Why Existing Policies Are Not Enough
When this picture was taken and posted, the photographer’s hope was to spread the word about this issue and to show that even teenage kids can share their opinions. In this picture teens, and possibly victims of a school shooting are using signs, phones, and their voices to protest against gun violence and our government. From this image, a viewer can conclude that these teens feel very strongly about this issue and want our government to do something. These students are also very knowledgeable about the topic of gun control because they mention numerous organizations, people, and quotes that have to do with this issue. There are many questions to be asked about shootings, but there is one question that we constantly ask ourselves. What goes through people’s minds when the think to bring that amount of havoc on a community?
Existing Local Policy-Student ID Cards
Jonathan Dayton High School, in Springfield New Jersey put in place a policy about I.D cards in the “Dayton Student Handbook.” The handbook states,”10.1 All students will be issued an identification card at the beginning of the school term. These cards must be carried daily. 10.2 Students are to use their identification card to enter the building by swiping the card over access panels located on selected doors. 10.3 Students who cannot produce their identification cards upon request, or repeatedly ring the main office to gain access to the building, will receive disciplinary consequences. 10.4 Replacement identification cards are available in the personnel office located on the 2nd floor of JDHS. A fee will be charged for any replacements. 10.5 Students will be required to produce their identification cards in order to check out materials from the Instructional Media Center. 10.6 Students must be able to produce their identification cards in order to attend any athletic or co-curricular functions.”
The group that proposed the policy was the Springfield Board of Education. The advantages of the polices are that students are required to carry the card daily. Also, school will not let people into the rooms where the cards are required to enter into if they do not have the I.D card. Another advantage is that if a student or faculty member was to lose his or her card a replacement one would be granted. The disadvantages are that the card does not protect from a student planning to harm the school. This also applies to faculty members. Also, the policy only applies to the High School. Groups that likely support this policy would be Dayton teachers along with other faculty members, and parents of Dayton students. Students would likely oppose this policy, because they believe it invades their privacy.
​
Although a good start at securing New Jersey’s schools more needs to be done.
We want to suggest an addition to this policy that will require safety devices in each school.
An advantage of the current policy is that the drills happen every month. The disadvantage of the current policy is that there is no required safety device. Safety devices such as panic buttons and bulletproof doors would help improve this policy and make New Jersey students safer. This policy was last revised on September 21, 2017. This year has proven that it might be time to revise it again. Drills alone will not be enough to keep our students safe.
Existing State Policy-New Jersey School Security Legislation Updates
Policy P.L.2016, c.80 states, that “all employees in school districts and nonpublic schools will be provided with training for school safety and security. A law enforcement officer is required to be present at a minimum of one school security drill in each school year.” Source
Existing Federal Policy-The Second Amendment
There have been many policies made in the past in the attempt to fix gun control flaws. The Second Amendment was the first big policy made about guns. This stated, “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, all not be infringed.” This means people have the right to bear arms. The amendment was passed because there was a lot of fighting and havoc during the 1790’s, so in order to form armies and protect citizens, they were given the right to own a firearm. An advantage of this is that if being attacked, a person can protect themselves. A disadvantage of this amendment is that people can easily access guns that could be used for harm.
A policy we at Florence M Gaudineer think should be adapted is that the United States Congress should increase the gun-purchasing age from 18 years of age to 21 years of age. This is because in the state of New Jersey this is already a law for handguns, but there are still many states that allow people as young as 14 to legally own a firearm. If this policy was put into effect in our federal government, then the amount of gun violence would decrease dramatically. This would be beneficial because many large retailers in America such as Walmart, L.L Bean, and Dick's Sporting Goods have raised their gun purchasing age from 18 to 21, based on customer feedback. If the U.S Federal Government were to realize that these retailers are basing their choices off of customer feedback they may realize that if this is what the majority of Americans want, the U.S Government could make this a Federal Law.
The citizens of America are trying to convince many government officials to put this into action. Some advantages of having this policy are increased school safety, allowing people feel protected, and insuring only responsible people own guns by allowing mature people to buy guns. A disadvantage that may come up is for people who live alone before the age of 21. People under 21 may want to own a gun for protection, but this is not as important as protecting innocent people from gun attacks. The U.S. army is one of many reasons why guns haven’t been banished from our country. The Selective Service Requirements makes all 18 year old males sign up for the Selective Service, so if in a war we ever run out of troops, they can be called to fight. If our policy is put into place, the Selective Service age should be raised to 21, since that is the age we would like people to be able to own guns.
Some organizations that will back up this claim are Moms Demand Action and the Brady Campaign. Emma Gonzalez is another individual that would support this. All of these people support us because they agree with what we are saying and the point of these organizations is to make people aware of the issues involving guns. The NRA is a group however, that will most like not support this cause. The NRA stands for the National Rifle Association, and they oppose any restrictions on Second Amendment rights. Valerie Jarrett, the former senior advisor to President Obama publicly said, “that lawmakers should stand up to the NRA and that she supports stricter gun laws.” The majority of our country wants change, so in our opinion, it would be smart to give it to them.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
