The Rye City Council and the Rye City School District joined forces on a statement promoting responsible gun ownership, a move aimed at enhancing community safety, officials said.
The joint statement explains that gun safety is a priority for the community and urges gun owners to keep their firearms unloaded in a locked container, with ammunition stored separately. Additionally, it states Rye police offer gun locks, which are available for pickup at the police station.
The City Council unanimously approved the statement — initially proposed last November — at its Oct. 23 meeting. It does not propose any action.
Mayor Josh Cohn said the council revisited the idea of a statement following the latest mass school shooting. In September, a 14-year-old gunman shot and killed two teachers and two students, while nine others were hospitalized, at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga.
“It’s important that people exercise gun safety, and I think that’s something that everybody can agree upon, whether they’re pro-gun or anti-gun, pro-Second Amendment or anti-Second Amendment,” said Councilman Bill Henderson, a Republican. “If you believe that people should be able to have their own guns, then people need to be responsible.”
The city Board of Education proposed the joint statement following a November 2023 meeting with Be SMART For Kids, a year-round advocacy group that promotes safe gun storage to prevent incidents involving children. After collaborating with other local school districts to pass gun safety statements, the group discussed safety measures with Rye. The Board of Education then approached the City Council to issue the statement, which the council agreed to in the fall, according to Schools Superintendent Eric Byrne.
The number of school shooting incidents in the U.S. has exceeded 100 per year since 2018 and continues to rise steadily, according to the statement. Education Week, however, puts the number of school shootings at 215 since 2018.
Around 75% of school shooters obtain firearms from a parent’s or relative’s home, highlighting the vital role families play alongside the Rye City School District in ensuring student safety, the statement said. Nationally, the statement added, more than 4 million children live in homes with at least one unlocked, loaded gun.
Studies also show that households with both locked firearms and ammunition have significantly lower risks of accidental and self-inflicted gun injuries among children and teens, according to the statement.
“We’re hoping that people understand the gun safety laws in New York State, and that they follow them and for those that need devices like gun locks, the city has made it clear that they have them available to residents,” Byrne said. “So we’re just hoping that people read [the statement] and make sure that if they do have guns in the home that they are appropriately secured and locked and safe.”
The 2024–2025 school year budget includes $200,000 for the SALTO locking system, a smart system for classroom doors that enables an immediate lockdown across the joint high school-middle school campus. The security upgrade was budgeted based on a recommendation from a consulting firm following a security evaluation of school district buildings in 2018.
Byrne said there is no connection between the upgrades and the joint statement.
Maggie O’Donovan Bolton, a Rye resident active in local gun rights advocacy, had been encouraging the City Council to issue a gun safety statement and even helped draft the language. Her children also attended Rye schools.
She thanked the city for its support.
“Gun safety has been a really important issue for me for many, many years. I care very much, I’ve seen a lot. I’m very aware of how communities sometimes don’t take up these issues and so I know it takes a lot to do that,” Bolton said. “With what you have done, you could be a bellwether for what other communities could do.”