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Updated January 25

The Biden administration is calling on the nation鈥檚 school principals to promote safe gun storage among parents and staff as part of its effort to prevent school shootings. 

at the White House, including several who have experienced school shootings, first lady Jill Biden said the nation asks a lot of educators, but their leadership on this issue could save lives.

鈥淗ow can we accept a world where the leading cause of death for our children is gun violence?鈥� asked Biden, who visited Uvalde, Texas, in 2022 after 19 students and two teachers were killed at an elementary school. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to have to put my hand on another cross with an 8-year-old鈥檚 name.鈥�

The resources for schools, which were released ahead of the event, should make it easier for school leaders to talk to families about a sensitive topic, officials said. The materials include a gun storage guide, a to principals from Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and a sample to parents with tips about trigger locks and storing ammunition.

鈥淲e often hear from principals that they want to do everything they can to keep their students and educators safe,鈥� Stefanie Feldman, director of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, said during a call with reporters Wednesday. 鈥淏ut they shouldn’t have to be experts on safe storage of firearms.鈥�

shows that most school shooters obtain their weapons from home or . That was the case in the 2021 shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan, where the gunman鈥檚 parents now face for their role in allowing their son access to a weapon despite red flags. And 80% of gun suicides among children 18 and younger involved a weapon belonging to a family member, .

President Joe Biden, who is backed in this year鈥檚 election by major , has taken to reduce gun violence, such as increasing background checks and prohibiting the sale of 鈥�.鈥� But Republicans have the president鈥檚 efforts to tighten gun restrictions.

Cardona said Thursday that gun safety shouldn鈥檛 be a 鈥渞ed or blue issue.鈥� Schools, he added, have adopted other life-saving practices, like having Narcan on hand in case of an opioid overdose, and should 鈥渘ormalize鈥� discussing gun safety. He told the attendees that other community members, like mayors and church elders, will listen to them because they are 鈥渃redible leaders.鈥�

One principal who was initially skeptical about the administration’s message had a change of heart after attending Thursday鈥檚 event.

鈥漌e鈥檙e instructional leaders,鈥� Edward Cosentino, principal at Phelps Luck Elementary School in Columbia, Maryland, said Wednesday following the release of the new sample materials. 鈥淓verything seems to be thrown on the shoulders of principals and schools these days.鈥�

But on Thursday, he said he viewed the call to action as 鈥渄efinitely not an add-on.鈥� 

鈥淚t isn鈥檛 completely on us,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 part of a larger effort.鈥�

Currently, 34 states have laws intended to prevent children from accessing guns, while eight states specifically require guns to be secured in a locked container or to have a locking device, according to the

The U.S. Department of Justice has issued to encourage  more states to pass such laws. But currently there is no federal requirement that gun owners keep their weapons locked up.

The Thursday event followed Cardona鈥檚 Monday in Parkland, Florida. He toured the building where Nikolas Cruz killed 17 students and school staff members and injured another 17 people nearly six years ago. The school, untouched since the shooting, is scheduled to be . Cruz is serving a life sentence for the attack.

鈥淚 walked over shattered glass. I saw bullet holes through walls and through desks,鈥� Cardona said. 鈥淚n some cases that morning, I was standing next to the parent of the murdered child.鈥�

The education department and the , which President Joe Biden established last year, organized the town hall in part with the , a group of administrators who have experienced shootings at their schools. 

鈥淓ach of these tragedies leaves an immense amount of trauma,鈥� said Michelle Kefford, principal of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High.

Cardona also led a moment of silence for , the Iowa principal who was injured while protecting students during a school shooting on Jan. 4. He died 10 days later.  

鈥淭here is that heavy load on principals,鈥�  said Tracy Hilliard, who also attended Thursday鈥檚 event. She serves as principal of Urbana Elementary in Frederick, Maryland and president of the Maryland Association of Elementary School Principals.鈥淲e serve in many roles, but we knew that when we accepted the job.鈥�

But some say the responsibility shouldn鈥檛 fall on school leaders who are already overtaxed. 

鈥淚 think it’s very unrealistic to expect that school administrators are going to take this on with enthusiasm,鈥� said Kenneth Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services, a nonprofit that provides training to school leaders. 鈥淚t’s easy for government and community organizations to say, 鈥楲et the schools do that.鈥� 鈥�

Addressing that concern at the event, Cardona said that educators didn鈥檛 鈥渟ign up鈥� for a pandemic either. 

鈥淚f we’re not prioritizing saving the lives of children in our schools,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd creating a stronger sense of safety for them, we can’t expect them to be able to move the needle on reading or math or all the other things that are so crucial to their education.鈥�

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