According to an article written by Meghan Lopez for ABC Denver on October 31st titled, Five bills aimed at improving school safety in Colorado move forward to the state legislature a Colorado legislative committee has decided to move forward with five pieces of legislation designed to approach the issue of safety in schools. These bills come as a response to the STEM shooting in Highlands Ranch on May 7th, 2019, where an adolescent shooter claimed the life of Kendrick Castillo. Colorado has had a lengthy and horrific history of school shootings, and little has changed to prevent their occurrence, so what makes these pieces of legislation different, and why has little changed to halt the occurrence of school shootings?
On the national level, legislators have provided several avenues to solve the epidemic of school violence throughout the years, yet little has changed to curb these horrific events. In fact, school shootings have become more prevalent as the years go by. The graphic below, compiled by the website FiveThirtyEight, shows that school shootings have been on the rise since their inception. This is likely a result of the legislative graveyard created by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, where any bill that contains language that would potentially limit the rights of gun owners is struck down without further consideration.
As a result, the issue of gun violence in schools have been left for communities, and state and local governments to decide. These five pieces of legislation, which were compiled by an equal number of Democrats and Republicans, indicate that legislators in the state of Colorado may be finally willing to cooperate to curb the gun violence epidemic in Colorado schools, and may even be able to instigate change on the national level. This notion could be seen as surprising, as committees have been known to be distinctly partisan in recent years. According to the Adler textbook, “-the dominance of partisan agendas pervades nearly all committee activities.” (Adler et al, 178) It is not commonplace for opposing legislators to work together in the political system of today, especially in committees with such social importance. It is undeniably encouraging to see Colorado legislators working together on the safety of students in school.
This leap in bipartisan legislation in the state of Colorado could also potentially be attributed to another political phenomenon; the issue of policy congruence. According to the Adler textbook, policy congruence can be defined as, “how well a legislator’s issues or policy positions correspond to what her constituents want.” (Adler et al, 90) Colorado constituents, and the American voting base at large, want something to be done about the gun violence epidemic, especially in relation to school shootings. As a result, politicians on both sides of the aisle must tackle the issue of gun violence, as their policy initiatives should reflect the values of their constituents. The desire to be reelected to office is a strong motivational tool for legislators.
It can clearly be seen that there is a bipartisan effort to promote safety in Colorado schools by the legislature. This is encouraging news, as the nation as a whole is going through a political turmoil that has tested the strength of our democracy and our unity as a people. When local and state politicians work together to improve the well-being and safety of their constituents, the world becomes a brighter place.
Works Cited:
Adler, E. Scott, et al. The United States Congress. W.W. Norton & Company, 2019.
Koerth, Maggie. “These Researchers Have Been Trying To Stop School Shootings For 20 Years” FiveThirtyEight. 14, March, 2018, https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/school-shootings-are-still-rare-and-that-makes-them-hard-to-stop/
Lopez, Meghan. “Five bills aimed at improving school safety in Colorado move forward to the state legislature” Denver ABC 7. 31, October, 2019, https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/five-bills-aimed-at-improving-school-safety-in-colorado-move-forward-to-the-state-legislature
On the national level, legislators have provided several avenues to solve the epidemic of school violence throughout the years, yet little has changed to curb these horrific events. In fact, school shootings have become more prevalent as the years go by. The graphic below, compiled by the website FiveThirtyEight, shows that school shootings have been on the rise since their inception. This is likely a result of the legislative graveyard created by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, where any bill that contains language that would potentially limit the rights of gun owners is struck down without further consideration.
As a result, the issue of gun violence in schools have been left for communities, and state and local governments to decide. These five pieces of legislation, which were compiled by an equal number of Democrats and Republicans, indicate that legislators in the state of Colorado may be finally willing to cooperate to curb the gun violence epidemic in Colorado schools, and may even be able to instigate change on the national level. This notion could be seen as surprising, as committees have been known to be distinctly partisan in recent years. According to the Adler textbook, “-the dominance of partisan agendas pervades nearly all committee activities.” (Adler et al, 178) It is not commonplace for opposing legislators to work together in the political system of today, especially in committees with such social importance. It is undeniably encouraging to see Colorado legislators working together on the safety of students in school.
This leap in bipartisan legislation in the state of Colorado could also potentially be attributed to another political phenomenon; the issue of policy congruence. According to the Adler textbook, policy congruence can be defined as, “how well a legislator’s issues or policy positions correspond to what her constituents want.” (Adler et al, 90) Colorado constituents, and the American voting base at large, want something to be done about the gun violence epidemic, especially in relation to school shootings. As a result, politicians on both sides of the aisle must tackle the issue of gun violence, as their policy initiatives should reflect the values of their constituents. The desire to be reelected to office is a strong motivational tool for legislators.
It can clearly be seen that there is a bipartisan effort to promote safety in Colorado schools by the legislature. This is encouraging news, as the nation as a whole is going through a political turmoil that has tested the strength of our democracy and our unity as a people. When local and state politicians work together to improve the well-being and safety of their constituents, the world becomes a brighter place.
Works Cited:
Adler, E. Scott, et al. The United States Congress. W.W. Norton & Company, 2019.
Koerth, Maggie. “These Researchers Have Been Trying To Stop School Shootings For 20 Years” FiveThirtyEight. 14, March, 2018, https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/school-shootings-are-still-rare-and-that-makes-them-hard-to-stop/
Lopez, Meghan. “Five bills aimed at improving school safety in Colorado move forward to the state legislature” Denver ABC 7. 31, October, 2019, https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/five-bills-aimed-at-improving-school-safety-in-colorado-move-forward-to-the-state-legislature
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