Ramsey Board of Ed Calls For Stricter Gun Safety Laws

The Ramsey Board of Education has asked the state’s legislature to take an active stand against gun violence. The board's request will be sent to Trenton, despite concerns raised by some board members that it delves too far into controversial, political issues that are “beyond the scope” of what a Board of Education should cast official opinions on.

Based on the recommendation of board member Richard Muti, the board considered a resolution at its reorganization meeting Tuesday night that urges state legislators and Governor Chris Christie to “put aside all partisanship and political considerations,” when considering gun control laws currently before them.

Though all nine board members said they supported that part of the resolution, some said more specific endorsements in the document were “too political.”

The resolution sites the following as positions the board “strongly supports.”

• All efforts to improve enforcement of and compliance with the existing background check system for gun purchasers and to strengthen and enhance such background checks…to prevent any gun from being purchased or obtained in any way by anyone who has been convicted of a crime or domestic violence offense, anyone who is the subject of a restraining order, anyone who is on a federal or state watch list as a suspected terrorist until such person is removed from that list by a judicial determination, anyone who has been institutionalized in a mental health facility, and anyone who has been adjudicated a risk to himself or herself or the public
• A ban on all Internet purchases of any gun or ammunition
• Tighter enforcement and enhanced penalties for gun-trafficking offenses
• A ban on the sale or possession of all ammunition designed to be capable of piercing body armor worn by our police and other first-responders
• The allocation of sufficient state funding to identify people with mental health issues, including the young males who seem to make up the largest category of gun violence offenders, before they become threats to themselves or others and to create programs for the treatment and rehabilitation of such people
• The allocation of sufficient state funding to educate New Jersey students at all grade levels as to their civic and moral responsibilities to their communities and to their fellow students and as to the standards of conduct expected of all of them with regard to safety and human decency

“As a private citizen, I’d be the first one to sign this,” board member Claudia Monteith said. “But, I think [taking a stand on specific gun law proposals] is beyond the scope of what a school board should do.”

Board member Carrie Williams agreed.

“There are a lot of controversial [political] issues that affect our students. There are lines of what the board should take a position on,” she said. “This is the first time I feel we have crossed that line.”

Muti argued that the specific laws mentioned in the board’s resolution are non-controversial, and have general bi-partisan support.

Board member Laura Behrmann added that school safety has been one of the major concerns of the board this year, and one of the areas it is continuing to spend money on.

“If we are going to pass [a resolution on safety from gun violence], we need to do so with some specificity to explain where we are coming from,” she said.

Muti urged the board to, “officially, as a school board…[stand up] for the safety of our students.”

The resolution passed by a 6-3 vote. It will be sent to the Governor, Commissioner of Education Chris Cerf, all New Jersey state legislators, the New Jersey School Boards Association, the New Jersey Education Association, County Executive Kathleen Donovan, the Bergen County Board of Chosen Freeholders, the mayor and council of Ramsey, and all Bergen County school districts.

Submit your questions or news tips to jessica.mazzola@patch.com. And, remember to sign up for Ramsey Patch's daily newsletter, and get updates on Facebook and Twitter.