Step 1: Understanding Your Audience

Governors are elected to head the executive branch of state government. You can learn more about who your governor is and the work they do on this website.

The main role of governors is to:

1. Administer the executive branch of government, including most, if not all, state agencies.
2. Set a policy and funding agenda for the state that includes the state budget and could include issues like gun violence prevention.
3. Approve or reject (veto) legislation passed by the legislature. 

There are many steps a governor can take to improve school and gun safety in the state. For example, a governor can veto legislation that would undermine school safety or can express support for and approve legislation that advances common-sense gun safety measures.

A governor can also direct funding toward initiatives that support a positive school climate and safe and supportive schools through the state budget. In most states, the governor plays a crucial role in developing and proposing a state budget for legislative consideration. Legislators review and amend the governor’s proposed budget through committee hearings, where community members—including PTA members—can advocate for specific funding needs. This process determines the final financial support for various safety initiatives and programs.

A governor can also establish school safety commissions or task forces or can direct state agencies to adopt rules that, for example:

• Might prevent children from gaining access to guns
• Strengthen the background check process to ensure guns don’t end up in the wrong hands
• Increase the likelihood that people store their firearms safely

It’s important to remember that perspectives and positions on school safety and gun violence prevention vary. It's always worthwhile to do some research prior to reaching out to the governor’s office to better understand their perspective and background on school and gun safety issues.

Remember, you may have to work with all your elected officials to find areas of consensus. For example, some may be willing to support background checks or bans on assault weapons, while others may only be willing to support firearm safety education. Regardless, when it comes to school and gun safety and your governor, it is their job to support new and expand upon existing regulations that will keep everyone in school communities safe from gun violence. It is their job to listen to you, hear your concerns and represent the interests of you and your community in state government.

Step 2: Preparing for Your Conversation

We recommend inviting others in your school community to join the meeting, such as other concerned parents/guardians, students or teachers. A more inclusive group will not only emphasize the importance of school and gun safety across the community but also show your governor that your community is willing to work together on these issues. Prior to scheduling a meeting with your governor, make sure to meet with this group of interested people to plan what you will talk about.

When you’re ready to facilitate a meeting with your governor or their staff, reach out to them by finding their contact information on their website and calling or emailing their office. Remember, flexibility is key as governors are extremely busy. If you or other members of your group cannot travel, some governors have local offices outside the state capital or will offer virtual meeting options.

Building a long-term relationship with your governor’s office is essential, as advocacy is not as effective in a single meeting. Focus on relating to your governor by sharing your personal story and how gun violence impacts your school community.

Prepare and send participants an agenda before the meeting. Make sure to review PTA's official positions on this topic for language you can use in your conversations. A customizable agenda template is provided in another tab of this blueprint, but ideally, the agenda should include discussion topics and questions that align with the specific school and gun safety concerns you have for your governor.

One topic of conversation could be the regulations or rules adopted by state agencies to further their responsibilities and legislative requirements. Sometimes, the public is invited to submit written comments on proposed and pending rules before they are finalized. This is a process your PTA should consider participating in when relevant to school and gun safety. Governors often heavily influence the policy priorities taken up at the state capitol, so you could also consider requesting their outspoken support of gun violence prevention measures, such as promoting safe and secure gun storage and other key PTA priorities.

You can learn more about gun violence prevention regulations in your state by visiting your state’s website. Most state websites feature a search function where you can input specific keywords related to gun violence prevention or browse through categories of interest. This will allow you to track current and pending regulations.

Additionally, consider signing up for alerts or newsletters from relevant state agencies to receive updates directly in your inbox, ensuring you remain up to date with the latest regulatory actions. Furthermore, you can visit your state PTA website to see their positions related to school safety and gun violence prevention.

It may take some time to find areas of consensus with your governor, but doing the research ahead of time and having specific rules and regulations that have been introduced by state agencies will guarantee the office takes note of your concerns and gives you an opportunity to follow up after the meeting.

Is this your first time meeting with the governor? It’s okay to be nervous! Remember that you will never need to be an expert on gun violence prevention. The biggest impact you can make is by sharing your personal story. There are more advocacy resources at PTA.org to get your journey started.

Step 3: Discussion and Further Action

Remember, this conversation is an opportunity to provide feedback, ask questions and build a relationship with your governor around school and gun safety. Take notes, ask questions, listen closely and commit to continued conversation, collaboration and action alongside your governor and their staff.

There are many ways you can collaborate with your governor beyond an initial conversation on school safety. Consider these action items to discuss during your meeting and to pursue as follow-up action:

• Ask your governor to support a bill that enhances school safety (or oppose a bill that would undermine it). You can learn more about what legislation is passing through your legislature at LegiScan or National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).

• Ask your governor to direct state agencies to prioritize school safety by implementing existing gun laws and developing and adopting rules that would make communities safer from gun violence.

• Ask your governor to support funding that addresses school and gun safety needs through the state budget process.

• Ask your governor to continue to uplift this issue by including it as a priority in their policy agenda, by

  highlighting it in their speeches and other communications, and/or by establishing a statewide commission or task force focused on school and gun safety.

