A Mixed Bag in 2020 Lame Duck Session
MEA is committed to ongoing efforts to stop gun violence in our schools – see below for updates on how you can support the cause.
Wednesday’s Student Walkouts – Wear Orange to Support the Cause
Tomorrow, March 14, marks the one-month anniversary since the school shooting in Parkland, Florida – and has been chosen by student organizers as the day for walkouts across the country.
Districts across Michigan are handling Wednesday’s walkouts differently based on their own needs and communities. MEA has advised our locals to work collaboratively with employers regarding any involvement with employees in the walkouts. If you have any questions regarding how your local is or is not participating on Wednesday, please contact your local association president or your local MEA UniServ office.
It’s important to remember: this is not about the adults in districts – it’s about the students making their voice heard on an issue that’s important to them and has dominated our public discourse for the past month.
Regardless of where you work, one way to show solidarity with the cause of ending school gun violence is to WEAR ORANGE.
March 24 “March For Our Lives” in DC, locally
On Saturday, March 24, marchers will gather in Washington and in local communities to demand action to stop gun violence in our schools. MEA is sending three busses of members and their families to DC for the march (these busses are now completely full) and is encouraging members at home in Michigan to participate in local marches. According to the March For Our Lives website, there are events in many Michigan communities, from Monroe to St. Joseph to Houghton – including one at the Capitol in Lansing.
Sign MEA’s Online Petition Opposing More Guns in Schools
Since Parkland, some politicians have called for arming school employees as a means of addressing this crisis. At the national level, President Trump and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos are championing the cause. Here in Michigan, there are already bills in the House to allow concealed weapons in schools and Rep. Gary Glenn, R-Midland, is crafting others. And Rep. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake – despite saying there are “some teachers who I wouldn’t feel safe around if they had a butter knife” – is working on bills that would put handguns in secure, hidden locations in schools for specially trained educators to access.
MEA’s position on this is clear in our Resolutions, as adopted by members elected to our Board of Directors and Representative Assembly – a school is no place for a gun. The cry to arm educators is a distraction from real solutions, like more school counselors and social workers, smaller class sizes, better school security measures and wraparound services to help students and families.
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Wear orange?
Like….blaze orange? Hunter orange?
Come on MEA….
There is no place for guns in schools.
Unless a mass shooter brings one in?
Come on folks…. How many more mass shootings need to happen to prove that gun free zones don’t work?
I would love to have a serious discussion about school safety. I really would.
The other side has to come to the table with more than a gun free zone sign and a petition to ban AR15’s…..
I carry a firearm everywhere, everyday (except when I’m at work and in designated gun free zones).
I am allowed to protect myself and my family while at the gas station, Wal-Mart, Burger King, and while taking the dog for a walk.
But while at school I’m not. I’m forced to hide in a corner and wait for the shooter to come find me. If you comply with a killer, you get killed. Gun free zones are exactly what mass shooters want. Compliance.
20% of States already allow concealed carry on school grounds in some capacity.
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Guns do not belong in schools.
How about Maryland….
Would you rather that turn into a mass shooting? I assume not.
Let’s talk about Student Safety….not Gun Control.
Two VERY different topics.
#ArmMeWith a Concealed Firearm.