California Moms Demand Action, Everytown, Respond to Reports of Unintentional Shooting in Monterey High School

MONTEREY, Calif. – The California chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, part of Everytown for Gun Safety, responded to reports that a California teacher who is a reserve officer for the local police department unintentionally fired a gun in his classroom on Tuesday, injuring at least one student.

Since the mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida last month, elected leaders including President Donald Trump have advocated for arming school personnel, including teachers. As the news from Monterey indicates, arming teachers—even when they’re trained—is a dangerous and short-sighted idea that actually increases the risk to students. That’s exactly why teachers and school safety experts largely oppose this idea. More information about the risk of arming teachers is available here.

If lawmakers want to prevent school shootings, they must adopt proactive, common-sense solutions to prevent people with dangerous histories from obtaining guns in the first place.

California law generally prohibits guns in schools, but there is an exception for some law enforcement officials. In 2017, Moms Demand Action successfully advocated for passage of AB 424, which closed a loophole in the law that allowed school districts to authorize certain civilians to bring a gun into a school.

STATEMENT FROM BARBARA KING-WILSON, EDUCATOR AND VOLUNTEER WITH THE CALIFORNIA CHAPTER OF MOMS DEMAND ACTION FOR GUN SENSE IN AMERICA:

“Once again, our students were subject to live gunfire in school. While I’m relieved that nobody was killed, this is yet another reminder of how dangerous it is to have guns in schools. This frightening incident underscores the risk of arming teachers. In light of the public outcry following the Parkland shooting and this latest incident, I urge elected leaders to focus on policies that will actually make schools safer – like making guns inaccessible to people with dangerous histories.”