Op-ed: Protecting Pennsylvania’s students from gun violence – Metro Philadelphia

Schools in Pennsylvania are back in full swing—students have new classes, new teachers, new material to learn and perhaps even a new school to attend. But with the excitement of school, comes growing concern to ensure our school communities are kept safe from gun violence.

In March, a statewide survey found that nearly half of Pennsylvania parents are more worried about gun violence at school than they are about their children “being behind academically.” When asked about a range of gun safety proposals, an overwhelming number (84%) supported “holding gun owners legally responsible if a firearm is not properly secured in their home and is used by a child…to harm or kill themself or others.” 

Other survey findings further suggest the majority of Pennsylvania parents (and in many cases strongly) support the following policies:

• Requiring criminal background checks of individuals on all gun sales;
• Increased funding to enhance the physical safety of school buildings as long as it does not negatively impact the learning environment;
• Raising the minimum age of a person who can own or purchase a semi-automatic weapon from 18 to 21; 
• Prohibiting people who have been convicted of domestic abuse from buying or owning a gun; and
• Banning the civilian sale, manufacture, and purchase or transfer of military-grade weapons, such as the AR-15.

It should come as no surprise then that the survey also found Pennsylvania parents overwhelmingly prefer politicians committed to adopting and strengthening these types of gun safety policies. This sentiment may partially explain why this summer, our state legislature passed Act 55 (formerly Senate Bill 700), which increases school safety by requiring all school districts in the state to have at least one school security employee on duty during the school day.

We commend the legislature for acting because providing our students with more safety from gun violence remains a top priority for Pennsylvania parents. 

At PTA, we have long demanded that more is done to protect our children and youth from gun violence and save lives. PTA members in Pennsylvania and across the country have played a critical role in advocating for common sense solutions to gun violence. It remains a top priority of our association to prevent and eliminate gun violence, promote the safety and well-being of all children, and ensure every child has every opportunity to reach their full potential. 

In the last year, our association has tripled our efforts to make school communities safer from gun violence. In March, our association launched a collaboration with Everytown for Gun Safety to better advocate for gun violence prevention in our school communities. The research cited above was the first product of this collaboration. And in June, PTA nationally adopted an amendment to our association’s Safe Storage of Firearms resolution that calls for our association to support legislation requiring adults to be accountable for storing their firearms safely.

At Pennsylvania PTA specifically, we are focused on the PTA mission – to advocate for all children – which means that improving the safety in all schools in our Commonwealth is a priority for our state association.

Gun violence prevention is a critical priority for all parents, educators, students and community members. Those of us at Pennsylvania PTA and with PTA across the country are working hard to drive common sense gun safety improvements in our school communities. Join us in demanding action and change to protect children and families from gun violence by becoming a member of PTA or taking action on our website at PTA.org/Advocacy

By taking action and working together, we can return to the days where we worried about ‘normal’ things when it comes to school, not whether our child will return home safe each day.

Bonnie Fagan is Secretary of the Pennsylvania PTA.