Dear Commons Community,

Yesterday morning at about 9:00 a.m., the counter on Tony’s Thoughts reached six million visitors.  When I started this blog in November 2009, I never imagined that there would be such interest in what I had to say.  Actually I had assumed I would blog for a few months and then move on.  I still cannot fathom that in the past nine and a half  years, I have made more than 4,400 posts.  

I thank colleagues and friends who have made suggestions on topics and issues for my blog.  I thank Matt Gold and the staff at the CUNY Commons who have provided this wonderful resource for us to share our interests with one another.  I thank my wife, Elaine, who has to listen to me in the morning about what I might want to write and blog about.  Most of all, I thank all of you who have taken the time to stop by and read my posts.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo yesterday signed a bill that prevents local school districts from allowing teachers and administrators to carry guns on school grounds.

“The answer to the gun violence epidemic plaguing this country has never been and never will be more guns,” Mr. Cuomo said in a statement.  As reported in the New York Times:

“In the aftermath of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., President Trump embraced a proposal to arm teachers as a way to prevent further mass shootings in schools.

His support for the idea, which had been proposed by the National Rifle Association, invigorated a nationwide debate over whether the people educating children should also bear the responsibility of wielding firearms to protect them.

In New York, the answer from state lawmakers was a firm no.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo yesterday signed a bill that prevents local school districts from allowing educators to carry guns on school grounds.

The bill, which still allows law enforcement officials and other school security personnel to carry firearms, was passed in January as part of a larger package of gun-control measures pushed through the Legislature this year. On Monday, Mr. Cuomo signed one of those bills, extending the background check waiting period and banning bump stocks; on Tuesday, he signed bills banning undetectable guns and expanding firearm safe storage laws.

While federal law already prohibits people from possessing guns in or around school grounds, it provides an exception for people licensed to carry a firearm.

At least 40 states have laws on the books that prohibit guns at K-12 schools, even when the owner has a concealed-weapons permit, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a gun control advocacy group.

But J. Adam Skaggs, the chief counsel and policy director for the center, said that within these laws are a patchwork of exceptions and loopholes that concerned gun-control advocates.

In New York, until Wednesday, state law did not prevent school districts from making the decision to arm educators or permit them to carry firearms in school…

… A spokesman for the Senate Republicans, Scott Reif, said on Wednesday that lawmakers opposed to the bill were not in favor of arming teachers but thought the state should focus its efforts on other, potentially more effective measures.

Teachers’ unions were more strenuously opposed to arming educators.

“This is not a ‘Dirty Harry’ movie,” said Michael Mulgrew, the president of New York City’s teachers union. “That’s not how this works.”

Good, sane legislation!

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

On Tuesday and Wednesday, CNN hosted two nights of the Democratic Party Presidential Nomination Debates.  The good news was the diversity and number of candidates.  Women, blacks, Latinos, and gays were represented.  More importantly, the candidates also represented a diversity of ideas on healthcare, immigration, criminal justice, and the environment.  The bad news is that there are too many candidates and the Democratic Party now needs to cull the number and start focusing on a standard bearer.

Joe Biden, as the front runner, surely garnered most of the attention particularly last night.  The other candidates attacked him for his record and decades of involvement on a host of issues.   Julián Castro, at one point said the Party and his fellow candidates have to stop looking backwards and look towards the future.  I agree fully.  There is an incumbent Republican president who will not be a pushover in 2020 and the Democrats need to start rallying around their candidate and not risk splintering their constituents.  There is time to do this but they need to make sure that they do not bloody themselves too much in the process.

Tony