The Network for Public Education’s Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence in Schools

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WHAT WE SUPPORT

NPE strongly opposes the arming of teachers and school personnel as the means to end gun violence in schools.

We support:

  • Banning assault weapons and large capacity magazines.
  • Universal background checks, which requires closing the gun show loophole.
  • Expanding state/federal reporting cooperation regarding disqualification from possessing firearms.
  • Revising and tightening laws regarding possession including raising the minimum age to 21 and prohibiting sales to those on the terrorist watchlist, those convicted of any crime (including domestic abuse) as well as those who have been the subject of court orders of protection.
  • Requiring the licensing and registration of guns in all states.
  • Requiring the reporting of lost or stolen guns.
  • Enacting federal gun trafficking laws and regulating bulk gun purchases.
  • Federal funding for school security measures, with needs determined by communities.
  • Increased funding for mental health services, bullying prevention, conflict resolution, restorative justice programs and programs that help students identify and report those who threaten violent actions.
  • Increased funding for mental health services.
  • Programs that build empathy and compassion such as bullying prevention, conflict resolution and restorative justice programs.
  • Awareness and prevention programs that help students identify and report those who threaten violent actions to authorities before its too late.

IN THE NEWS

  • Students stage ‘End Gun Violence’ walkout.

  • Students protest at White House.

  • Students in Iowa City stage a walkout

  • Black Teens Have Been Fighting for Gun Reform for Years

  • Why Trump’s push to arm teachers won’t work

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UPCOMING ACTIONS

  • Learn more about the National School Walkout.

  • Learn more about March for Our Lives.

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How to talk to our younger students

Our partners at Defending the Early Years have put together these helpful guidelines for how to talk about the National Day of Action with preschoolers.

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Fact:

More than 150,000 students attending K-12 schools have experienced a shooting on campus since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999.

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SUGGESTED ACTIONS

 

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Talk about what students should do if they hear others talk about guns or other unsafe activities. Sandy Hook Promise is an excellent source for suggestions. Ask students to write notes to their legislators about the need to keep their schools safe. Wear orange that day to show support for peaceful schools. Let the local press know what you are doing.

 

MIDDLE/HIGH SCHOOLS

Encourage all to wear orange. Organize a sit-in. Plan an on-site walk out during which students move to a gymnasium for an assembly or presentation. Include a moment of silence and/or reading of victim names. Have students write letters to policymakers about the need to keep our schools safe. Host a walk-in, where community members and policymakers are invited on-campus for a student-led event. Invite and inform the press.

 

BEFORE/AFTER SCHOOL

(OR IF YOUR SCHOOL IS CLOSED) Wearing orange, parents, educators, students, and community members encircle the school in locked arms, symbolic of protection. Read the victims’ names or observe silence. March to or schedule a meeting at a local legislator’s office. Deliver letters that ask for changes to gun laws as well as increases in funding for school-based mental health services. Arrange a press conference with student and teacher speakers.

 

ON YOUR OWN

Hand deliver your letter that asks for improved gun control laws in your state to the office of your local representatives. Call your member of Congress and discuss what you believe should be done to reduce gun violence in schools. Wear orange that day.

 

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