School Gun Violence Resolution Passed By Morris Co. Commissioners Under Scrutiny

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ —The Morris County Board of County Commissioners recently passed a resolution acknowledging gun violence in America, which some say ignores the root cause of the problem.

During a recent Commission meeting, residents of Morris County lined up in person and over the phone to publicly condemn the Morris County Commissioners for their proposed resolution on the contentious issue of gun violence.

According to the resolution, "most Americans agree that innocent civilians can and should be protected from these criminal acts by keeping firearms out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill, enforcing existing laws to incarcerate repeat violent offenders, reaffirming our support for our nation's law enforcement officers, and addressing our country's growing mental health crisis."

During the July 27 meeting, representatives from the local chapter of Moms Demand Action spoke in regard to the resolution.

"This resolution, which I guess is supposed to be a response to the Moms Demand Action request for a gun violence awareness proclamation is a blatant attempt to blame gun violence on people of color and the mentally ill," Margaret Haughey said.

A slew of speakers slammed the resolution, claiming it sidestepped the issue of common-sense gun regulation and ignored extensive data demonstrating that sensible restrictions on gun ownership effectively reduce gun violence.

The resolution mentioned the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, as well as gang violence in Chicago and "rioting and unrest" in major cities. Speakers at the commissioner's meeting believe the language in the resolution was a reference to the Black Lives Matter marches two years ago.

"I did see that you condemn the 'ferocity of rioting and unrest that has been allowed to unfold, many times with impunity, throughout our nation’s major cities' but I didn’t see any condemnation of the violent and deadly insurrection that occurred in our nation’s capital that killed our law enforcement officers and put our leaders in deadly peril," Morristown Council Vice-President Sandi Mayer said.

"The protests to which you refer were mostly racial justice protests resulting from the killings by police of unarmed black men. That is a blatant political statement while addressing something that is totally non-political, gun violence in the U.S.," Fern Wolkin said.

The comments took up nearly two hours of the meeting, with several members of the community speaking in reference to both the gun violence resolution and the commission's resolution on school health curricula.

Tayfun Selen, the board director, said in response to the speakers, "We heard you loud and clear," and he praised the freedom to speak out in America. "I understand your disagreement, and I respect it, and only in America can you challenge your government and you can demand a different path," Selen said.

Moms Demand Action is a nonpartisan grassroots movement of Americans fighting for gun violence prevention measures. Shannon Watts, a mother, founded it in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

Since its inception, the organization has grown in popularity and now has chapters in almost every state. "The online conversation has turned into a movement of moms, dads, students, families, concerned citizens and survivors working together with our partners in the gun violence prevention movement to end this uniquely American crisis," said the organization's Facebook page.

As previously stated, the gun violence resolution passed, though one commissioner, Deborah Smith, voted against it, citing it as "imbalanced."