A Utah school safety commission formed to address school violence is suggesting expanded mental health services for high risk students and other recommendations ahead of next year’s legislative session.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday at the Capitol, Rep. Ray Ward, R-Bountiful, said the catalyst behind the Utah Safe School Commission was the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school shooting in Florida last February that left 17 dead.
"It caught the whole nation’s attention — as well it should have — and caused everyone to stop and think are we as an individual, as a parent, as a legislator, as a community, as a state, are we doing everything that we can to keep our students safe in the schools?" he said.
Other recommendations by the commission include compelling the state to send updated records to the federal background check system, as well as reviving a bill from last session that would allow law enforcement to take guns from a person posing an imminent threat to public safety, a measure commonly referred to as a "red flag law."
Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes said there's no silver bullet for making schools safer.
"It's a very difficult issue," he said. "It's one that has a lot of different moving parts and is one that certainly deserved the amount of study and work."
Commission members said there was disagreement over several of the recommendations.
