A FATHER & TEACHER SPEAKS OUT CALL TO ACTION To prevent more GUN killings. Prayers are good, but no longer enough to prevent the bloodshed!

Yet another school shooting took place this past Friday. I heard the grim news while I was driving to work, from Middleburgh MS, to Schalmont HS. I am an itinerant (traveling) ENL teacher. ENL stands for English as a New Language.

According to Yahoo News, "Police said that a 17-year-old student, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, burst into a classroom and opened fire at Santa Fe High School, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of Houston, as the school day was beginning around 8:00 am.

Authorities said 10 people were killed and another 10 injured, as students fled in panic, seeking shelter in nearby homes or shops for safety, or lining up on school fields as the injured were taken away in ambulances.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said the "majority" of the 10 dead were students. Area residents said two of the 10 wounded were in critical condition.

The Houston Chronicle said Pagourtzis was armed with pipe bombs in addition to firearms.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said searches of two residences had turned up "various explosive devices" including a "CO2 device" and a Molotov cocktail."

 Source: https://www.yahoo.com/news/texas-school-shooting-know-210650907.html

My family, my colleagues, and my students are worried like you about gun violence in our schools. We must do something. We can't let this bloodshed continue. We must be a united, and a strong persistent voice in an effort to prevent more violence. We must demand gun reform from Congress, and our States.

I wrote about this sad issue on Christmas day of 2012, after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. On December 14, 2012, a sole young deranged gun man, with an automatic rifle, took the life of 20 children and 6 teachers.

Then several months ago, on February 14, 2018. again- another similar incident took place at yet another school in Parkland, Florida, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Broward County, Florida, part of the Miami metropolitan area. Seventeen people – fourteen students and three staff members – were fatally shot and seventeen others were wounded, making the shooting one of the deadliest school massacres. Our nation and these towns are in shock once again. So, unless we all act together forcefully and in unison, Congress will not do anything.

I'm sure that most of us knew that a similar massacre would likely happen again, since our federal government has failed to pass sensible gun control reform. 
As you may remember, the 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, who had been expelled for disciplinary reasons, and murdered 17 students at Parkland HS, in Florida. He was also known for harassing his girlfriend and for showing erratic violent behavior. He also made threats online. He wrote on Face Book: "I'm going to be a professional school shooter."

It's obvious that we must do more to protect our children. We can't let this bloodshed to continue. We can't let the NRA sell us more guns because the US already has 270,000,000 guns on its soil! According to Gun Control - ProCon.org - the US has the highest per capita number in the world; 22% of Americans own one or more guns, that is 88.8 guns per 100 people! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out! More guns produce more deaths! 33,000/year and 80,000 wounded. It is imperative that Congress approves common sense gun reform legislation soon! To protect our schools and all citizens from the mentally deranged, criminals, fanatics and terrorists! We must take the lead in this effort! Our lives depend on it!

I'm not suggesting to take the 2nd Amendment's rights away- I'm just against the wrong people having powerful guns, like automatic rifles and high capacity magazines. These are weapons of war- used only to kill large groups of people at once. So, let's do something to stop this bloodbath! We must... if we truly care for our school children.

I also know that the Bible tells us that: "Faith without action is useless." I'm not dismissing the power of prayer, but I also think that we have to take action if we want to prevent additional tragedies as these. Therefore, I urge everyone to take some positive action.

Here are some suggestions- steps- that I've already taken- and I hope you will too. We should at least write letters to our leaders in Congress, and sign petitions. These would be helpful in showing our politicians that they need to do more to protect our school children from gun violence. 

It is essential to let our leaders know, hence, if you're reading this letter, please do the following. Write to our politicians at the State, but more importantly at Federal level (since NY has the Safe Act, however illegal weapons can be brought across State lines), sign petitions online, and join groups, like Newtown Action Alliance who has have been pushing for a federal ban on assault weapons since the Sandy Hook tragedy. 
To join one or more of these groups that support gun reform, visit https://www.facebook.com/NewtownActionAlliance/posts/1598286016945324

Petition - Ban Assault Weapons and High Capacity Magazines Now! PETITION BACKGROUND:  Thoughts and prayers are not enough. Americans deserve a strong response from our elected leaders. Over 165 gun violence prevention groups and allies have joined the Campaign Against Assault Weapons to ban #WeaponsOfWar to keep our families and communities safe. We invite you to join our campaign by signing our petition. http://org2.salsalabs.com/o/5610/c/1681/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=25421

Teacher and/or administrators, please watch this Face Book video, titled: EXTREME SECURITY INSIDE "AMERICA'S SAFEST SCHOOLS" https://www.facebook.com/nbcnightlynews/videos/10156386751733689/

Then share, the above video (and this post too:)!... with your colleagues and school administrators. If our elected leders in Congress fail once again- to pass gun legislation that aims at protecting our students- then our schools should be equipped with security systems as this one- to prevent further bloodshed.

Thank you!

PS,
Feel free to read my gun reform letters already emailed to;
(Click on the link below, and/or copy/paste it on your address browser and then click enter)
1.  The Albany's bishop, get his support. Click on the link http://ottaviolopiccolo.blogspot.com/2018/02/open-letter-to-my-bishop-in-albany-ny.html

2. Our political leaders, after the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012, click on the link: http://ottaviolopiccolo.blogspot.com/2018/02/that-i-shared-with-media-family-friends.html

Online Articles:
1. The NRA can be Beat- (& Who gets their Funding)- NY Times Editorial https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/15/opinion/the-nra-can-be-beat.html?smid=fb-share

2. Japan has almost completely eliminated gun deaths — here's how. By Chris Weller, Feb. 15, 2018. Business Insider. http://www.businessinsider.com/gun-control-how-japan-has-almost-completely-eliminated-gun-deaths-2017-10