A new video features New York high school students discussing gun violence epidemic
Students call for common-sense gun reforms, continued civic engagement during a roundtable with Schneiderman at Bard HS Early College; video released on 19th anniversary of Columbine shooting
On the 19th anniversary of the Columbine shooting, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman released a new video featuring New York high school students discussing the gun violence epidemic and the common sense reforms necessary to keep them and their classmates safe. The video includes excerpts from a roundtable with Bard High School Early College Manhattan students hosted by Attorney General Schneiderman following last month’s student walkout March 14.
“They’re just common sense laws that we’re fighting for,” said student Ana Guaba in the video. “We do not need an assault rifle or a semiautomatic gun in the streets. You do not need that for self-protection.”
Student Livia Miller recalls the moment she learned about the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
“We were having a meeting, and he got this text, and said, ‘Oh my god. There’s a shooter at my friend’s school’…” she said. “It is always scary, but it’s never felt one degree of separation away from the unthinkable happening.”
“These students are building a movement that will change our communities and change our country,” said Schneiderman. “The gun lobby may think that they can wait out these protests and keep on profiting from business as usual – but they’ve never faced opponents like these students before.
“Every public official should hear these students and take their message to heart: Pass common sense gun reform. There are no more excuses for delay. Our children will not – and should not – forgive us if we keep failing to protect them from these entirely predictable and preventable attacks.”
Click here to view the video on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.
Schneiderman has continued to fight for common sense gun laws in New York and on the federal level, part of broader efforts to keep New Yorkers safe from gun violence. The Attorney General’s Organized Crime Task Force has focused on taking violent gun traffickers off our streets, and his statewide gun program has taken nearly 1,700 unwanted guns out of our communities to date. Schneiderman’s office developed Model Gun Show Procedures, a series of safety procedures for gun show operators in New York state and announced new policies to help social media sites curb illegal sales of firearms on their platforms.
In 2016, the Attorney General released a first-of-its-kind analysis of tens of thousands of “crime guns” recovered by law enforcement, illustrating gun trafficking trends that undermine New York’s sensible laws.