SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Pennsylvania State Senate votes to arm teachers in public schools. (Photo: Bureau of Land Management/Flickr/cc)
PA Teachers Lead Fight Against "Reckless" Bill Allowing Guns in Schools
State Senators vote to allow educators and school staff to carry guns to schools
Jun 29, 2017
The gun control advocacy group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America is leading the fight against a newly-passed bill in the Pennsylvania State Senate, which would allow teachers and other employees to carry firearms in public schools.
The bill passed with a vote of 28-22, with 26 Republicans and two Democrats supporting it. Fourteen Democrats and eight Republicans voted against the bill. The bill now heads to the state's House of Representatives.
The Pennsylvania chapter of Moms Demand Action, a group that works with Everytown for Gun Safety, denounced the lawmakers' "recklessness" in passing the bill. The chapter's leader, Deb Marteslo, noted Thursday that the legislation has been met with strong disapproval by the same teachers who would now be permitted to carry guns to school.
"The only people who should be armed in our schools are highly trained members of our law enforcement community or other security professionals. As a longtime educator in Orwigsburg and Camp Hill, I know that the overwhelming majority of my colleagues are opposed to this bill. Instead of heeding the advice of those of us in classrooms, however, state senators have sided with the national gun lobby."
Another educator, Steven Singer, also decried the bill online, noting that he'd prefer the state prioritize reducing class sizes with more funding for public schools, and regulating charter schools, rather than arming school staff.
He also drew attention to conservatives' hypocrisy on allowing guns in certain public and private spaces."
"You can't take a firearm with you to visit your Congressperson - or on a tour of the White House."
"Heck! Guns aren't even welcome at Donald Trump's political rallies, or most of his hotels, golf courses or other properties. Same at conventions held by the National Rifle Association and the Conservative Political Action Conference."
While Pennsylvania lawmakers who voted for the bill argued that it would allow teachers to protect students from potential mass shootings, the realities of school attacks call into question this argument's validity.
On Thursday, the education historian Diane Ravitch wrote about a shooting that took place last year at an elementary school in Townville, South Carolina. A six-year-old boy was killed after just 12 seconds of gunfire.
"There are states and cities that think the answer to school shootings is to arm teachers. Given the speed of this shooting, no one could have stopped it. Twelve seconds. The teachers, if they were armed, could have shot him, but the child would still be dead."
"This is madness."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
The gun control advocacy group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America is leading the fight against a newly-passed bill in the Pennsylvania State Senate, which would allow teachers and other employees to carry firearms in public schools.
The bill passed with a vote of 28-22, with 26 Republicans and two Democrats supporting it. Fourteen Democrats and eight Republicans voted against the bill. The bill now heads to the state's House of Representatives.
The Pennsylvania chapter of Moms Demand Action, a group that works with Everytown for Gun Safety, denounced the lawmakers' "recklessness" in passing the bill. The chapter's leader, Deb Marteslo, noted Thursday that the legislation has been met with strong disapproval by the same teachers who would now be permitted to carry guns to school.
"The only people who should be armed in our schools are highly trained members of our law enforcement community or other security professionals. As a longtime educator in Orwigsburg and Camp Hill, I know that the overwhelming majority of my colleagues are opposed to this bill. Instead of heeding the advice of those of us in classrooms, however, state senators have sided with the national gun lobby."
Another educator, Steven Singer, also decried the bill online, noting that he'd prefer the state prioritize reducing class sizes with more funding for public schools, and regulating charter schools, rather than arming school staff.
He also drew attention to conservatives' hypocrisy on allowing guns in certain public and private spaces."
"You can't take a firearm with you to visit your Congressperson - or on a tour of the White House."
"Heck! Guns aren't even welcome at Donald Trump's political rallies, or most of his hotels, golf courses or other properties. Same at conventions held by the National Rifle Association and the Conservative Political Action Conference."
While Pennsylvania lawmakers who voted for the bill argued that it would allow teachers to protect students from potential mass shootings, the realities of school attacks call into question this argument's validity.
On Thursday, the education historian Diane Ravitch wrote about a shooting that took place last year at an elementary school in Townville, South Carolina. A six-year-old boy was killed after just 12 seconds of gunfire.
"There are states and cities that think the answer to school shootings is to arm teachers. Given the speed of this shooting, no one could have stopped it. Twelve seconds. The teachers, if they were armed, could have shot him, but the child would still be dead."
"This is madness."
The gun control advocacy group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America is leading the fight against a newly-passed bill in the Pennsylvania State Senate, which would allow teachers and other employees to carry firearms in public schools.
The bill passed with a vote of 28-22, with 26 Republicans and two Democrats supporting it. Fourteen Democrats and eight Republicans voted against the bill. The bill now heads to the state's House of Representatives.
The Pennsylvania chapter of Moms Demand Action, a group that works with Everytown for Gun Safety, denounced the lawmakers' "recklessness" in passing the bill. The chapter's leader, Deb Marteslo, noted Thursday that the legislation has been met with strong disapproval by the same teachers who would now be permitted to carry guns to school.
"The only people who should be armed in our schools are highly trained members of our law enforcement community or other security professionals. As a longtime educator in Orwigsburg and Camp Hill, I know that the overwhelming majority of my colleagues are opposed to this bill. Instead of heeding the advice of those of us in classrooms, however, state senators have sided with the national gun lobby."
Another educator, Steven Singer, also decried the bill online, noting that he'd prefer the state prioritize reducing class sizes with more funding for public schools, and regulating charter schools, rather than arming school staff.
He also drew attention to conservatives' hypocrisy on allowing guns in certain public and private spaces."
"You can't take a firearm with you to visit your Congressperson - or on a tour of the White House."
"Heck! Guns aren't even welcome at Donald Trump's political rallies, or most of his hotels, golf courses or other properties. Same at conventions held by the National Rifle Association and the Conservative Political Action Conference."
While Pennsylvania lawmakers who voted for the bill argued that it would allow teachers to protect students from potential mass shootings, the realities of school attacks call into question this argument's validity.
On Thursday, the education historian Diane Ravitch wrote about a shooting that took place last year at an elementary school in Townville, South Carolina. A six-year-old boy was killed after just 12 seconds of gunfire.
"There are states and cities that think the answer to school shootings is to arm teachers. Given the speed of this shooting, no one could have stopped it. Twelve seconds. The teachers, if they were armed, could have shot him, but the child would still be dead."
"This is madness."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.