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Letter to Hon. Miguel Cardona, Secretary of Education - Following Oxford High School Shooting, Van Hollen, Murphy, Thompson, Stabenow, Peters, Blumenthal, Slotkin Urge Department Of Education To Issue Guidance On Safe Gun Storage

Letter

By: Jared Huffman, Ami Bera, Barbara Lee, Jimmy Panetta, Tony Cárdenas, Mark Takano, Juan Vargas, Diana DeGette, Ed Perlmutter, Jim Himes, Val Demings, Frederica Wilson, Lucy McBath, Robin Kelly, Danny Davis, Brad Schneider, Lori Trahan, Ayanna Pressley, Dan Kildee, Haley Stevens, Brenda Lawrence, Bennie Thompson, Alma Adams, Andy Kim, Albio Sires, Dina Titus, Jerry Nadler, Jamaal Bowman, Brian Higgins, Dwight Evans, David Cicilline, Joaquin Castro, Rick Larsen, Adam Smith, Alex Padilla, Mazie Hirono, Gary Peters, Cory Booker, Ron Wyden, Tammy Baldwin, Chris Van Hollen, Jr., Mike Thompson, Doris Matsui, Jerry McNerney, Mark DeSaulnier, Eric Swalwell, Zoe Lofgren, Salud Carbajal, Julia Brownley, Grace Napolitano, Norma Torres, Nanette Barragán, Lou Correa, Scott Peters, Sara Jacobs, Joe Neguse, Jason Crow, John Larson, Joe Courtney, Jahana Hayes, Eleanor Norton, Ted Deutch, Hank Johnson, Jr., David Scott, Mike Quigley, Raja Krishnamoorthi, André Carson, Jake Auchincloss, Anthony Brown, Elissa Slotkin, Debbie Dingell, Dean Phillips, David Price, Chris Pappas, Joshua Gottheimer, Mikie Sherrill, Steven Horsford, Carolyn Maloney, Paul Tonko, Marcy Kaptur, Madeleine Dean, Jim Cooper, Donald McEachin, Pramila Jayapal, Gwen Moore, Richard Blumenthal, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Ben Luján, Jr., Bob Casey, Jr., Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Nikema Williams, Bobby Rush, Sean Casten, Jan Schakowsky, John Yarmuth, Ed Markey, Jamie Raskin, Andy Levin, Rashida Tlaib, Betty McCollum, Kathy Manning, Donald Norcross, Frank Pallone, Jr., Bonnie Watson Coleman, Thomas Suozzi, Adriano Espaillat, Joe Morelle, Earl Blumenauer, Mary Scanlon, Sheila Jackson Lee, Abigail Spanberger, Kim Schrier, Dianne Feinstein, Chris Murphy, Debbie Stabenow, Bob Menendez, Sherrod Brown, Sheldon Whitehouse
Date: Dec. 15, 2021
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Guns Education

Dear Secretary Cardona,

We write to urge you to take commonsense action to help prevent the gun violence we see unfolding in our schools. Recently, four students were shot to death at Oxford High School in Michigan, and another seven people were injured--including one educator. This shooting, like far too many others, was perpetrated with a firearm from the home, underlining the imperative that all gun owners -- especially those around children -- securely store their firearms. To prevent future tragedies, your Department should take bold action to raise awareness about secure gun storage by informing parents and school districts of its importance.

The shooting in Michigan comes amidst an historic surge in gun violence on school grounds. Between August 1 and October 31 this year, there have been 89 instances of gunfire on school grounds, killing 15 and wounding 63--the highest number of incidents and people shot in a three-month period since data began being collected in 2013.[1] While the federal government has taken some steps to address these horrifying incidents, we have ignored a critical intervention to address the common element in the overwhelming number of these tragedies: easy access to guns in the home. The incident at Oxford High School adds to the overwhelming evidence that shows access to guns in the home is a critical intervention point. For example, the Department of Homeland Security's National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) studied targeted school violence from 2008 through 2017 and found that 76 percent of school shooters used a firearm they took from a parent or close relative's home.[2] In nearly half of these shootings, the firearm was easily accessible or was not stored securely.

The Biden administration supports bold action to address gun violence, and we need that leadership again to keep our schools safe. Keeping guns away from kids should be neither partisan nor controversial. ??An estimated 54 percent of gun owners do not lock all of their guns securely, and at least 5.4 million children in 2021 live in a home with at least one unlocked and loaded firearm--up from 4.6 million in 2015.[3] We have seen many school districts take action to provide information on secure storage to their families, but far too many have not. We urge you to direct the Department of Education to develop a strategy to encourage school districts to send parents secure firearm storage information and raise awareness about the importance of secure storage in keeping schools safe. Your Department can take action to give parents information about effective secure storage methods and provide guidance to schools about best practices on the methods to reach parents. These commonsense solutions cannot wait.

Sincerely,


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