The Georgia House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a school safety bill aimed at preventing school shootings through better information sharing and alertness to possible threats by students.
The legislation was proposed less than a year after the September 2024 shooting at Apalachee High School, which left four people dead and nine others injured. Investigators said the shooter made threats to commit a school shooting prior to the incident, a common trend for school shooters.
House Bill 268 would enact several policies, including creating a database to “collect and integrate data to evaluate the behavior of students who may pose a threat to the school, school staff, or students” shared between school officials, law enforcement, and mental health officials. It would also require schools to develop active shooter plans and would create a system allowing anonymous reports of threats to be shared with officials.
Unlike several past instances of legislation aimed at preventing school shootings, nothing in the bill pertained to limiting access to firearms. Democrats have pushed for increased gun control legislation, while Republicans championed the push for better mental health support and identification of threats.
The legislation passed in the lower chamber of the state legislature 159-13 on Tuesday, with Republican House Speaker Jon Burns offering passionate support for it. The measure must pass in the Senate before it can be sent to Gov. Brian Kemp’s (R-GA) desk for final approval.
“I believe this legislation will usher a new culture in our school systems, where we run towards our children facing struggles with mental health,” Burns said, according to the Associated Press.
Some lawmakers expressed concerns over the databases HB268 would create, particularly with the “subjective” nature of the data being shared between agencies.
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“This isn’t neutral data,” Democratic state Rep. Mekyah McQueen said, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “This is subjective labeling, deciding which children are considered a threat based on feeling, a perception, a judgment.”
Another piece of legislation the state House advanced Tuesday would offer a tax credit for firearm safety courses and gun storage. It passed 165-8 and will head to the state Senate for approval.
