 12 out of 54 total schools have participated in one or both of these programs.
The most popular program in the county’s school districts is SHP’s Know the Signs “Start With Hello Week,” a national call-to-action that helps youth make new social connections and create a sense of belonging. Just over 1,000 students out of the approximately 27,000 in Spokane County participated in 2024. This included Wilson Elementary, Madison Elementary and Pauline Flett Middle School in SPS.
Commenting on SPS’ efforts to bring more children into the conversation in addition to their efforts in training and hiring staff to promote safe campus culture, Council Member Dillon said “It’s a start.”
“These can be tough conversations to navigate, but I think we need to really be bold and address them head on,” he said.
He said gun violence prevention should be framed as the public health crisis it is, adding suicide as part of the conversation.
“I think that these investments and in talking about these bold policies help our communities be safer and that includes student safety and parent safety,” Dillon said. “So, when your kid goes to school you know that you’re not going to see them for the last time.”
Faith leaders’ involvement with gun safety policies
Washington’s Faith Action Network’s Policy Engagement Director Kristin Ang shared an email statement with FāVS News responding to the Sandy Hook shooting’s 12th anniversary.
This multi-faith partnership advocates for the common good, with the core belief every life is sacred. So, protecting Washingtonians from gun violence is a high priority.
“Remembering Sandy Hook is not just about honoring the memory of the victims but also about renewing our commitment to creating a world where children and families are safe, where schools are sanctuaries of learning,” Ang said.
Washington K-12 schools have experienced 2,069 shootings from January 1970 to June 2022, according to one online database. This database counted more than day-of-school shootings. They also included after school hours shootings, gun crimes with no deaths nor injuries, failed suicide attempts and intentional property damage.
The Washington Post only included gun shootings occurring immediately before, during and just after school hours that included deaths and injuries in their database.
Since 1999 — the year of the Columbine High School massacre — the Post reported more than 417 school shootings, affecting more than 383,000 students who shared campuses the days of the shootings.
They also included the Sept. 13, 2017, Freeman High School shooting — the only one in Spokane County’s history. It killed one student and wounded three, and the Post reports 300 students were affected by it.
With the knowledge that the number of school shootings have been increasing yearly, Faith Action Network hopes to bring this trend down within Washington. They also encourage others to join them.
“As we remember the lives lost at Sandy Hook, let us also remember the work still to be done,” Ang said. “We can build a better world where such heartbreak no longer occurs.”
