Fellow Advocate,

Back to School season is coming to a close across our Commonwealth. But before we tie up our seasonal #KeepKidsSafe campaign with a nice bow, I thought it would be educational to address some school gun violence prevention myths head-on. You probably hear these myths trotted out by gun lobbyists and the elected officials in their pockets after every school shooting, in an effort to stifle the conversation about life-saving gun laws. Well, don’t let them.

So, put on your myth-busting suit and prepare to take some notes. Here are five common misconceptions about gun violence in schools and facts to counteract them.

- Arming teachers is seen as a way to prevent shootings in schools, but in reality access to firearms is associated with a double risk of homicide, and a triple rate of suicide, with increased likelihood of accidental death as well.[1] We should not be introducing this danger to our classrooms.

- Armed school guards are enticing but have been proven futile. Remember the failures of Parkland and Uvalde. In fact, out of 225 incidents of gun violence in schools from 1999-2022, there were only two cases where a shooting was stopped by an armed resource officer.[2]

- Addressing mental health challenges is certainly a need, but it’s not the way to end gun violence. Every nation has mentally ill populations, but only in America are school shootings an everyday occurrence. In fact, only 4% of violence is attributed to mental illness.[3]

- Active shooter drills create a false sense of preparedness and control in shootings that should be avoided in the first place. There is no evidence that they save lives, but there is data that shows they cause stress and anxiety for students and educators.[4]

- Bulletproof backpacks create a false sense of security for the times of day when students actually have their backpacks on them (not in lockers or cubbies), but the speed of bullets fired from AR-15 rifles – the weapon of choice for mass shooters – is too great to be stopped by a backpack insert. [5]

I don’t fault anyone for wanting to gravitate toward any of these false “solutions,” but when you know better, you can do better. That’s why we’re educating the public, and especially our legislators, about real solutions that will actually #KeepKidsSafe, this school year and beyond. We’re urging our lawmakers to pass bipartisan legislation proven to actually put a dent in gun violence: universal background checks, safe storage, Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs), and mandatory reporting of lost and stolen weapons. Will you join us by sending a message to your State Representative and Senator Nikil Saval today?

DEMAND ACTION NOW [[link removed]]

For safe PA schools,

Adam Garber
Executive Director
CeaseFirePA Education Fund

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CeaseFirePA
P.O. Box 60095
Philadelphia, PA 19102
United States
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