Gun

Sep 05, 2023

CeaseFirePa, an anti-gun rights advocacy group, is pushing back on newly introduced legislation that would put armed and trained security guards in each Pennsylvania school.Tegan Johnston | MLive.com Tegan Johnston | MLive.comTegan Johnston | MLive.com

A state lawmaker’s proposal to require armed guards in every Pennsylvania public school was swiftly blasted by a gun control advocacy group.

CeaseFirePA condemned Senate Bill 907, re-introduced this week by Sen. Mike Regan, R-York/Cumberland, citing recent mass shootings at U.S. schools where guards were present.

“As 1.7 million Pennsylvania kids head back to school this year, parents, teachers, and students themselves all feel the anxiety of this looming question: will it be safe? They wouldn’t have to ask this question if the Pennsylvania Senate focused on bipartisan, evidence-based solutions to make our kids safer, rather than ineffective and even dangerous proposals like SB 907,” said Adam Garber, executive director of CeaseFirePA.

“This question has been studied extensively and we know that armed personnel in schools are not effective at deterring or stopping active shooters. Just look at the failures in Parkland and Uvalde.”

The pushback on Wednesday comes one day after Regan revived stalled legislation that would require all Pennsylvania schools to employ armed security guards during school hours.

“Students want to know their schools are safe and parents want to know their children will come home at the end of the school day,” Regan said. “The safety of students, teachers and school staff should be a top priority. Students deserve a safe environment where they can learn and grow, and teachers should not have the sole responsibility for protecting our kids.”

The bill would also address security for extracurricular activities, giving school boards the discretion to station armed guards on school grounds during athletic and other events.

“We require our children to attend school therefore it is incumbent upon us to do everything we can to secure them while they are there,” Regan said. “Failure to enact this bill would leave our schools, teachers, and students more vulnerable to attack. That is too great a risk that we just cannot take.”

At least two school districts in Pennsylvania now allow their police officers to store and use semi-automatic rifles such as AR-15s on school premises.

So far, the Altoona Area School District and the Pittston Area School District have approved placement of security guards armed with shotguns and AR-15s in schools.

“We want to be proactive with the measures we take,” Bill Pfeffer, the director of safety and security for Altoona schools, told Spotlight Pa. earlier this year. “We’re just trying to make sure everybody’s safe in our buildings.”

Last year, Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Franklin County, pushed a measure that would allow K-12 school employees to carry firearms in classrooms in an effort to prevent mass shootings like the one in Uvalde, Texas, which killed 19 students and two teachers.

Mastriano’s proposal would have let employees with a concealed carry permit be armed on school property if they have completed what he called a “rigorous” firearms training.

The proposal drew immediate fire from the state’s largest teachers union, which saw it as a threat to student safety.

“The problem we have right now is a direct result of people bringing guns into schools,” Pennsylvania State Education Association President Rich Askey said at the time. “The last thing we need is more firearms in our classrooms and hallways, creating even more opportunities for students and staff to be injured or killed.”

Mastriano also has revived legislation that would arm teachers. Similar measures have been proposed in past legislative sessions.

CeaseFirePA is pushing for two proposals that have gained bipartisan support, including a measure that would enact universal background checks and another that would enact so-called “extreme risk protection orders.”

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