NEWPORT NEWS, Va.— It's been a little more than a month since the shooting at Richneck Elementary School when police said a 6-year-old student shot first-grade teacher Abby Zwerner.
Now, education leaders and lawmakers are calling for legislation to end gun violence in schools.
Dr. James Graves, a teacher and the President of the Newport News Education Association, said this should a wake-up call for lawmakers. Graves is calling for "common sense" gun laws to be passed.
"We have kids who are getting guns as young as 6 years old that we see, and we need to do something about it," Graves said.
But some parents believe this won't stop gun violence.
"New problems need new solutions, and sometimes we get caught on trying to do the same things over and over again. Something bad happens involving a gun, we pass more gun laws," said David Wilson, a Newport News parent.
Graves is advocating for six senate bills relating to gun owners and how they should secure their firearms. But they were all killed in the house.
"We have kids in our Commonwealth that need leaders to just get ahead of this thing. It's not just a Republican thing or Democratic thing it's a national thing for real," said Dr. Graves.
Parents like Amanda D'Onofrio, who is also an educator said she's disappointed that these bills were not passed. She believes it would've been a good first step to ease her worries as she sends her 6- and 4-year-old to school.
"What I have currently for anxiety is not cutting it, I'm in a constant state of anxiety over this," she said. "Not just for my children, but for the children that I work with and the teachers I work with."
As tensions remain high for teachers, administrators and school board leaders are trying to find solutions to this issue.
David Wilson said instead of pushing for gun laws, mental health courses in schools should be a priority.
"There needs to be a push for mental health, there's need to be a push on how to resolve problems," said Wilson."The thing that continues to scare me is that nothing is going to stop the violence itself because there's nobody proposing any type of solution that get to the bottom of the root of the issue. Everything is not proactive it's a reactive type of response to this issue.".
Dr. Graves said the shooting at Richneck should've been a wakeup call for lawmakers in the Commonwealth, but he says he will continue to advocate for a budget amendment for a "Firearm Violence Intervention and Prevention" Fund.
