Stop me, Minnesota shooter wrote. Missed clues sidelined state's red flag law.

In the wake of high-profile shootings, proposals such as banning assault weapons gain momentum. But there are solutions few national politicians are looking at that take a very different tack.

Oregon's Lake Oswego School District takes a preventative approach to gun violence in its schools. The district's threat assessment team meets with students who have raised red flags, assesses the situation, and, if appropriate, connects them with mental health resources.

With gun reform being a key legislative topic, the majority of time, energy, and resources have focused on preventing mass shootings, which amount to just 2-3% of gun-related homicides. The rest affect majority communities of color, which policy, lobbying, and reform efforts have largely ignored. Even with local violence-reduction efforts like Oakland’s LIVE FREE focused deterrence or a Chicago school’s focus on cognitive behavioral therapy showing impact, the allotted resources at the federal level continue to pass them by.

While most Americans and politicians from across the partisan aisle support universal background checks for firearm purchases, that system has shown to not be as effective as many think. Instead, states are implementing licensing systems that require individuals wanting to buy a gun to take safety courses, apply with local law enforcement, provide references, and have their background checked. States that have such systems in place have seen a steady decline in gun homicides and suicides.

Since July 2019, New Zealand has held gun buybacks across the country and collected over 10,000 firearms. After a mass shooting at Christchurch mosque, the government rushed through legislation to ban semi-automatic and automatic firearms, offering owners of such weapons cash and a no-questions-asked policy. Such legislation has been implemented in other countries as well, including Australia, who in 1996 collected over 600,000 weapons.

After piloting anti-violence initiatives across the city, leaders in Kansas City, Missouri, are re-evaluating their approach. While the steps taken to curb gun violence were similar to others across the country, here, they yielded few successes. Leaders in the community cite a lack of collaboration and responses that don’t take into consideration root causes like mental health, poverty, education, or police/community mistrust.

From city-wide efforts to faith-based interventions to public health approaches, the city of Birmingham, Alabama is taking an all-hands-on-deck approach to ending gun violence in the city. The city has been deeply affected by structural violence, racism, and disinvestment, and is applying multiple approaches, like deploying “peacemakers” that talk to residents to figure out why violence is happening in the first place. The city has also increased the number of detectives covering homicides and area nonprofits are developing counseling, rehabilitation, and job training programs for young men.

Following a mass shooting in Aurora, IL, lawmakers are introducing legislation that could make it harder for guns to be obtained by those who shouldn’t have them. The legislation proposes requiring fingerprints prior to obtaining a concealed carry license – allowing agencies to conduct more accurate and thorough background checks.

Around the country, a dozen states have passed “red flag” gun laws. These laws allow officials to temporarily take away legally owned guns from individuals who are deemed either at-risk of suicide, or a danger to others. Colorado is the most recent state to introduce a similar law to legislation, and if passed would allow law enforcement to initially seize guns for 14 days while a judge hears the case.

Across the United States, state legislatures are passing “red flag” laws as a preventative effort to mass shootings. These laws make it possible for law enforcement to take guns away from people showing signs of violence or suicide. While there has been push back from gun-rights advocates, with fourteens states passing laws like these, it seem to be a part of a larger, cultural shift.