Today, the House Education and Workforce Committee unanimously passed two amendments offered by Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy (NY-4), allowing the amendments to be added to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The first amendment directs local school districts to use Safe and Drug Free School funds to promote child safety locks. The second amendment directs the Department of Education to collect specific information on gun violence in schools.

"We know that child safety locks can be particularly effective in reducing accidents and suicides when it comes to children.

Today, I offered an amendment that first will require child safety lock education in our schools. We know that 12 children are killed everyday by gun violence. In 1997, 4,223 children and adolescents were killed by firearms, according to the Centers for Disease Control. This amendment recognizes that our families have a responsibility to safely store firearms by using child safety locks.

If we are going to expel students from schools for having guns, then we should educate children and parents about the importance of using child safety locks-that is what this amendment does. This funding will be used to print brochures about child safety locks that would go home to parents and guardians. Or it could be used to hold a conference to educate child and adults about child safety locks. We are seeking to send this money where it will do the most good.

The second amendment directs the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to collect data on gun violence. This is an amendment that prevents gun violence through education. Currently, this bill does not require the collection of data on gun violence, but it does direct the NCES to collect data on drug usage at our schools.

My amendment directs the NCES to collect similar data on gun violence. We need to know the circumstances surrounding these shootings. What guns were used? What are the characteristics of the victims and perpetrators? How serious were the injuries?

For example, if a child is poked with a fork, it is marked as an act of violence. And if a child shoots another child, it is marked as an act of violence. It should be separated. And this amendment fixes that problem.

Child safety locks can save lives. They are an effective means of limiting access to handguns. We can not make our students safe from gun violence unless we collect data on gun violence. My amendments provide us with two tools so we can prevent gun violence in our schools."