Sandy Hook survivor calls for gun safety education in South Dakota

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - The school year is right around the corner, and families around the country are doing their back-to-school shopping. One anti-gun violence advocate called on the state of South Dakota to ensure that guns in the state are more safely secured and that students get proper gun safety training.

Almost thirteen years ago, a mass shooting occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School, killing 26 people, 20 of them children. Abbey Clements was a second-grade teacher at Sandy Hook School at the time of the shooting.

She has since created the organization: Teachers Unify to End Gun Violence, which she did back in 2021 in the wake of the Oxford High School shooting.

South Dakota is a very pro 2nd Amendment state and has continued to expand access to guns, passing two different laws that would permit concealed carry on city and county property and also on college campuses.

While public access has increased, Clements said the state should consider pushing for gun storage laws.

As opposed to some other states that either have child access prevention laws or something much stricter, South Dakota does not have any specific gun storage laws.

“If we can continue that, amplify that message and try to get everyone who owns a firearm to securely store it, then we will prevent tragedies from happening,” Clements said.

Clements said teachers have a powerful voice in their communities, and she encouraged educators to take the lead in educating on gun safety.

“Send out information on secure storage, you know, on back-to-school nights or conferences, and just have information there at various times of the year, so it just becomes the norm,” Clements said.

Clements added that two-thirds of school shooters get their gun at home or from a family member or friend.

In the event that there is a threat, Sioux Falls Superintendent Jamie Nold previously spoke with Dakota News Now on what the district has in place.

“We have a lot of emergency processes that we have in place with our radio systems, our communicator systems, and our repeater systems that they will go above that so we can always communicate with law enforcement, the fire department, and other city officials,” Nold said.

Nold was addressing concerns about the district’s phone policy that prevents students from having their phones out in class or in the hallway unless approved.

Students may keep their phones in their backpacks, or they may be asked to keep them in a shelf in the classroom.