Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund Submits FOIA Request for Department of Education Documents, Including Communication With NRA

FOIA Request Comes One Week After New York Times Published a Report Detailing How the Department of Education Is Weighing Plans to Allow States to Use Federal Funding to Arm Teachers

Shortly After the Creation of the Federal Commission on School Safety, Secretary DeVos Announced Guns Were “Not Part of the Commission’s Charge Per Se”

NEW YORK – Today, Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, part of Everytown for Gun Safety, sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the Department of Education requesting records pertaining to guns in schools, including documents discussing using federal funds to arm teachers and communications with the NRA. A copy of the FOIA request is available here.

Since the mass shooting in Parkland, Fla., the Trump Administration has taken little action to actually address gun violence, despite creating the Federal Commission on School Safety, led by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. Shortly after the Commission was created, Secretary DeVos announced the Commission would not even look at the role of guns in school shootings. Then, last week, the New York Times reported that the Education Department is “considering whether to allow states to use federal funding to purchase guns for educators.”

Here are meaningful steps the Trump Administration could take to actually address gun violence at schools and elsewhere.

STATEMENT FROM NICK SUPLINA, MANAGING DIRECTOR FOR LAW AND POLICY FOR EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY:

“As school comes back in session, the last thing parents and students should be thinking about is whether a teacher might have a loaded gun in the classroom. Secretary DeVos’ school safety commission has been a sham from the very start, and now her Department is trying to arm teachers — a policy that’s already unpopular with teachers, school resource officers and law enforcement. It begs the question: Did the NRA have anything to do with this? The American people deserve an answer.”