Fellow Advocate, 

Edinboro, PA – a quiet town outside of Erie – is the definition of Americana. Its tree-lined main street gives way to a serene view of Edinboro Lake and cornfields. But, it was also the setting for another devastating piece of Americana: one of Pennsylvania’s first school shootings of the modern age, which took the life of our latest Deadly by Design storyteller’s father.

Abby Gillette Campbell was a 19-year-old college freshman in 1998. She was studying education to become a teacher like her beloved father, John. But on an April evening, at the Parker Middle School dance that he chaperoned, John was shot and killed by one of his students.

The 8th grade shooter got his hands on his father’s unsecured gun and brought it to the dance. He was one of the 76% of school shooters who access their weapon from a parent’s or relative’s house.

Pennsylvania is one of just 24 states that doesn’t have some kind of safe storage law on the books. If we did, John might still be alive today. But it’s not too late to spare others Abby’s loss by passing this life-saving law. Will you watch Abby’s heart-wrenching story, and share it with your friends, to help us build awareness and support for a safe firearm storage law in PA? 

Because of a gap in our gun safety system, Abby was deprived of celebrating so many milestones with her dad – he didn’t make her college graduation, walk her down the aisle, or meet her children. Their relationship was frozen in her youth, but she still followed in his footsteps and became a special education teacher. 

As school shootings have become the sad norm, Abby is constantly reminded of her personal tragedy and her fear of a repeat. She said, “every time that we see another school shooting, the trauma comes back.”

Unfortunately, we can’t take away Abby’s pain, but we can alleviate some of her fears, which are shared by so many Pennsylvanians this back-to-school season.

Standing with you,

Adam Garber
Executive Director
CeaseFirePA