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Governors Creating Task Force to Tackle Mass Shootings and School Safety
The National Governors Association has announced that it is starting a working group of governors to create recommendations to help stop mass shootings following the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting.
It might be a tall order for the governors to reach a consensus, given that they have been divided along partisan lines regarding the approach to issues related to gun control and school safety.
The group’s chairman, Arkansas Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, along with the vice-chair, New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, wrote a letter to the White House, stating that they plan to convene a group of 6 to 10 governors to focus on making schools safe.
Both governors seem to leave open the likelihood of such recommendations, including several gun control proposals. This week, the U.S. House of Representatives had approved a wide-ranging gun control legislation that has only a small chance of passing the Senate.
“It is our hope that the task force can provide suggestions to keep our schools and communities safe in a manner that is consistent with the demands of the American people, who overwhelmingly support gun safety measures,” their letter read. “We can all agree that there are commonsense ways to prevent these tragic events, and we must work together to do everything in our collective power to protect our communities and our most vulnerable citizens – our children.”
Governors Split Along Partisan Lines Regarding Response to Uvalde Schooting
This letter follows the governors being split along partisan lines regarding the best response to the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 children and 2 teachers. The AP has recently conducted a survey showing how divided the governors are, with Democrats pushing for more gun restrictions while Republicans calling for better school security.
Hutchinson has stated that increasing the minimum age for purchasing AR-stile rifles from 18 to 21 should be part of the discussion. However, who leaves his office in January and is thinking about running for the White House, refrained from calling such a move in Arkansas. He also said gun control measures are not on the agenda if he goes on to ask the Republican-controlled Congress to consider school safety ideas at a possible special session.
The governors’ letter was sent on the same day the Arkansas governor revealed he was going to reinstate a school safety commission that he formed to think up recommendations following the Parkland, Florida school shooting in 2018.44
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