What are gun-free school zones?

The “Gun-Free School Zones Act” prohibits the general public from carrying guns in and around k-12 schools, with many exceptions which we note below. The “Gun-Free Schools Act” prohibits students from carrying guns on k-12 campuses and conditions federal education funding on weapons related expulsion policies.

Why do we need them?

CDC reports that student homicides at school actually make up only 1% of homicides among school-age youth. Because of these laws, students are much safer at school than at home.

However, for what feels like the umpteenth time, the gun lobby is trying to repeal the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 that was originally signed into law by President George H.W. Bush. The bill, HR34 already has the pledged support of President Trump and would repeal the common sense policy.

This call to repeal gun-free school zones often comes after school shootings that receive massive amounts of media attention. Gun enthusiasts claim that armed teachers and guards would prevent these types of attacks. However, many of their arguments are actually currently covered by legal exceptions in the law.  Click here to see the full text of the existing law (you’ll need to scroll down to (q)(2)).

Can armed guards protect students from shooters?

Federally, Police officers and armed guards in schools are not banned at all. The law states that “a law enforcement officer acting in his or her official capacity” is exempt from the ban on guns in schools, as is “an individual in accordance with a contract entered into between a school in the school zone and the individual or an employer of the individual”. Schools could hire police officers or contract with professional armed guards.

Whether this is effective or not is another story. Columbine High School had an armed police officer on duty the day of the tragic shooting that occurred there in 1999.

Can students learn to shoot at school?

Gun enthusiasts often lament a lost time in which students would take up target shooting or skeet shooting at school as part of physical/outdoor education, course electives, or after-school programs. This brings us to yet another exception to the Gun-Free School Zones Act: “a firearm possessed by an individual for use in a program approved by a school in the school zone”.

Some local laws differ on guns in school-approved programs, but these are not covered by the Gun-Free School Zones Act.

I passed a background check to get my license to carry. Can I carry at a school?

State laws vary on this point. The federal Gun-Free School Zones Act purposefully left to each state whether to allow state licensed individuals to carry on school grounds. The relevant language:

[This law] does not apply to the possession of a firearm…if the individual possessing the firearm is licensed to do so by the State in which the school zone is located…and the law of the State or political subdivision requires that, before an individual obtains such a license, the law enforcement authorities of the State or political subdivision verify that the individual is qualified under law to receive the license.

While we believe that keeping guns locked and unloaded is safest around children, many states do allow licensed individuals to carry firearms in school. For a comprehensive guide to what your state allows, check our your local licensing authority’s website and the “Guns In Schools” page on Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence website.

What can I do to prevent guns from entering my child’s school?

Students are much safer at schools thanks to the Gun-Free Schools Zones Act, so call your Congressperson today to let them know you want to keep it that way! Tell them to vote NO on HR 34, the repeal of gun-free zones. Click here to find out who your Representative is. The phone numbers of the Massachusetts delegation are below. You can also  click here to send a message to your member of Congress, urging them to keep schools gun-free.

Rep. Joe Kennedy, III: 202-225-5931
Rep. Seth Moulton: 202-225-8020
Rep. Katherine Clark: 202-225-2836
Rep. Niki Tsongas: 202-225-3411
Rep. Stephen Lynch: 202-225-8273
Rep. Mike Capuano: 202-225-5111
Rep. Jim McGovern: 202-225-6101
Rep. Bill Keating: 202-225-3111
Rep. Richard Neal: 202-225-5601

What is “The Hearing Protection Act of 2017”?

Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Rep. John Carter (R-TX), and Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) recently introduced a bill (HR367/S59) that would remove silencers from a list of extremely dangerous firearms (like machine guns) that have more regulations than the average gun. Perhaps just as dangerous, the bill includes a clause that would overrule attempts by State legislatures to regulate silencers, stating that any state’s “registration requirement with respect to the firearm silencer, shall have no force or effect.”

