Dear NYS PTA
Members and Friends,
PTA’s
mission is to be a relevant voice, a resource for families and communities and
a strong advocate for conditions that ensure the well-being of every
child. A significant purpose within that
mission is to promote education and secure adequate laws for the care and
protection of children and youth. In light of national events involving mass
shootings, most recently the horrific events and loss of lives at the Sandy
Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut we are compelled to speak out on
behalf of those who are the intended beneficiaries our mission.
Historically,
NYS PTA and National PTA have held strong positions on firearms: use,
procurement and ownership, safety, storage, and discharge within school
districts. We have also fought for mental health support and services that are
equal to those of other medical conditions and for school and community-based
mental health education and services. We’ve advocated for school safety
policies that address violence by reducing/eliminating incidents of bullying
and harassment and provide plans that ensure the safety of students and staff
within our school buildings. Finally, we have worked to promote policies and
practices that support non-violent conflict resolution and digital or
electronic exposure to violence.
We respect
our Constitutional protections. However,
while we recognize these as core to our democratic principles, we must also
acknowledge the world is extraordinarily different than when these protections
were crafted. The Constitution is a living document -- with change,
comes the challenge to adhere to our core principles yet provide the
fundamental freedom and protections that the public, especially our children, has
the right to expect. To this end, it is time to put our PTA positions to work and
take a stand for the well-being of every child, for every adult – each has the
right to feel safe whether in a movie theater, a place of worship or in their
small, hometown grade school.
The Newtown
tragedy seems rooted in a complex mix of circumstances, much of which we will never fully understand. PTA positions can
form a basis for action to address these. Still, we cannot minimize the scope of the
tragedy due to the access and use of firearms.
As a constituent association of National PTA, we believe gun violence
must decrease and restricting access to firearms is a necessary step to make
our schools and communities safer. We must ask our state and federal
legislators to take action to enact laws to restrict access to firearms and
improve school safety.
PTA supports recommendations in policies and legislation that:
- Reenact and expand bans on the sale and possession of military-style assault weapons
- Ban non-sporting ammunition and large capacity magazines
- Mandate licensing for purchase and periodic license renewal for ownership of a firearms
- Require a mandatory three-day waiting period and background check to purchase a firearm, regardless of
retail venue
- Prohibit firearm purchase and possession by those convicted of spousal abuse and child abuse
- Place mandatory restrictions on Internet firearms sales, including
restrictions on materials used to
make/modify guns
- Mandate background checks for any firearm retailer and employees
- Increase penalties for the transfer of firearms, including handguns
and assault weapons, to juveniles for use in a crime
In the words of, Colin Goddard the
Assistant Director of Federal Legislation at the Brady Campaign and a survivor
of the Virginia Tech massacre:
‘We are better than this. We are better than a nation with
mass shootings in movie theaters and schools and on our streets, ... Now it’s
time our elected officials show us they know it too because we want our streets
to be safe, we want our classrooms to be safe, we want a safer nation for all
of us, we deserve better than this, we are better than this.’
Add your voice to Colin’s. Let’s not only
speak, let’s act on behalf every child, every family. Please watch for and share PTA’s
“calls to action” to STOP VIOLENCE in our schools and communities. In doing so, we will work together to keep all citizens out
of harm’s way.
Thank you for your advocacy!
