With a series of recent mass shootings taking place around the country, this week, we asked readers their thoughts on school security and if they felt Bronx Schools were prepared for a potential mass shooting in the borough.

 

“I work in a school, and I don’t think they’re doing enough for gun control either, and with all the mass shootings, I am concerned for myself and my family. I do have a son going to kindergarten, so I’m pretty concerned because the public schools are not too safe. I think the gun violence is terrible in The Bronx. There are shootings all over the place, and it comes out on the news all the time, and it’s just not safe. I think they need to do a better job on gun control. People can buy guns from Walmart all over the place and just bring them on up here. They need to regulate them better. It starts with the politicians all the way at the bottom, and we need to pay more attention to who we’re electing.”

Jasmin Seabrook,

Norwood

 

“I have grandkids in school here in The Bronx, and I’m concerned that what happened at the school in Texas could happen here. The most important thing I see as a solution is if the Republicans get together with the Democrats to stop the states where young people are allowed to buy guns. Why don’t the politicians get together? I think the people should only donate money to politicians who support these measures during an election. We need the police, but they must be concerned with the residents, and the residents must be concerned with the officers as well. Republicans want to arm the teachers, but that’s not a good message to send to the students. It’s better to have a security guard with a gun and metal detectors.”

Jorge Davila,

Kingsbridge Heights

 

“Yes, I am concerned. Who wouldn’t be? I understand more of the crazy ones are in Texas, which I’m glad [about], but they’re everywhere. I feel like the only thing that can be done to prevent these things is changing the laws regarding weapons, keeping guns out of the hands of the 18 to 20-year-olds, but they’re going to get them illegally anyway. I really don’t know how to stop this. Someone was saying that they should put metal detectors in the schools, because this guy just walked in with the stuff. Get metal detectors, and update the security system. They don’t update anything, and I think they should arm the teachers. There’s no solution to any one problem, without creating another problem. The only thing I do is pray. It’s the only thing that’s going to stop this, Jesus.”

Oprah Reid,

Bedford Park

 

“Yes, of course I’m concerned because it could happen at any time. If it happened in one place in the States, it could happen anywhere. It’s dangerous, because it’s just kids, and they’re losing their lives due to gun violence, and it’s just not fair and something has to be done. If kids are losing their lives, I don’t know what other message you can send that would just end it all. I feel if they’re not going to get rid of the guns anytime soon, then maybe it’s best to arm the teachers. I’m not sure if they can stop the guns coming in because people still find ways to sneak them in. There [are] so many guns on the street and it’s crazy because so many young people have access to firearms, and it’s wild, and these ghost guns are so freaking scary. I heard that they can’t be traced and that’s just dangerous.”

Pam Rose,

East Tremont

 

“Yes, I am concerned about it. I heard the one about teachers and don’t think teachers should be carrying guns in school because children, like in kindergarten, may think it’s a toy or something. Just lock the doors: that’s what my teacher is doing right now. He locks the doors because it’s not safe in New York. If I can be honest with you, they should not be selling guns to 18-year-olds. That should be illegal. I feel safe with the safety agents at my school. I feel really safe. They need to limit the guns, but I don’t even know. This world is crazy, Bro.”

Kami Rosendo,

Fordham Heights

 

Norwood News recently reported on several bomb threats which occurred at different schools, including a series at P.S. 20 in Norwood, where some staff members said there was an apparent delay evacuating the school during one such incident.

 

We also reported on a recent assault at a Soundview school where the ex-partner of a staff member entered P.S. 69, armed with a knife, and injured three people, including a security guard.

 

Prior to this, we had also reported on several other security related incidents which took place either in Bronx schools or in the vicinity of Bronx schools, including the fatal shooting of 16-year-old Angellyh Yambo in the South Bronx on Friday, April 8, at around 1.42 p.m. while she was walking home from school. Two of her friends were also shot during the incident.

 

We had also reported on a prior response received from New York City Department of Education (DOE), then under the De Blasio administration, on the issue of school safety agents and security in schools in general.

 

As reported, last month Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell, and Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund called on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to revoke the federal firearms license of Polymer80. A statement from the Mayor’s Office read, “Ghost guns have been a growing contributor to gun violence in New York City and Polymer80 is, by far, the largest source of ghost guns used in crimes and recovered by law enforcement nationally.”

 

 

On May 25, Brady, Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, and New Yorkers Against Gun Violence applauded a decision by a federal court in New York to dismiss a challenge brought by the gun industry against a law that provides victims of gun violence access to the courts. The gun industry trade association, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), led a lawsuit with fourteen gun companies challenging the law, which was defended by Attorney General Letitia James.

 

Brady, Giffords Law Center, and New Yorkers Against Gun Violence filed an amicus brief, along with Everytown For Gun Safety, in defense of the law and in support of AG James. An amicus brief is a legal document supplied to a court of law containing advice or information relating to a case from a person or organization that is not directly involved in a legal case. On May 25, the court upheld the law and dismissed the gun industry’s lawsuit.

