Thread by @AFTunion

HAPPENING NOW: We're hosting a live town hall about gun violence prevention with @jerrytjordan, @fred_guttenberg, @abbeyclements & @rweingarten at 6:45 p.m. ET.

Follow along in the thread below, and watch live here: facebook.com/AFTunion

#EndGunViolenceNow

.@rweingarten: The last few days have been really difficult, with the anniversary of #SandyHook and the recent shooting in Oxford, MI. #EndGunViolenceNow

.@rweingarten: I wish say this is going to be our last town hall about preventing gun violence. But with the filibuster rules in the Senate, with the NRA, with the vigilantism growing in our country, we'd argue that gun violence is getting worse, not better. #EndGunViolenceNow

.@rweingarten: Other countries have solved the problem of gun violence. Why is it, in the United States, that we haven't?

We have to keep at this, each and every day, fighting to #EndGunViolence.

.@rweingarten: I should say that we are currently pushing for the passage of the #BuildBackBetterAct which includes $5B over the next few years in community intervention services.

Tell your Senator to pass this important legislation here: actionnetwork.org/forms/infrastr…

.@rweingarten: We have an obligation as teachers, trade unionists, and members of our communities to fight to #EndGunViolenceNow, and to create safe and welcoming communities for all.

.@rweingarten: We have long fought for the passage of commonsense gun violence prevention legislation, including red flag laws, universal background checks, proper storage laws, raising the age to purchase assault rifles, and more. #EndGunViolenceNow

.@rweingarten: There is overwhelming support for gun violence prevention measures - but the rules of the Senate are broken, and we cannot get this through the Senate, in the same way that we can't get voter rights & election protection measures through. #EndGunViolenceNow

.@rweingarten: These rules were changed to get the debt ceiling raised. If we can change the rules for financial reasons, we should be able to change it for these other important reasons too. #EndGunViolenceNow

.@jerrytjordan: The fact that this town hall is necessary should upset us all. It shows we've shirked our collective responsibilities to keep our communities safe. #EndGunViolenceNow

.@jerrytjordan: I have lived in & loved Philadelphia my whole life, and have worked towards a better and more equitable tomorrow. In 2021 alone, as of Monday, there have been 529 homicides in Philadelphia - waiting for the bus, some never making it to school. #EndGunViolenceNow

.@jerrytjordan: The longer we fail to address this, the more we will lose to guns. We need more resources in schools - social & emotional learning, social workers & counselors. We need a comprehensive community strategy to address the violence & its causes. #EndGunViolenceNow

.@Fred_Guttenberg: Before it was my son and daughter, I was silent on gun violence. I never thought it would happen to my family. But it did. This work requires all hands on deck. It requires leadership. It requires us to get out and vote. #EndGunViolenceNow

.@fred_guttenberg: The reason we are in the position we are in today is because too many didn't get out and vote. I've been on past town halls with AFT and I've said before that teachers are not just America's heroes, but their helpers. #EndGunViolenceNow

.@fred_guttenberg: What shook me to my core was that nothing has changed since Parkland. Nothing has changed since Sandy Hook 9 years ago. Nothing has changed, and there's no better way to deal with the wreckage. This is why I have to refused to be silent. #EndGunViolenceNow

.@fred_guttenberg: In the hour that we will be on this town hall, approximately 4 people in the United States will be killed by a gun. These 4 people may well have died in a school. We can do better than this, and it's not rocket science. #EndGunViolenceNow

.@fred_guttenberg: There's an election in 2022. If you told me after Jamie was killed that we had a President who supports gun violence prevention, a House of Representatives passing commonsense legislation, and a 50/50 Senate, I wouldn't have believed you. #EndGunViolenceNow

.@fred_guttenberg: Here's my fear: We don't get what we want right away, and if we don't solve this, people won't be motivated to vote. We are closer than we have been in years to passing popular legislation to end gun violence. But we need to vote. #EndGunViolenceNow

