Legislation signed July 31 by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo limiting the use of guns by teachers in schools will avoid “additional tragedies,” according to supporters.
But critics retorted that it could make schools less safe.
“By passing this law and publicizing it as much as they are, what they’re saying is our schools are gun-free zones, there’s no one there to protect our kids, feel free to have at it,” said Tom King, president of the New York Rifle and Pistol Association.
King said whether teachers should carry guns should be up to the local districts themselves, Spectrum News reported.
“We need the school boards in the hometowns to make decisions like this. They’re the ones that know what’s needed in each school system,” King said.
The bill signed into law Wednesday limits “an educational institution’s ability to authorize any person who is not primarily employed as a school resource officer, law enforcement officer or security guard to carry a firearm on school grounds,” said the governor’s website.
In addition, Cuomo signed new measures “directing State Police to establish statewide regulations aimed at strengthening existing gun buyback programs and create new programs for the safe removal of illegal, unsecured, abandoned or unwanted firearms.”
Support for the governor’s decisions came from number of state officials.
“New York already has the strongest gun laws on the books, and standardizing gun buyback programs statewide will help ensure that each county is implementing proven methods to get the most guns off our streets,” said Assembly Member Linda B. Rosenthal (D-Manhattan).
The governor’s recent legislation “ensures that teachers will never have the burden of choosing between protecting their students or themselves from a violent shooter,” said New York Assembly Member Judy Griffin (D-Rockville Centre).
“Arming teachers with guns can only lead to additional tragedies,” she said.
Earlier, on Monday, Cuomo made a decision that drew seemingly fiercer criticism from King. He signed legislation that included establishing “an up to 30-day waiting period for individuals who are not immediately approved to purchase a firearm through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System,” said his office’s website.
The Associated Press and Fox News quoted King calling Monday’s measures “feel-good legislation.”
“This is something that the governor and the politicians are saying will make you safer,” he said. “That’s hogwash.”
The governor said his bills were a response to the “gun violence epidemic plaguing this country.”
“These measures will help slow the proliferation of guns by keeping unneeded firearms out of school zones and helping to ensure unwanted or illegal guns don’t fall into dangerous hands,” he said.
The bill preventing schools from arming teachers takes effect immediately.
The bill on regulations for gun buyback programs will “take effect 180 days after becoming law,” said the governor’s site.
The measures came after several school shootings outside N.Y. occurring in just the last five years.
On the governor’s home turf, from the start of the year until June 30, New York City saw shootings “increase 7.1 percent to 361 from 337 in the same period in 2018” (most of them in Brooklyn and Queens), according to N.Y. Police Department data.
The hometown statistics included a recent shooting in Brownsville, Brooklyn, where 11 people were wounded and one was killed, reported several news outlets.
Meanwhile, other jurisdictions are considering whether to go in the opposite direction regarding potential solutions.
A special task force headed by Missouri Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe recommended that every Missouri school should have an armed law enforcement officer on hand to respond quickly to an active shooter, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
The task force recommended the idea as one piece of an overall plan designed to keep students safe and to help them cope with the emotional strain if something does happen.
“Where economically feasible and embraced by local governance, schools should have the benefit of an armed school resource officer or an armed school protection officer in every school to provide an immediate response in the event of an active shooter situation,” the report noted.
Correction: Earlier versions of this story incorrectly quoted King’s description of the school safety legislation as “hogwash.” His comment referred to the new waiting periods for gun buyers enshrined in legislation passed earlier in the week. TCR apologizes for the error.
Brian Demo and Andrea Cipriano are TCR news interns.