The Honorable Rick Crawford

The Honorable Rick Crawford 1711 Longworth House Office Building

United States House of Representatives

Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representative Crawford, First, we would like to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to read this letter. As professional educators, we are concerned for the safety and wellbeing of students within the public educational system. We feel it is not only our responsibility to educate them, but also to protect them while in my care. With all the recent school shootings, we fear that our jobs are much more dangerous than in past years. We would like you to take into consideration the use of handguns within the classroom as a means of protecting our nation’s most prized possessions. In addition to the most acknowledged school shootings such as Sandy Hook, Westside, and Columbine, there have been many other devastating occurrences of violent shootings at school locations. According to recent studies, mass shootings have greatly increased each year. In 2008, seven mass shootings occurred. In 2010, twenty-one incidents took place along with another eleven in 2011 and fifteen in 2012. It is concluded that 30% of these shootings have occurred on school campuses. Although many campuses have resource officers who carry handguns, due to the size of most campuses, it would be highly unlikely that just the one officer would be adequate in the event of a violent shooting. Properly trained, equipped teachers would drastically decrease the chances of loss of life. Although there are new innovative architectural changes being made too many school buildings in order to prevent the entry of attackers, we all know it is not always enough. We entreat you to make a conscious effort to fight for the safety of our nation’s children. Again, thank you for your service to our country and for taking our concerns into consideration. Sincerely, Deidra Abbott, Katie Donner and Lauren Blair [email protected]