Destiny Holley is an 11th grader and student activist from Philadelphia, PA. She says there are so many young people who know what effect gun violence has on Philadelphia and to the country as a whole. #EndGunViolenceNow

Destiny: Gun violence affects young people as much as older people, & both our education system and stricter gun laws can help. The more time we spend educating our youth about these issues, the more time we spend to make amends for the damage of gun violence. #EndGunViolenceNow

Destiny: I feel as though having this meeting is very important, and I'm glad to be here to represent the young people in my community. We see this daily, the perpetuation of gun violence. We need mentoring, job trainings, and education to see changes. #EndGunViolenceNow

.@abbeyclements: If you told me 9 years after #SandyHook that we would still be facing this level of gun violence, I wouldn't have believed you. Freedom, 2nd Amendment, fine. But why not responsibility? #EndGunViolenceNow

.@abbeyclements: We need commonsense laws, we need the resources in the #BuildBackBetterAct. Across the country, our students are facing stress and fear from the threat of shootings. #EndGunViolenceNow

.@abbeyclements: Years after the shooting in Sandy Hook, one of my former students - one who ran for her life at 7 - texted me after the Oxford shooting, "I had to take off school because my brain has been nothing but school shootings all week." #EndGunViolenceNow

.@abbeyclements: The onus of fixing gun violence should not be on the young people we teach. It will take all of us. We demand and envision a safer country from gun violence. #EndGunViolenceNow

.@rweingarten: We need to vote, and to support the lawmakers who will represent what we the people are demanding. These gun violence prevention laws have overwhelming bipartisan support. #EndGunViolenceNow

Q, @rweingarten: What can we do to spread the message of gun safety in our communities?

Destiny Holley: Marches/rallies, using social media to spread the word, conversations with friends & neighbors. #EndGunViolenceNow

A (cont)., @fred_guttenberg: For a long time, one side kind of dominated the arguments. But over time, conversations with people we trust have broken down divisions and shown people how reasonable commonsense policy is. #EndGunViolenceNow

A (cont)., @jerrytjordan: We cannot let something happen on a Wednesday, and then stop talking about it by Thursday. We need to continue these conversations.

@abbeyclements: Gun safety doesn't have to be a scary conversation to have. It's important. #EndGunViolenceNow

.@abbeyclements: It was crushing when we didn't pass background checks after #SandyHook. I will say a lot has changed in the last 9 years. This is front and center, and no candidate for office can run for office without a stance on gun violence. #EndGunViolenceNow

.@abbeyclements: As my Senator @ChrisMurphyCT said after the Michigan tragedy, the gun violence prevention movement is a critical social movement - a movement that has millions of people at its back, and to get on board. #EndGunViolenceNow

Q, @rweingarten: How do we keep people safe without traumatizing live shooting drills?

@fred_guttenberg: Highlighting safe storage is front & center. I think the drills are traumatizing and normalizing the risk, that we should be preparing to be shot. #EndGunViolenceNow

.@fred_guttenberg (cont): Law enforcement should be front & center talking about safe storage. I think documentation of threats and intervening before they're carried out is important. #EndGunViolenceNow

Destiny: I agree with @fred_guttenberg, and I want to point out that if students are doing these drills, and the student is the shooter they did the drill too. So we have to identify & stop shootings before they happen, and take threats seriously. #EndGunViolence

.@jerrytjordan: It's so important to make sure our school buildings are resourced with professionals to talk to students & work with them to be part of the solution. We need to build trust with students so they can alert us if threats are made. #EndGunViolenceNow

.@rweingarten: The solutions are in front of us. Safe storage of guns. Background checks. Staffing and resources in schools to support students & stop shootings before they happen. #EndGunViolenceNow

.@rweingarten: Nine or ten years ago, we couldn't have these conversations about gun violence prevention. Things have changed. But we have to vote to make these solutions a reality and ensure everyone is safe in their community. #EndGunViolenceNow