III 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 777 

Keeping guns out of classrooms. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 30, 2024 

Mr. MURPHY submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

RESOLUTION 

Keeping guns out of classrooms. 

Whereas Congress has consistently made clear that it is unlawful for Federal funds to be used to arm school personnel with firearms or to train such personnel in the use 

of firearms; 

Whereas, in response to the shooting in Parkland, Florida, 

Congress passed the STOP School Violence Act of 2018 

(title V of division S of Public Law 115–141; 132 Stat. 

1128), which amended part AA of title I of the Omnibus 

Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 

10551 et seq.) to specify that ‘‘[n]o amounts provided as 

a grant [for school security under that part] may be used 

for the provision to any person of a firearm or training 

in the use of a firearm’’; 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•SRES 777 IS 

Whereas section 4102 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7112), as added by section 

4101 of the Every Student Succeeds Act (Public Law 

114–95; 129 Stat. 1968), defines drug and violence prevention in schools as including the ‘‘creation . . . of a 

school environment that is free of weapons’’; 

Whereas existing research demonstrates that arming school 

personnel with firearms or training such personnel to use 

firearms will not make schools safer; 

Whereas a recent analysis by the Federal Bureau of Investigation found that casualties for trained law enforcement 

during active shooter incidents increased from 2021 to 

2022; 

Whereas a survey of gun violence on school campuses showed 

that out of 225 incidents of gun violence between 1999 

and 2018, trained armed personnel or school-based police 

failed to disarm an active shooter 223 times; 

Whereas proposed and existing programs to arm school personnel with firearms or to train such personnel in the use 

of firearms provide significantly less training than law 

enforcement officers receive; 

Whereas research demonstrates that— 

(1) increased gun access and possession are not associated with protection from violence; and 

(2) a greater prevalence of guns increases the likelihood of gun violence; 

Whereas a greater prevalence of guns in schools creates 

undue risk of students gaining unauthorized access to 

firearms and the potential for unintentional shootings 

and school staff using guns in situations that do not warrant lethal force; 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•SRES 777 IS 

Whereas students of color, students with disabilities, and 

other vulnerable groups would experience a disparate impact of programs that arm school personnel as those students are disproportionately disciplined and arrested; 

Whereas heightened policing within public school spaces decreases the sense of safety of a student and the associated anticipation of violence leads to increased anxiety, 

fear, and depression; 

Whereas 54 percent of teachers in the United States believe 

carrying firearms will make schools less safe, according 

to a RAND Research Report from May 2023; 

Whereas the majority of parents of school-aged children oppose arming school personnel, according to surveys; 

Whereas the National Association of School Resource Officers, the National Education Association, and the American Federation of Teachers have all publicly opposed 

State-level policies to arm teachers and school personnel; 

Whereas, as of June 2024, there is no evidence supporting 

the value of arming school personnel; 

Whereas, before the enactment of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (Public Law 117–159; 136 Stat. 1313), the 

December 2018 report of the Federal Commission on 

School Safety endorsed the use of Federal funds to train 

school personnel to use firearms even though, according 

to transcripts of the affiliated listening tour, the broad 

consensus among listening tour participants was disagreement with programs that would arm school personnel; and 

Whereas section 13401 of the Bipartisan Safer Communities 

Act (Public Law 117–159; 136 Stat. 1338) added a provision to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•SRES 777 IS 

1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) that prohibits using funds 

under that Act to provide any person with a dangerous 

weapon or training in the use of a dangerous weapons: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that Fed2 eral funds should not be used to arm school personnel with 

3 firearms or to train such personnel in the use of firearms. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB