Tell Trump: Protect our students from gun violence
President Trump
This March was the first month with no school shootings since 2002. While this may seem like a silver lining in the cloud of the coronavirus pandemic, America’s educators are deeply concerned about the safety of their students, particularly as we see armed men intimidating lawmakers all across the country and gun sales spiking for the fourth month in a row.
While the Trump administration fails to ramp up coronavirus testing, it has deemed gun stores as essential and has encouraged Americans to orchestrate armed protests of coronavirus lockdowns and to panic-buy guns. President Trump went so far as to call the protesters “good people.” As a result, this April was the fourth straight month showing significant increases in firearm background checks.
Educators are terrified that more guns in our homes and in our public spaces—during a time when millions of students are out of school due to stay-at-home orders—will result in more unintentional gun deaths and injuries. Already, 4.6 million children live in homes with unlocked and loaded guns, and an average of eight children are killed by shootings every day. Firearm injury is the second-leading cause of death for American children and young adults.
As the pandemic continues, families face increasing stress, anxieties and economic pressures. The presence of guns in homes, schools, and in public spaces leads to more harm, but never more than when people are under undue pressures or facing significant mental or physical health issues.
As educators are learning how to connect with our students virtually, as well as juggling demands in our personal lives and dealing with the fears and anxieties surrounding this relentless virus, we are now also worried about the uptick in gun sales, many by first-time buyers with little or no training.
During a time of national crisis, the American Federation of Teachers is asking all educators to call on President Trump and his administration to work to reduce panic-buying of guns and condemn the armed protests of lockdown orders, rather than doing favors for the corporate gun lobby groups that are using COVID-19 fears to spur gun sales.
We need to make it clear that America’s educators are deeply concerned.
Will you join us by adding your name to the petition?
Sponsored by
To:
President Trump
From:
[Your Name]
President Trump,
As you know, 55 million American children are home from school due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and we, the educators of America, are worried about them and their families.
As educators, we know how important a safe and welcoming environment is for our students’ success. We are writing to you because we’re worried about how we’re going to keep up their academic skills. We’re worried about their physical health (especially if family members are working without proper protection), their mental health due to stress, anxiety and fear, as well as their families’ economic concerns.
This year, we had the first March with no school shootings since 2002, and we know this is only because our schools are closed. In fact, gun violence seems to be increasing; we already have seen a 16 percent increase in gun deaths in the month of April as compared with April 2019.
April was also the fourth straight month of significant increases in firearm background checks. With your encouragement, Americans are panic-buying firearms and orchestrating armed protests of lockdowns across the country.
We know that guns do not make us safer. As educators, we are incredibly concerned that the firearms Americans are panic-buying today will lead to higher rates of suicide, unintentional shootings and homicides while we are in lockdown—and could be used in our classrooms, colleges and universities once this pandemic is over.
That’s why we are urging you to stop taking actions that expand access to firearms during a national health pandemic and to discourage armed protests in public spaces.
Signed,