STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                           848
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                     January 9, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by Sen. BENJAMIN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
        AN ACT to amend the  education  law,  in  relation  to  creating  a  gun
          violence prevention program
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. This act shall be known  and  may  be  cited  as  the  "gun
     2  violence prevention act".
     3    §  2.  Legislative intent. Gunshot injuries are a major cause of death
     4  for children and adolescents in the United States, accounting for twelve
     5  percent of all premature deaths. Further, for  every  young  person  who
     6  dies  as  the  result  of  a  gunshot  injury, five others are seriously
     7  injured by a gunshot. Concentrated efforts in  the  areas  of  drug  and
     8  alcohol abuse prevention have demonstrated that preventive education can
     9  reduce  risks  for  youth.  But  although there are many drug prevention
    10  programs, there are few gun violence prevention programs in existence.
    11    The intent of the legislature in enacting the "gun violence prevention
    12  act" is to implement a gun violence prevention program  for  school-aged
    13  youth  and  their  families  to  help  young  people  to  develop victim
    14  prevention skills and to rehearse behaviors needed to  manage  problems,
    15  such  as  conflict  and  peer pressure, non-violently, without guns. The
    16  program would not oppose gun ownership or  the  well-supervised  use  of
    17  guns for hunting or sport.
    18    §  3.  The  education law is amended by adding a new section 3204-a to
    19  read as follows:
    20    § 3204-a. Gun violence  prevention  program.  1.  The  department,  in
    21  consultation  with school districts, the department of health, the divi-
    22  sion of criminal  justice  services,  the  department  of  environmental
    23  conservation  and any other educational organizations, is authorized and
    24  directed to develop  and  make  available  to  school  districts  a  gun
    25  violence  prevention  program.    The  program  shall include: practical
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01800-01-9

        S. 848                              2
     1  skills which students can use outside the classroom;  opportunities  for
     2  self-reflection   and  role-play  of  students'  coping  mechanisms  and
     3  emotions; student-set goals for change; the  development  of  competency
     4  and  leadership  skills  to address issues with peers and the community;
     5  and parental and community involvement and support in the program.
     6    2. Every school may  instruct  students  in  pre-kindergarten  through
     7  twelfth  grade  with  respect to gun violence prevention using materials
     8  provided by the department for such purpose.  Each  school  electing  to
     9  provide  such instruction may request information and resources therefor
    10  from the department pursuant to this article.
    11    3. The department shall provide a  report  to  the  governor  and  the
    12  legislature  on or before July first, two thousand twenty-two, assessing
    13  the results of the gun violence prevention program established  pursuant
    14  to  the provisions of this section. The report shall include findings as
    15  to the program's impact on reducing gunshot injuries among children  and
    16  adolescents  and  shall  offer  recommendations  as  to  whether the gun
    17  violence prevention program should be expanded, modified or  eliminated,
    18  and  whether  or  not  other  gun violence prevention programs should be
    19  authorized.
    20    § 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
    21  it shall have become a law.