School shooter threat at Hermosa Valley highlights need for gun reform

By: Sam Bell

Opinion Editor

Hermosa Valley School in Hermosa Beach received a report of a school shooter threat on Nov. 15. Although the threat was deemed “unsubstantiated” after police officials investigated further according to Patch news, this raises concern of safety among our community’s youth. The tragedy of school shootings has been well-integrated into American culture as the rate of school shootings continues to rise each year. With a threat right in our backyard, it is difficult to ignore the issue  presented before us.

The threat at Hermosa Valley was reported by a student who claimed a student had threatened to shoot specific people and/or students at school, according to a Hermosa Beach Police Department press release. After the HBPD was notified of the report, it responded immediately, taking several measures to investigate the threat. These measures included a threat assessment and follow-ups with the students involved, according to the press release. Although the threat was found to be unsubstantiated, the severity of what could have happened should not be neglected. 

The number of school shootings increases each year, with 2019 alone experiencing 45 school shootings thus far, averaging almost one shooting per week, according to CNN News. Our society is flawed in that these tragic events seem to have become a part of our everyday life, locally and nationally. 

On a global scale, the United States has faced 288 school shootings since 2009, which is 57 times the amount the six other G7 countries have faced combined, according to CNN. These staggering statistics seem to provoke the opposite reaction that is expected among the American people and its government, as change has yet to be made. 

The idea that a tragic event such as a school shooting was threatened in our own community is a blatant reminder that these threats have become a normality. Although the threat is still under review with the Hermosa Beach School District and the HBPD, it is difficult to fathom the ease at which these threats can be made, resulting in a haunting recurrance. In turn, this is a defining moment for our community becuase we can now recognize that anyone can be affected by violent threats during school. 

In efforts to reform, Congress passed a federal assault weapons ban in 1994 that only lasted 10 years. Experts who have studied the law concluded that it was rife with loopholes and generally ineffective at curbing gun violence, according to the Washington Post.The assault weapons ban is just one of the few pieces of legislation that has been passed in Congress.  Such legislation includes Gun-Free School Zones Act, passed in 1990, which prohibits unauthorized individuals from knowingly possessing a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school zone. However, the act was ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court as it went beyond the authority of Congress to regulate this activity, accoridng to the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

Even though the threat at Hermosa Valley School was cleared, it was a desperate reminder of the dangerous environment our youth faces. These tragedies are an alarmingly prevalent aspect of our culture, and the need for reform is more urgent than ever.