My Call to Action

For my call to action I wrote to my local U.S. congressman asking him to support a bill that would federally block the newly signed law in Florida that armed teachers from taking effect. I chose to write to my congressman because I went to his town hall on gun violence and he told us an extremely personal story about how his father died from gun violence when he was a kid, plus he presented research showing that gun control is effective. This combined with his record in congress makes me believe that he would support the measure that would block arming teachers from taking effect. I also thought about writing to Florida’s governor, but since I don’t live in Florida I thought he wouldn’t take me seriously while my local congressman would. This is what the letter I wrote read.

Dear Congressman DeSaulnier,

I am writing to you as a concerned constituent asking you to support federal legislation that would block Senate Bill 7030 in Florida that would arm teachers from taking effect. I understand why you might be hesitant to support legislation that would have the federal government block a state law from taking effect but law is a public safety risk that puts the lives of Florida students at risk.

Studies have overwhelmingly shown the dangers that come with increasing the presence of guns in school. A study conducted in 2017 that was published in Inquiry Epidemiology’s journal found that people were three times more likely to have their gun stolen if it was carried outside of the owner’s home. Because of the high cost to properly store these guns, these weapons are more likely to be improperly stored which increases the rate of potential gun theft even more and makes these teachers more susceptible to gun theft. Putting guns in school will lead to instances of improper storage, which then will lead to an increased likelihood of a gun being stolen, which if happened on a school campus will disrupt the academic learning environment of students, increase school lockdowns, and lead to the safety of everyone on the campus becoming compromised.

Not only does arming teachers put the students of the school at risk, it also puts the teachers at risk. FBI statistics has found that in cases where an armed officer opened fire on a school shooter, 62% of the time the officer was shot. These officers are required to go through intense police training, and while these teachers are required to undergo police training as well, the training is nowhere near as long or as intense as that of a police officer who likely has had experience on the force dealing with similar situations. Arming teachers essentially replaces an experienced police officer who has years of experience with teacher who only has basic gun training. Plus there’s the possibility that the teacher isn’t a good shot and an innocent student will get shot in the crossfire.

To arm teachers is to put the lives of everyone at the school at risk because of the increased likelihood of the gun being stolen, the increased likelihood of armed teachers who would be caught in the crossfire being shot, and the fact that even with training teachers aren’t as prepared to deal with these situations as a police officer. I encourage you to please propose legislation that federally blocks this legislation from going into law. The safety of American students and teachers are at risk as long as these teachers are armed.

Sincerely,

Will Wilson

Me mailing the letter: