Kelly King, a spokesperson for the Newport News Police Department, told The Associated Press that some time after the shooting, police learned through their investigation that a school employee was notified of a possible gun at Richneck Elementary School before the Jan. 6 shooting.She said that typically, when school officials receive a tip about a potential weapon or other contraband in the schools, if the tip includes specific information about a particular student or a particular classroom, “that’s where the search starts.” Ex-teacher gets 12 years for abusing Phillips Exeter student Kaul asks Legislature for $2.2M to keep school safety office Jury finds in favor ex-prof accused of exploiting students McConnell: Funding to support school safety, mental health “I’m not able to comment on whether other searches may have occurred, except for the fact that the superintendent has shared that the student’s backpack was searched and nothing was found at the time,” Price told The Associated Press.“Keep in mind that there are some very small firearms out there, so you really have to search every nook and cranny if you really believe there is a firearm.” Senate Democrats in Virginia held a news conference Friday to unveil a list of gun safety legislation they hope to pass this year, including a bill that would require anyone who owns a gun in a home where a minor is present to store the gun unloaded and in a locked container or cabinet, and to store all ammunition in a separate locked container.“Gun violence is the number 1 cause of death for children in Virginia and in our nation, and safe firearm storage will help prevent gun deaths and injuries,” said Sen. Jennifer Boysko, the bill’s lead patron.Philip Van Cleave, a gun rights advocate who is president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, said Boysko’s gun storage law would not allow gun owners to defend themselves or others in a timely way during an emergency because it would require them to unlock one container to get the gun, then to unlock another container to get ammunition, then to load the gun."