The bill’s sponsors are calling it “The Hearing Protection Act of 2017”. The title is an obvious smoke screen to cover up the bills deregulation of dangerous weapons. As you have already discovered, this bill has nothing to do with protecting hearing. As others have pointed out, if silencers really did protect the hearing of gun owners, why hasn’t Congress unanimously decided that all law enforcement officers and soldiers should be given silencers?

Click here to send a message to your member of Congress, tell them to oppose this dangerous bill!

Does the current law on silencers work?

Silencers are currently regulated under the National Firearms Act (NFA), which, according to the ATF’s official website, was designed to tax and regulate silencers, machine guns, and other dangerous weapons so strictly that it would drastically reduce sales and ownership. Why?

“Congress found these firearms to pose a significant crime problem because of their frequent use in crime.” – The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives

After some amendments to the law—including an expansion of the definition of silencers that are covered by the regulations in 1986—the NFA still requires anyone who purchases a silencer to undergo a comprehensive background check and register it with the federal government. Thanks to these heightened regulations, silencers are no longer frequently used in crime.

So the law is doing what it intended: preventing silencers from being used in crime. Why would anyone want to repeal it? The Los Angeles Times has a theory: gun industry profits.

Why are silencers so dangerous?

When silencers are used in crime, it puts law enforcement and first responders at risk. The sound of gunfire is usually how shooters are located. When they can’t be easily located, active shooters can evade detection and target more victims. This was the case with Christopher Dorner’s 2013 rampage, when the killer was able to fire 14 shots in front of a high-rise apartment complex without being heard or reported to police.

Nearly 100 cities utilize futuristic SpotShotter technology, which relies on the sound of gunfire to notify law enforcement about incidents in which guns are discharged, even without receiving a call reporting it. Silencers would disrupt these systems, moving many cities backwards in their attempts to keep people safe.

What can I do?

While we are optimistic that we can stop this bill, WE NEED YOUR HELP. The gun lobby is great about calling their members of Congress, and we need to do the same in order to outnumber them. The phone numbers of the Massachusetts delegation in Congress can be found below, and if you don’t know who your Representative is, you can find out here. You can also click here to send a message to your member of Congress, telling them that you oppose this bill.

Rep. Joe Kennedy, III: 202-225-5931
Rep. Seth Moulton: 202-225-8020
Rep. Katherine Clark: 202-225-2836
Rep. Niki Tsongas: 202-225-3411
Rep. Stephen Lynch: 202-225-8273
Rep. Mike Capuano: 202-225-5111
Rep. Jim McGovern: 202-225-6101
Rep. Bill Keating: 202-225-3111
Rep. Richard Neal: 202-225-5601
Sen. Edward Markey 202-224-2742
Sen. Elizabeth Warren 202-224-4543

Public health professionals agree that gun violence is a public health issue. Unfortunately, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) is prohibited from researching gun violence and its causes due to a de facto ban from the 1990s. However, earlier this month, Massachusetts’ Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (NY) introduced a bill (HR1832/S834) that would provide for $10 million of funding for CDC research on gun violence prevention and firearm safety, every year for the next five years.

Experts agree: this is an American public health crisis

With 33,000 gun-related deaths in the US every year, this is an extremely important problem to solve. Our founder and Chairman of our board, John Rosenthal, praised Senator Marley and Rep. Maloney for their efforts:

“Gun violence is a public health issue that needs to be addressed the same way other public health issues are addressed in this country.

The United States has one of the most vibrant scientific communities in the world. If we put our resources and energy behind this research, I have no doubt that we could dramatically reduce gun violence nationwide without any inconvenience to law abiding gun owners, as the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has proven possible.

Earlier this year, I met with 42 schools of public health from across the country, there is clear consensus that this research is necessary and overdue.” – John Rosenthal

Considering the federal government spends over $3 trillion per year, $10 million represents a very small amount of money, but the bill is almost certain to draw opposition from members of Congress who receive financial support from the gun lobby.

Gun violence research at the CDC has not seen funding in over 20 years, even in light of mass shootings at Columbine High School, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Pulse nightclub in Orlando, and daily gun violence in cities like Chicago and New Orleans.

So why doesn’t the CDC research gun violence?

