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Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranches Partners with Scott J. Beigel Memorial Fund to Send At-Risk Kids to Summer Camp

Scott Beigel {Beigel family}

The mother of a heroic teacher killed in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is blasting the Trump administration’s apparent closure of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention.

The office, launched in September 2023 under President Biden, managed the federal government’s first-ever coordinated response to mass shootings and community gun violence, advocates for gun safety said.

The office’s website went dark after Trump’s swearing-in as President this week.

Linda Beigel Schulman, founder of the Scott J. Beigel Memorial Fund and a passionate gun safety advocate, said she was disgusted by Trump’s apparent abolishment of the office.

“His actions send a devastating message to families like mine—families directly impacted by these heinous crimes—that he has no intention of preventing these tragedies from happening again,” Beigel Schulman said in a written statement Thursday.

She also condemned the legislative effort by Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives to abolish the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the federal law enforcement agency dedicated to gun violence prevention and investigations.

The legislation’s prospects for passage are unclear.

Filed in the House on Jan. 7, the bill demonstrates that “some lawmakers refuse to address the clear, ongoing problem of individuals who should not have access to guns being legally able to obtain them,” Beigel Schulman said.

“It’s not just frustrating; it’s infuriating.”

Scott Beigel, a geography teacher at MSD as well as the school’s cross-country coach, ushered more than 20 students trapped in the hall during the mass shooting into his classroom. He was murdered by the mass shooter as he worked to help students, who later credited him with saving their lives.

The shooting killed 17 MSD students and staff members and wounded 17 more.

Beigel Schulman said she had been hopeful Trump would make good on his rhetoric about preventing mass shootings.

“During President Trump’s first term, I, like so many others, hoped for meaningful action to address the epidemic of gun violence in this country,” she said. “President Trump spoke loudly and boldly about taking action. He created a commission, which we initially applauded, only to discover that it would focus narrowly on security measures without addressing the larger epidemic of gun violence in America.”

Trump also publicly supported red flag laws but “failed to take the critical step of following many states by creating a federal red flag law.”

“It was a failure to act in the face of clear evidence that such measures could save lives,” Beigel Schulman said.

Despite recent setbacks in the fight to prevent school shootings, she said she would keep fighting for common-sense gun reform.

“We all have the right to be safe and the right to not live in fear.”

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Author Profile

Kevin Deutsch

Kevin Deutsch is an award-winning journalist and author of two nonfiction books. He covers general assignment news and Jewish community issues for Talk Media. He has also worked as a staff writer at The Miami Times, the Rio Grande SUN, the New York Daily News, Newsday, The Miami Herald, The Palm Beach Post, The Riverdale Press, and Bronx Justice News.