NO More Guns in Missouri Schools!

I urge you to oppose HB1440 (Dinkins) and any similar bills, which allow additional school personnel to carry concealed firearms in Missouri schools. More guns in schools do not make Missouri’s kids safer. It only increases the risk of a shooting. We risk students gaining access to a firearm, the misfiring of a gun, law enforcement not knowing who the shooter is during an active shooter situation, and more gun deaths on school campuses. I am especially concerned about the section of the bill that allows a school protection officer to detain or use force against any person on school property. This is misguided and dangerous and will result in harm to Black students and students of color. Research and data consistently show that armed staff in schools do not make them safer. In fact, a 2019 study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, which analyzed school shootings in the US between 1999 and 2018, found “no evidence that the presence of resource officers in schools lessened the severity of school shooting incidents” (Livingston et al., 2019). This bill would only increase students’ exposure to gun violence in Missouri schools. Missouri has the 5th highest rate of gun deaths in the US, and the presence of additional firearms in schools will undoubtedly make this worse. Please oppose this dangerous bill.