As the nation continues to reel from the mass shooting in Florida Wednesday, Missouri legislators are thinking about what can be done to try to prevent a similar tragedy in this state.
Speaking in Springfield Friday, Crystal Quade, a Democratic state representative from that city, said lawmakers on both sides of the aisle Thursday put out a call to action for a serious conversation about gun violence.
"You know, we all have different opinions on what that means, but I’m very hopeful that we are moving the conversation beyond just whether you can carry a gun on campus, beyond just mental health is the reason this happens,” Quade said.
Republican state representative, Elijah Haahr of Springfield, called the school shooting this week a “gut check moment for legislators.”
“They think about their kids and their grandkids going to school. It’s something that affects us on a truly core level, and those conversations are ones that we’ll continue to have this year.”
He would like to convene a committee to look at violence in schools, possibly made up of lawmakers, teachers, law enforcement and mental health professionals. He said the goal would be to come up with recommendations for lawmakers.
