PTSA president: Handguns add new, dangerous threat to students’ welfare

A. Kodep Ogumoro-Uludong

Tanapag Middle School Parent Teacher Student Association president A. Kodep Ogumoro-Uludong said they oppose the legalization of handguns in the CNMI because these weapons add a new and dangerous threat to the students’ welfare.

“A handgun in the home or school creates new opportunities for murder, assault and suicide, as well as attempts and threats to commit them, not to mention accidental death and injury from gunshot,” said Ogumoro-Uludong in his declaration filed in federal court on Wednesday.

The declaration was attached to Tanapag Middle School PTSA’s memorandum in support of its motion to intervene for purposes of appeal in the lawsuit filed by U.S. Navy veteran David J. Radich and his wife, Li-Rong, who prevailed in challenging the constitutionality of the CNMI gun control law.

Ogumoro-Uludong said a handgun can be easily carried, brandished, and used even by children too young to fully appreciate its dangers.

“Unlike a long gun, it is easily concealed and carried from place to place, including into the school,” he said.

The PTSA president said a handgun has a cool and tough image with a natural appeal to adolescents.

The Tanapag Middle School PTSA recognized that there are steps that they can take to try to protect the children from the various dangers posed by handguns.

“For example, we could install metal detectors at the school gate, hire security guards, train teachers in tactics for calming down or disarming shooters, conduct ‘active shooter’ drills for students, teach classes in gun safety, conduct random searches of student backpacks, even arm teachers with guns of their own,” said Ogumoro-Uludong, adding that they do not want to do these things.

Ogumoro-Uludong said they do not want metal detectors or security guards at their school.

He said they do not want the authoritarian climate of anxiety and insecurity that such things tend to create.

Ogumoro-Uludong said they do not want a “security state” in their school.

Furthermore, he said, they recognize that even totally effective security at school would not protect the students at home or out in the community.

“We do not want to be put in the position where we need to be concerned about developing such protective polices, or need to rely on them,” he said.

The PTSA president noted that there are more than enough threats that the people need to be concerned about protecting the students from, such as drugs, domestic violence in the home, and sexual abuse.

“The threat of gun violence is a problem we have never had before, and we do not want it now,” he said.

Ogumoro-Uludong said they recognize that handguns pose a serious problem for schools in the U.S.

“We have been able to rely on our geographic isolation and our strict gun laws to protect us from this plague until now. We wish to continue to do so,” he added.

In Tanapag Middle School PTSA’s memorandum, attorney Joseph E. Horey said if the U.S. District Court for the NMI’s decision in the Radich couple’s case is allowed to remain in force without appeal, the PTSA’s ability to protect its interest in the “welfare of children and youth in home, school and community” will this be permanently impeded.

Horey said it can certainly be said that Attorney General Edward Manibusan in this case, who has characterized an appeal as “a waste of time,” is “less than wholeheartedly dedicated” to opposing the Radich couple’s aims.

Horey said while Gov. Ralph DLG. Torres has expressed support for an appeal in this case, and has shown interest in pursuing one through outside counsel if necessary, Manibusan has been overtly hostile to the idea of any appeal, and has questioned the propriety of anyone but himself in litigating one on the government’s behalf.

“This kind of problem is new to the CNMI, and is a function of the recent constitutional amendment establishing an elective Attorney General independent of the administration,” he said.

Horey said the PTSA is constrained by no such political considerations.

In her March 28 ruling, U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona declared unconstitutional the CNMI gun control law that prohibits all residents from obtaining handguns for self-defense purposes.

In response, the CNMI passed Public Law 19-42, the Special Act for Firearms Enforcement, which removes the ban on possession of handguns and also establishes new rules for transporting and using firearms.