If the gun lobby is so sure that guns make us safer, why are they so opposed to research that could potentially prove them right? Well, before the funding for this research was stripped in 1996, the results of research did not bode well for the gun lobby.

A 1993 study in The New England Journal of Medicine by Dr. Arthur Kellermann and colleagues found that the risk of homicide was three times higher in homes with a gun than in those without a gun. It was at this point that the gun lobby began their war on science, seeing this research as a clear threat to their “guns save lives” narrative.

Not only did these findings lead to the stripping of funds for gun violence prevention research, Congress also passed legislation forbidding the CDC from advocating gun control. Because Kellermann’s results showed that gun ownership is dangerous, the legislation was seen by many as a de facto ban on gun violence research at the CDC.

We are grateful for Sen. Markey’s and Rep. Maloney’s dedication to finding evidence-based ways to save lives. While we are optimistic that the bill will finally pass Congress, WE NEED YOUR HELP. The gun lobby is great about calling their members of Congress, and we need to do the same in order to outnumber them. The phone numbers of the Massachusetts delegation in Congress can be found below, and if you don’t know who your Representative is, you can find out here.

Rep. Joe Kennedy, III: 202-225-5931
Rep. Seth Moulton: 202-225-8020
Rep. Katherine Clark: 202-225-2836
Rep. Niki Tsongas: 202-225-3411
Rep. Stephen Lynch: 202-225-8273
Rep. Mike Capuano: 202-225-5111
Rep. Jim McGovern: 202-225-6101
Rep. Bill Keating: 202-225-3111
Rep. Richard Neal: 202-225-5601
Sen. Edward Markey 202-224-2742
Sen. Elizabeth Warren 202-224-4543

Comprehensive background checks for gun permit applicants is a concept that almost everyone supports.

Individuals who have been deemed “mentally incompetent” should not have easy access to guns, right?

Well believe it or not, the US House of Representatives recently passed a bill that would actually remove 170,000 mental health records from NICS, the background check systems that gun dealers have to access prior to making a sale.

Bill HR1181 would remove the mental health records of veterans who have been deemed “mentally incompetent” or “mentally incapacitated”. This bill has passed the House, however, the Senate has not yet voted on this bill, but will likely vote after their spring recess. In 2014, an average of 20 veterans committed suicide each day, but this bill would put guns into the hands of those who are most vulnerable. This bill is disguised as an attempt to honor our veterans for their service, but really it puts them in danger. They protected us and paid a heavy price, now its our turn to help them. Click here to take action.

We strongly encourage you to take a few minutes to call your Senators’ offices and urge them to vote NO on HR1181 (The Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act). They are our last hope in stopping this bill from putting our veterans in danger and guns into the hands of individuals during a mental health crisis.

If you live in Massachusetts, the contact information for your senators can be found below. If you are from another state, you can select your state in this directory to find your senators’ phone numbers.

Alternatively, you can send an email your senators by clicking here. Remember: phone calls can be more effective!

MA Sen. Edward Markey – (202) 224-2742
MA Sen. Elizabeth Warren – (202) 224-4543

Thank you for reading and for making your voice heard!

Massachusetts currently boasts the lowest rate of gun violence in the nation, due in large part to our model gun permitting system. We are proud of this achievement, it is evidence that common sense gun safety really does save lives. But it may surprise you to learn that many other states do not hold gun permit applicants to such high standards.

This is where it gets scary.

A gun lobby-sponsored bill has been introduced in both houses of the United States Congress (HR38/S446) that would allow anyone who can carry a hidden, loaded gun in their home state to carry it legally in Massachusetts. This is known as Concealed Carry Reciprocity or Federally-Mandated Concealed Carry.

Unfortunately, if this legislation passes, the massively successful gun permitting system we have worked so hard to implement in Massachusetts would be undone. States that have the lowest standards for gun permitting would become the new national standard, which would mean people with guns could be walking around Boston or your neighborhood who:

1. Have not taken part in any gun safety training
2. Are convicted stalkers
3. Have a history of abusing their dating partners
4. Have repeated drunk driving convictions
5. Are under the age of 21
6. Are legally blind!

