ST. LOUIS — It’s been two weeks since the Nashville school shooting, where six people died. It reflects a troubling trend: Guns are now the No. 1 cause of death for American children and teenagers, according to the New England Journal of Medicine.
Last year in Metro St. Louis, a child or teen got shot roughly once every two and a half days.
"Any time I see a school shooting, it affects me like it affects my daughter. We both are in therapy for it," said Donita Watkins, the mother of a student at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School in St. Louis.
When Watkins saw the news about the school shooting in Nashville, it was like reliving the nightmare.
"You remember everything that happened," she said.
She remembered the text message she received from her 16-year-old daughter, Tori Jefferson.
"Mama. They shooting. It's an intruder," it read.
Her daughter sent her the text message when a shooter came into her health class back in October with an AR-15 rifle and 600 rounds of ammunition. She was shot in her leg and jumped from the 3rd floor to escape.
"And she fractured her spinal. So now she, like, got back pain for the rest of her life, you know, standing up," Watkins said. "Why are we waiting on the government to do anything?"
With gun violence being the number one killer of American children, what is our government doing? We analyzed over 40 gun-related bills filed in the Missouri House over the last few months.
Democrats in the super-minority say most of their bills aimed at gun violence prevention don't get anywhere. The ones the House Speaker calls for a vote are Republican bills that would make guns more accessible. Among the bills on the table: legislation that would allow firearms in public transit and churches.
Missouri HB 282, sponsored by Rep. Adam Schnelting (R-District 69), would allow concealed carry on public transit.
Missouri HB 485 is sponsored by Rep. Ben Baker (R-District 160). It would allow concealed carry in churches.
Other bills would restrict law enforcement in Missouri from temporarily removing a firearm from someone posing an "extreme risk" to themselves or society. The bill's sponsor, Mazzie Boyd, said it would protect "law-abiding gun owners from having their firearms seized …"
She declined an interview on camera, but told us in an email: "Guns are not the leading cause of children dying in this country, as almost a million babies are aborted every year … Guns don’t kill people. People kill people. Sometimes they use a gun, sometimes a knife, sometimes a car, and sometimes their fists. Guns are merely a tool. Thankfully, the police officers who stopped the threat in the Nashville school had firearms, it was the best tool for the job of saving lives that day… HB 712 has nothing to do with increasing gun accessibility in the state. HB 712 only protects law abiding gun owners from having their firearms seized with little to no due process protections, and before they’ve been convicted (or even charged) of a crime in a court of law … Felons are still prohibited from owning a gun, as are those that are disqualified under 455.050 and 571.070."
State Rep. Ashley Aune (D-District 14) told us in an email: “We know a red flag law would have stopped the CVPA shooting because law enforcement has said as much. As lawmakers we have a responsibility to be proactive in preventing tragedies like this from occurring when they become endemic. And when both the CDC and the New England Journal of Medicine confirm that children die from firearm-related injuries more than any other cause of death, that qualifies as an endemic problem. Beyond mass shootings, we also have severe issues with gun violence and fatalities across the state, not just in our major metropolitan areas. Missouri has risen to fourth in the nation in firearm deaths per capita as of 2020, up from 17th in 2005, when Republicans began their crusade against common sense gun laws.”
Another bill would cut taxes on firearms and ammunition. If it passes, it would make Missouri the only state in the country to tax food but not guns.
These bills were all filed months after the St. Louis school shooting in October. Many Republicans believe these steps would protect our freedoms.
"Focusing the conversation on different ways to restrict gun ownership for law abiding citizens is not the path we want for success," said State Sen. Bill Eigel (R-District 23) on 5 On Your Side's The Record.
Others believe the legislation on the table will not protect our kids.
"I just think that it's time to stop playing political football with these issues and start looking at it from our point of view at the children that are impacting," said George Sells, a St. Louis Public Schools spokesperson.
"How has this environment affected learning at school?" asked the I-Team's Paula Vasan.
"It's horrible for it," Sells said. "Basically in 2022, in Metro St Louis, a kid got shot once every three days. I mean, think about that. A kid got shot once every three days and that's a cycle."
"What are you doing as a school right now to keep kids safe?" Vasan asked. "We've got a large security force ... And as far as mental health goes, counselors are available, particularly here at CVPA and CSMB."
But he says there's an unpredictable factor he can't control … one that threatens students every day: access to firearms. Research from the New England Journal of Medicine shows guns are now killing more children and teens than drug overdoses, cancer, or car crashes.
In 2022, the Gun Violence Archive reported that 1,676 children were killed in gun-related deaths — the highest number the nonprofit has ever recorded.
"We're moving forward. And I just hope my daughter never has to be a victim of crime again," Watkins said.
The House bills we told you about in this report would allow guns in both public transit and churches, and would ban red flag laws. They’ve been passed out of committee. They still need to pass through the Senate. The Senate Bill that would cut taxes on guns has been passed out of the Senate. Now it has to go through the House.
Vasan also reached out to U.S. Senators from Missouri Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt. She also reached out to all of the lawmakers who sponsored the bills profiled in this report. No one agreed to interviews.
Research from The New England Journal of Medicine can be found here.
For more information, here’s a look at the impact of gun violence on children and adolescents from the Kaiser Family Foundation a nonprofit.
Here’s an analysis comparing gun deaths of children and teens in the U.S. with gun deaths in other nations.
If you have an investigative tip on this topic or anything else, email Paula Vasan directly at paula@ksdk.com.
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