With Metuchen High School students in attendance, Gov. Phil Murphy spoke Dec. 2 outside the borough’s municipal building to push a series of gun safety bills, one of which pertains to regulating school shooting drills.
“We gather today … while nearly halfway across the country, families in Michigan are grappling with the grief and horror that their children are no longer with them,” Murphy said, referring to the Nov. 30 shooting at Michigan’s Oxford High School. “We must make enacting the next wave of common sense gun safety laws one of our top priorities in the remaining days of the current legislative session [in New Jersey]. … We have 40 days with which to work and in which to act. For the sake of our communities and our people, I know there’s nothing that we cannot do.”
Murphy added, “While we are doing everything we can to prevent our kids the trauma of a school shooting, we cannot unwittingly expose them to trauma through unregulated mock shooter exercises. Let’s ensure a common set of rules so drills are conducted to minimize stress and emotional damage to the very students they need to protect.”
In acknowledging some of the notables in the crowd, Murphy gave a shoutout to AFTNJ President Donna M. Chiera, who is a coalition member of Brady: United Against Gun Violence.
“I’m ecstatic to see the governor supporting this series of gun safety bills,” Chiera said after the Metuchen event. “This is not only about keeping our schools and campuses safe against gun violence, it’s about keeping our communities safe, helping to prevent mass shootings, street shootings, domestic shootings and suicides. These bills are about safety and saving lives with common sense and not infringing on anyone’s Second Amendment rights.”
and Montclair State University/Raritan Valley Community College adjunct professor Laurie LeFever on Dec. 2 in Metuchen.