Law enforcement agencies and officials like the NYPD have been coming out fervently against Federally Mandated Concealed Carry, saying that it will make it much harder to keep people safe.

This calls for serious action.

Please take a few minutes to call your Senator or Representative, their phone numbers are listed below. If you don’t know who your Representative is, you can check here.

Alternatively, you can send your congressperson an email by clicking here to take action.

All you need to say is: “Hello, my name is _____ and I am your constituent from [your City/Town], MA.  I strongly oppose Federally Mandated Concealed Carry in bill HR38/S446. I strongly encourage the Representative/Senator to vote NO on this bill and to urge their colleagues to do the same. Thank you.”

Rep. Joe Kennedy, III: 202-225-5931
Rep. Seth Moulton: 202-225-8020
Rep. Katherine Clark: 202-225-2836
Rep. Niki Tsongas: 202-225-3411
Rep. Stephen Lynch: 202-225-8273
Rep. Mike Capuano: 202-225-5111
Rep. Jim McGovern: 202-225-6101
Rep. Bill Keating: 202-225-3111
Rep. Richard Neal: 202-225-5601
Sen. Edward Markey 202-224-2742
Sen. Elizabeth Warren 202-224-4543

Thank you for helping keep Massachusetts safe!

Join local comedian Jimmy Tingle and Stop Handgun Violence at Humor for Humanity, a live comedy event February 4, 2017!

Enjoy a great show and help Stop Handgun Violence too!

From The Tonight Show and 60 Minutes II comedian and commentator Jimmy Tingle is using his one-man show Jimmy Tingle: Humor for Humanity on February 4th 2017 at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre to help raise spirits, funds and awareness for Stop Handgun Violence.

When a ticket buyer uses the code: SHV, $10 will be donated by Tingle Productions to Stop Handgun Violence.

BE SURE TO USE THE CODE “SHV” WHEN BUYING THE TICKET SO THE $10 DONATION CAN BE MADE. IF THE CODE “SHV” IS NOT USED AT POINT OF PURCHASE A DONATION CANNOT BE MADE.

 

About Humor for Humanity:

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HUMOR FOR HUMANITY AND JIMMY TINGLE VISIT: www.jimmytingle.com

• Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among teens and young adults and the 10th leading cause of death among all Americans.
• On average, 4 teenagers and 118 total Americans complete suicide every day.
• 90% people who survive a suicide attempt do not go on to die by suicide.
• Many suicide attempts occur with little planning during a short-term crisis.
• 50% of suicide deaths in the United States are by firearm.
• Access to firearms is a risk factor for suicide.
• Firearms used in youth suicide usually belong to a parent.
• Reducing access to lethal means, like firearms, saves lives.

Save lives.

A gun in the home is 22x more likely to be used in a suicide, homicide, or unintentional shooting than for self defense. If there is a gun in your home:

1) Keep it unloaded and locked up or with a trigger lock.  Store the bullets in a different place that is also locked.

2) Do not let children and teens have a key to the places where guns and bullets are stored.

3) If a household member becomes depressed or has severe mood swings, store the gun outside the home for the time being while you seek help!

4) Make certain to share this information with your neighbors, family, and friends.  We need to all work together to protect our children!

5) States where there are more guns have a higher rate of suicide.  Be sure to work with your state legislators to strengthen gun safety legislation!

This guide was created by States United To Prevent Gun Violence.

118,096 victims of gun violence since the Sandy Hook massacre – that’s a crippling number. September 25th is the National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims, designated by Congress in 2007. This September, we will remember the victims of Sandy Hook, Aurora, San Bernardino, Orlando, and so many more who lost their lives to gun violence. What better way to remember these victims than to unite through song?

Now for a more positive number: 195. That’s the total number of concerts happening across the country for the Concert Across America to End Gun Violence, and more are being added every day. If you are looking for a way to remember America’s victims of gun violence and be a part of  the movement, find an event near you and RSVP on Facebook. We’ll see you on September 25th!