COM Outlook Summer/Fall 2019

“He doesn’t understand why any civilian would ever need a military-style assault weapon for any reason except mass killing.” In an attempt to elicit positive change, Cook ventures into the community nearly every weekend to petition for Ban Assault Weapons NOW—a citizens’ initiative in Florida that aims to have an amendment banning assault weapons added to the 2020 Florida ballot. “I hear the most illogical reasons why people will not sign the petition. I am trying to understand other people’s positions, as my training as a public health professional taught me not to be judgmental and to remain open to different cultures, but this is very difficult for me,” she said. “New Zealand banned assault- weapon sales six weeks after the Christchurch massacre, yet Florida still allows private sales of military-grade weapons with- out any required background check. Smith & Wesson manufac- tures more than 500,000 assault weapons every year, and most of our society encourages it through inaction.” In her role as a public health professional, Cook acknowledges that more also needs to be done in terms of preparing for, and responding to, mass shootings, as last year’s Stoneman Douglas incident illustrated. “We have an idea of what should be done from lessons learned from prior shootings, and a lot of these lessons were not applied. In addition to centralizing resources, we also needed to establish and maintain proactive, person-to- person contact. This was not done, and it still hasn’t been. We never received any personal contact from the school to discuss, assess, educate, or inform,” she explained. “As a result, many people have absolutely no idea about services, accommodations, or behavioral health post-trauma. There is a lot of confusion and uncertainty,” she added. “It’s important to highlight that there are many talented and expert volunteers and programs, but, until recently, they were offered by an unconnected net- work of organizations and dissem- inated sporadically through social media, websites, or robocalls.” Cook, who has collaborated with local officials, organizations, and parents to improve the process moving forward, is enthusiastic about Eagle’s Haven—the new, long-term Eden Hebron