Falls Church School Board Issues Statement On Gun Violence

Falls Church VA

01 June, 2022

10:27 AM

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FALLS CHURCH, VA — The Falls Church City School Board issued a statement on gun violence at a special meeting Tuesday night that called for both state and national political leaders to do more to protect schools and communities from gun violence. The spotlight is returning once again to gun violence in schools after a May 24 mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 children and two adults. Falls Church City Public Schools Superintendent Peter Noonan said at the meeting that city schools will be letting students and staff know about Wear Orange Day on Friday, June 3. Friday marks the beginning of Wear Orange Weekend to recognize those who have been impacted by gun violence in the U.S. and call for an end to gun violence. National Gun Violence Awareness Day falls on the first Friday of June every year. Falls Church City Public Schools also will let students and staff know about the National March for Our Lives on June 11 in Washington, D.C., and communities across the country. The first March for Our Lives in support of gun control legislation was a student-led demonstration that took place in D.C. in March 2018, a month after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas School shooting in Florida. "In some ways, this feels like Groundhog Day," Noonan said at Tuesday's board meeting. In 2018, the Falls Church City School Board passed a resolution in support of gun violence prevention in response to the Parkland shooting. "Sadly, we're reliving the same experience four years later following Parkland," Noonan said. READ ALSO: Walkout, Die-In Staged At Falls Church Schools In Protest Of Shootings Falls Church City School Board Member Phil Reitinger took the lead on drafting the statement that passed the board on Tuesday. At the meeting, Falls Church City School Board Chair Laura Downs said both the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and the mass shooting by a white supremacist at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, on May 14 required a response by the school board. "These last two tragedies almost made absolutely clear that even armed law enforcement and guards are of limited use in the face of dedicated attackers armed with military grade weapons and armor," Downs said at the meeting. The Falls Church City Public Schools system plans to give another presentation on school security and safety on June 28. In the statement approved Tuesday, the board said it "commits to adding gun safety items to our legislative priorities and will look for opportunities to further action on this critical issue." Along with calling for universal background checks and the banning of the ownership of assault weapons and large magazines, the school board ended the statement with a comment directed at political leaders who have been unwilling to place tighter regulations on the sale and ownership of weapons. "The failure to take immediate steps would make those representatives complicit in endemic gun violence, emotional trauma and mass execution," the statement read. RELATED: National Gun Violence Awareness Event Planned In Falls Church