Dear Editor,
My name is Jo Newman and I am a mother here in Wyoming. I have prepared these remarks to read at the committee meetings however, they never ask for the online requests to be heard. Not once. I am writing to you because parents deserve to be heard. Not with 24 hours notice to find childcare and drive to Cheyenne. This is horrifying and frustrating. Thank you so much for the opportunity to convey my thoughts to the community and lawmakers:
Mr. Chairman and members of the committee,
Thank you for your time and for the space to speak in opposition of HB 172.
I am a proud resident of Wyoming and a mother with children in the public school system.
As a lifelong Second Amendment supporter, I have no interest in taking away anyone’s guns. However, I have a deep and material interest in keeping our children safe and alive. These are the scenarios that keep me awake at night and make it sometimes impossible for me to release my daughters from a morning goodbye hug as I send them off to school.
The American Academy Of Pediatrics released a 2023 study concluding that from 2011 to 2021 - just ten short years, the number of children dying from firearms surged by 87%. Right now, as we speak, the number one cause of death for American children is firearms, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
This bill, as it is written, would allow anyone with a concealed carry permit to bring a deadly weapon into our children’s safe spaces. Coupled with Bill HB 174, which reduces the age for concealed carry from 21 to 18, the result of this piece of legislation will be a lot more guns in a lot more places threatening a lot more kids.
What are the situations that terrify this mother of two?
In a high school relationship. The CDC reports 1 in 12 teenagers experience physical dating violence. How does the bill help almost ten percent of the students who are already scared in their relationships?
What about when - God forbid- there is an emergency? How is law enforcement supposed to differentiate between the students who are allowed to have guns and the one who is inflicting terror?
What about when tensions are high at rival football games?
What about when a sixteen-year-old is rejected at the prom?
What about the curious kindergartener in a K-12 school?
What about the fear that will inhibit free speech and intelligent debate?
What about when teachers don’t want to live or work in our great state because of the expectations and threats concerning firearms?
What about the fact that humans do not (according to a Rutger’s University Study) have a matured prefrontal cortex, that makes this age group deficient at assessing risk?
What about the considerable proof that the argument that “good guys with guns” are more important than “bad guys with guns?” doesn’t hold water?
The research and evidence overwhelmingly disproves this narrative.
And our children deserve research, evidence, and a safe place to learn and grow.
Teachers are already afforded a legal right to be armed if they so choose. Why isn’t that enough?
Thank you for your time and consideration. Please oppose this death sentence of a bill.
Jo Newman,
Jackson, Wyo.
