Bill Text: NY A08980 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Provides for a gun violence prevention program in the public schools; provides that the program is to be developed by the department of education in conjunction with other state agencies and educational organizations and is to be made available to schools for use in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade; provides for a report to the governor and the legislature on the program; enacts the "gun violence prevention act".

Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 27-2)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-09 - referred to education [A08980 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-A08980-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          8980
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                     January 9, 2018
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by M. of A. SIMON -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Education
        AN ACT to amend the  education  law,  in  relation  to  creating  a  gun
          violence prevention program
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. This act shall be known  and  may  be  cited  as  the  "gun
     2  violence prevention act".
     3    §  2.  Legislative intent. Gunshot injuries are a major cause of death
     4  for children and adolescents in the United States, accounting for twelve
     5  percent of all premature deaths. Further, for  every  young  person  who
     6  dies  as  the  result  of  a  gunshot  injury, five others are seriously
     7  injured by a gunshot. Concentrated efforts in  the  areas  of  drug  and
     8  alcohol abuse prevention have demonstrated that preventive education can
     9  reduce  risks  for  youth.  But  although there are many drug prevention
    10  programs, there are few gun violence prevention programs in existence.
    11    The intent of the legislature in enacting the "gun violence prevention
    12  act" is to implement a gun violence prevention program  for  school-aged
    13  youth  and  their  families  to  help  young  people  to  develop victim
    14  prevention skills and to rehearse behaviors needed to  manage  problems,
    15  such  as  conflict  and  peer pressure, non-violently, without guns. The
    16  program would not oppose gun ownership or  the  well-supervised  use  of
    17  guns for hunting or sport.
    18    §  3.  The  education law is amended by adding a new section 3204-a to
    19  read as follows:
    20    § 3204-a. Gun violence  prevention  program.  1.  The  department,  in
    21  consultation  with school districts, the department of health, the divi-
    22  sion of criminal  justice  services,  the  department  of  environmental
    23  conservation  and any other educational organizations, is authorized and
    24  directed to develop  and  make  available  to  school  districts  a  gun
    25  violence  prevention  program.    The  program  shall include: practical
    26  skills which students can use outside the classroom;  opportunities  for
    27  self-reflection   and  role-play  of  students'  coping  mechanisms  and
    28  emotions; student-set goals for change; the  development  of  competency
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00041-03-7
        A. 8980                             2
     1  and  leadership  skills  to address issues with peers and the community;
     2  and parental and community involvement and support in the program.
     3    2.  Every  school  may  instruct  students in pre-kindergarten through
     4  twelfth grade with respect to gun violence  prevention  using  materials
     5  provided  by  the  department  for such purpose. Each school electing to
     6  provide such instruction may request information and resources  therefor
     7  from the department pursuant to this article.
     8    3.  The  department  shall  provide  a  report to the governor and the
     9  legislature on or before July first, two thousand twenty, assessing  the
    10  results  of  the gun violence prevention program established pursuant to
    11  the provisions of this section. The report shall include findings as  to
    12  the  program's  impact  on  reducing gunshot injuries among children and
    13  adolescents and shall  offer  recommendations  as  to  whether  the  gun
    14  violence  prevention program should be expanded, modified or eliminated,
    15  and whether or not other gun  violence  prevention  programs  should  be
    16  authorized.
    17    § 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
    18  it shall have become a law.