 

The law, which became effective last year and which was sponsored by Brooklyn State Sen. Zellnor Myrie and Assembly Member Patricia Fahy, who represents parts of Albany, prohibits gun companies from endangering the health or safety of the public, and requires that gun companies establish and utilize reasonable controls and procedures to prevent their products from being possessed, used, marketed, or sold unlawfully.

 

On May 31, Gov. Kathy Hochul, Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Speaker Carl Heastie announced that ten bills have been introduced in both the Assembly and Senate that would tighten New York’s gun laws, close loopholes and directly address the gaps in existing laws, which they said were exposed by the horrific shootings in Buffalo, Texas, and around the country.

 

The bills would require information sharing between state, local and federal agencies when guns are used in crimes; make threatening mass harm a crime; require microstamping for new guns; increase accountability for social media platforms; eliminate grandfathering of large capacity ammunition feeding devices; prohibit the purchase of body armor for anyone who is not engaged in an eligible profession; strengthen the Red Flag law by expanding the list of people who can file for Extreme Risk Protection Orders, and other measures; require that an individual obtain a license, with a minimum age of 21, to purchase a semiautomatic rifle; and close the “any other weapon” loophole.

 

In the context of the announcement, Hochul said, “Within the last month, two horrific mass shootings in Buffalo and in Texas have rattled this nation to our core and shed a new light on the urgent need for action to prevent future tragedies. New York already has some of the toughest gun laws in the country but clearly we need to make them even stronger. New Yorkers deserve to feel safe in schools, in grocery stores, in movie theaters, in shopping malls, and on our streets — and we must do everything in our power to protect them.”

 

She added, “Working closely with Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins, Speaker Heastie, and all of our partners in the legislature, we will strengthen our gun laws, help keep New Yorkers safe, give law enforcement the tools they need to prevent crime, and stop the spread of dangerous weapons. As New York once again leads, we continue to urge the federal government to seize this opportunity and pass meaningful national gun violence prevention laws.”

 

Let this sink in: There has been more than one mass shooting a day in America so far in 2022.

— Tish James (@TishJames) June 1, 2022

 

Stewart-Cousins said of the new legislative package, “Our nation has been brought to a moment of reckoning due to weapons of war that have been too easily accessed by those seeking to kill. These weapons have made places in our communities like schools, grocery stores, houses of worship, and concerts, places of carnage.”

 

She added, “In these devastating times in New York and across the nation, we have worked with Governor Hochul, Speaker Heastie, and members of the Democratic Legislature to step up and send a message that this path of gun violence is unacceptable, and we need real change.”

 

For his part, Heastie said, “Just 10 days separated the mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde that took the lives of 31 people. Nowhere else in the world is this happening. We are in desperate need of a conversation about guns, but we are also in desperate need of action. Here in New York, we are ready to act. Working with our partners in the Senate and Governor Hochul, we have put together a package of legislation to address gun violence.”

 

He added, “We will strengthen our red flag law so those that are a risk to themselves and others don’t fall through the cracks of the system. We will get rid of loopholes that permit large capacity ammunition feeding devices, make it harder to purchase body armor and work to address the role social media plays in violence and acts of domestic terrorism. The list goes on. I hope that one day we’ll see the end to the horrific gun violence we see in this country. But until then, I will keep fighting.”

 

New York GOP chairman, Nick Langworthy, issued the following statement in response to the bill package. “In typical Albany fashion, Kathy Hochul is following in the footsteps of her mentor, Andrew Cuomo, and focused on making cheap headlines for her primary instead of making New Yorkers safe. Case in point: the Domestic Terrorism Task Force that was established and hasn’t even met once since its creation more than two years since its establishment.”

 

He added, “This package of bills does nothing to actually address the underlying mental health crisis at the center of the problem nor does it invest in securing our schools. If Hochul and legislative leaders cared about shooting victims, they would vote today to repeal their disastrous bail laws that have turned our streets over to violent criminals. Instead, they are focused on giving themselves election-year talking points and a pat on the back without doing the hard work. Shame on them.”

 

On Thursday, June 2, Mayor Eric Adams appointed A.T. Mitchell as the City’s gun violence czar and also announced the formation of a Gun Violence Task Force. “We’re not looking for a nun,” Adams said of the new appointment. “We’re looking for someone that’s not afraid to be in the street and embrace our people. We’re looking for the right person for the job, and A.T. is the right person for the job.”

 

He added, “Founder of Man Up!, a violence prevention and community development organization in East New York, what used to be the murder capital of our country, on the ground every day, I’m proud to have him here. [With] 20 years of experience, designing and delivering proven solutions that contribute to safer neighborhoods, he will be co-chairing the task force with Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright.”

 

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story had placed some paragraphs in the wrong order. We apologize for the error.