• Write a letter about your perspective and concerns around school safety and share the letter with your governor. Ideally, ask other parents in your community to sign the letter or write the letter on behalf of your PTA if you are in a leadership role.

• Schedule another meeting to perhaps bring in more families, community members or other important voices, like students.

Remember to send a follow-up email thanking your governor and their staff for their time and reiterating any next steps that were discussed in the meeting. We also highly recommend you take a photo during your meeting and post to social media, tagging your governor and National PTA so the conversation can continue after the meeting. 

Sample Meeting Agenda

Below are some sample questions you might consider discussing during a meeting with your school principal. Feel free to customize these questions to meet your community’s needs.

• Introductions. Briefly describe who is in attendance, their role and their relationship to the school or the community. Explain how those in your group relate to your governor and their staff.

• Personal Story. Have one or two people in your group explain why the issue of school safety is important to them and/or share a brief (1-2 minute) story about their experience with this issue. Personal stories not only increase credibility but are often the most memorable and compelling for a governor and will underscore the importance of your requests later in the meeting. They will not remember every statistic you share, but they will always remember how you made them feel.

• Acknowledgements. Take a moment to thank your governor for anything they have done so far to support school safety, like supporting a bill or speaking out on the issue.

• Secure Storage. Do you support legislation or regulations to encourage gun owners to store their firearms safely and out of reach of children? Do you support holding adults accountable for using safety locks and other safety devices to prevent youth from obtaining and discharging a firearm?

• Background Checks. Are you in favor of universal background checks for anyone who purchases a firearm? Are you in favor of background checks for guns purchased via gun shows, online transactions and other unlicensed sales? Are you in favor of prohibiting sales until a background check is complete instead of allowing sales to go forward after three days even if the background check is not finished? Do you support permits to purchase firearms that enable guns to be traced more easily if they are found at the scene of a crime?

• Minimum Age Requirements. Are you in favor of setting the minimum age to purchase firearms at 21 years old rather than 18? [Note that some states may already have this minimum.] Would you support legislation that revokes a firearm license for any dealer who knowingly sells to minors? Are you willing to increase enforcement of state minimum age requirements for handgun purchases?

• Firearm Safety Education. Would you support education programs to teach students, parents and community members about firearm safety, secure storage and violence prevention?

• Mental Health & Research. Would you like to see the legislature increase school funding to provide wrap-around services for students who are at risk of harming themselves or others? For students who have brought a firearm to school? Are you willing to provide more state funding for comprehensive research on the causes and effects of gun violence?

• Restricting Specific Weapons and Accessories. Are you willing to support a ban on bump stocks, auto sears and other machine gun conversion devices? Military-style semi-automatic assault weapons? Large-capacity ammunition magazines? Online sales of kits that can be used to make or modify guns? Are you willing to tighten enforcement on straw purchases of weapons and limit how many guns can be purchased in a month?

• Red Flag (“Extreme Risk”) and Firearm Prohibition Laws. Do you support creating a process to temporarily prevent a person in crisis from accessing guns? Do you support restricting gun purchases for adults who commit violent crimes, such as domestic abuse? How about if they committed a violent crime as a juvenile?

• School Climate and Student Support Services. What role do you see school climate and student discipline playing in school safety? Do you support restorative justice, positive school discipline and alternative dispute resolution techniques over the detention, exclusion or incarceration of youth?

• Physical Safety. Do you support increasing the physical security of school buildings? How do you aim to do this without undermining the school environment or causing psychological harm through ineffective trainings, lockdowns or responses to false threats of violence? What measures specifically do you support to protect schools from firearm-related and other forms of violence?

• State Funding. Do you support increasing funding to incentivize and support family engagement and education initiatives? Where do you stand on funding comprehensive school mental health programs, drug and violence prevention programs, training on trauma-informed practices, and other health and physical education programs? Would you commit to supporting these measures in your next state budget proposal?

• State Agency Rules. Are there currently any open comment periods or plans to direct agencies to develop rules around school and gun safety? State agencies have the authority to adopt regulations (or rules) to further their agency responsibilities and legislative requirements. Sometimes, the public is invited to submit written comments on proposed and pending rules before they are finalized. This is a process your PTA should consider participating in when relevant to school and gun safety.

• Next Steps and Thank You. Ask if your governor is willing to continue this conversation. If they have committed to supporting specific actions, ask how you can help. Be sure to take a photo and post to social media tagging and thanking your governor. In the days following the meeting, send a follow-up email thanking them for their time and reiterating next steps; include resources relevant to the discussion.

Checklist for Working with Governors on School Safety

• Identify your governor and their senior staff, especially their education advisor.

• Review the publicly available school safety information (see Step 1).

• Schedule a meeting with your governor or their staff (see Step 2).

• Draft and send an agenda in advance of the meeting (see Step 2).

• Assemble a list of school safety related questions, concerns and requests (see Step 2). If helpful, use the resources listed below.

• Meet with your governor or their staff (see Step 3 and PTA’s helpful tool).

• Commit to next steps with your governor and their staff (see Step 3).