On Feb. 13, Rep. Jackie Speier held a Burlingame town hall titled “A conversation about America: Stop the killing.” Four student panelists attended, including two parkland survivors, Jonathan Blank and Ma’ayan Mizrahi, and two rally planners Kati Sandoval from San Mateo High School and Michael Breen from Palo Alto High School. In addition to the students, Stanford Physician Dean Winslow, Columbine Advocate Meagan Fishell and San Mateo County Superintendent of Schools Nancy Magee were in attendance.

After an introduction by Speier, the two Parkland students opened the panel, talking about their personal experiences beofre pivoting to their opinions on change that needs to be made.

“Wherever I’m at wherever I’m going, I’m always looking at the exits. I’m always looking at the corners. And I’m always observing where everything is at the moment,” Blank said. “This isn’t how a child should have to live their life. This isn’t how anyone should have to live their life.”

After calling for stricter background checks to prevent mentally unstable citizens from owning guns, Blank received a standing ovation from the audience. Sandoval and Breen spoke next, with the former speaking about her effort to organize the 2018 March for Our Lives event, and the later speaking about his experiences during a lockdown after reports of gun violence came in.

Winslow talked after the students, and spoke about the duty of people working in the public health sector to help prevent further gun violence.

“Gun violence truly is a health crisis and a public health issue,” Winslow said. “We need to advocate for research on gun violence and develop evidence-backed interventions to reduce gun violence in the US.”

Additionally, Winslow spoke about his experiences as a pilot, and stipulated that the requirements to own a gun should be similar to that of an aircraft, with “rigorous” requirements, including “universal federal registration, periodic reregistration” and “periodic physical exams, including at least an informal mental health assessment of all who want to keep a gun in their private possession.”

Speier then introduced Fishell who Speier described as the “genesis of this particular town hall.” In her address, Fishell brought up the problems with police responses that could have saved the lives of children and teachers during the Columbine shooting.

“my former inlaws, Randy and Judy Brown … reported one of the gunmen to the police and the authorities not once not twice, but 15 times,” Fishell said. “And unfortunately, the police failed to complete an investigation. And on April 20, to two students who were only five weeks away from graduating did the unthinkable.”

Magee concluded the discussion on a hopeful note, explaining the steps that San Mateo County is taking to solve the issue of gun violence in schools.

“We have developed a protocol called the Big Five,” Magee said. “It uses clear language, no code yellow or red. We call it what it is, you’ll see these posters and these magnets in all schools in San Mateo County. But more than that, what this provides is a common place for conversations to happen. When people are speaking the same language, they come to understand each other.”