This week on Valley Edition we talk about the tragic shootings in Newtown, CT. Fresno Unified Superintendent Michael Hanson and Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims join us in the first segment to talk about how local schools and law enforcement have taken steps to prevent similar attacks from happening here. What have we learned from Newtown, and how can we keep our children safe in the classroom?
In the second segment of our program we talk about the state of mental health education and treatment. How can better screening and awareness help prevent such events in the future? We ask guests Mary Lou Brauti-Minkler of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Fresno chapter; Brian Gibb of the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare, and Fresno State professor Kyle Weir.
We close our program with a discussion on gun control, and the renewed effort to re-instate the federal assault weapons ban, which expired in 2004. Josh Horwitz from the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence joins us to talk about his group's effort to tighten the nation's gun laws, while gun rights advocate Barry Bauer, owner of Fresno's Herb Bauer Sporting Goods, says firearms aren't the problem.