WHEREAS, two teachers and 19 students were massacred by a gunman at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24; and

WHEREAS, this is the deadliest school shooting since 2018, when 17 were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, the 27th school shooting this year alone, and one of over 200 mass shootings in the United States so far this year; and

WHEREAS, this mass shooting happened less than a week after the racist mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, where a self-described white supremacist fascist gunman killed 13 people, 11 of whom were Black, and three of whom were NYSUT members, at Tops Friendly Market, a supermarket in a predominantly Black community; and

WHEREAS, we have lost too many young people to gun violence right here in New York City; and

WHEREAS, the gun lobby is scourge on American society; and

WHEREAS, Congress has consistently failed to pass legislation on background checks, bans on assault weapons and large magazines and other measures to keep weapons of mass killing out of the hands of people like the shooters in Uvalde and Buffalo, with Republicans nearly united in their opposition to these bills and a pivotal number of Democrats refusing to part with the filibuster and allow the views of the majority to prevail; and

WHEREAS, New York has a “Red Flag Law” on the books, which allows law enforcement to petition the court to confiscate guns from people deemed a threat to public safety and Governor Kathy Hochul has strengthened that law via executive order in the wake of the Buffalo shooting; therefore be it

RESOLVED, the United Federation of Teachers expresses the union’s sorrow and solidarity for the communities victimized by mass shootings and unequivocally condemns the violent ideologies responsible for these acts of terror; and be it further

RESOLVED, the UFT demands a safe and protected environment for students and educators in our schools and supports more funding for mental health services, school psychologists, social workers and school counselors so trained professionals have a better chance of identifying a student in crisis and intervening before tragedy strikes; and be it further

RESOLVED, the UFT encourages members to wear black this Friday, May 25, in memory of the victims of gun violence; and be it further

RESOLVED the UFT encourages members to wear orange next Friday, June 3, in solidarity with National Gun Violence Awareness Day and Wear Orange Weekend; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the union supports Governor Hochul’s measures in New York, reaffirms its longstanding support for a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, as well as other gun safety laws, and will work with the American Federation of Teachers at the national level both to overcome the obstacles to these commonsense safety measures and to organize other means of harnessing the power of our local and national organizations to confront and end this ongoing national tragedy.