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Dangerous Guns in School Bill Poised to Become Law

9.11.2014

JEFFERSON CITY — The Missouri chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America expressed outrage at the Senate’s vote to override Governor Nixon’s veto of the dangerous Guns-in-Schools bill (SB 656) and pledges to turn this anger into action in November.  A vote in the House is still pending.

The guns in schools bill  — supported by the gun lobby and opposed by teachers, school administrators, law enforcement and parents — would allow school districts to arm teachers and make it impossible for parents to find out if someone is carrying a concealed firearm in their children’s classrooms.  The bill would also allow teenagers to carry loaded firearms in public and force cities to allow people to openly carry loaded weapons in public — even in places that have previously passed ordinances to prohibit open carry of firearms.

“In Missouri, more people die here from guns than they do from traffic accidents.  Rather than work with law enforcement, teachers, parents and doctors to address this appalling fact with real solutions, our elected officials do whatever the gun lobby tells them to do,” said Melissa Brooks of the Missouri chapter of Moms Demand Action. “Asking a teacher to become a sharpshooter won’t prevent another tragedy like Newtown.  And, as parents, we have a right to know if there is going to be a gun in our kids’ classrooms.  Our elected officials didn’t listen to us tonight, but they will. Moms Demand Action is in this fight for the long run because as parents, we deserve to raise our children in a nation with sensible gun laws and a responsible gun culture.”

The Missouri Chapter of Moms Demand Action is an active supporter of Everytown for Gun Safety’s Gun Sense Voter campaign, which will for the first time, turn out one million voters who will head to the polls and vote for laws and political leaders that will end gun violence.

“Gun sense is the simple idea that we can do more to keep our families and communities safe from gun violence,” Brooks continued. “It’s the belief that we, as Americans, don’t have to tolerate more than 31,000 deaths from gun violence every year.”