In 2005, I was one of the founding educators of Validus Preparatory Academy in Bathgate, Bronx, New York. Not long after the Academy opened, two of my students were shot in random acts of violence. They were promising young people who had overcome huge hurdles to attempt what is almost impossible in the South Bronx--a lifestyle of success, of raising a family, of living a good life. They didn't get the chance. Nadairee Walters, age 17, and Martin Jackson, 18, lost their dreams for no good reason except that guns on the street are the norm in too many communities. Additionally, I'm also an educator who frequently works with children in the early grades. They are so full of life and promise, love and laughter. It is no cliche that they are our future—and in caring and protecting these young lives, we show the best part of who we are as a people. For months after December 14, 2012, I was haunted by the vision of some of my little students being cruelly slaughtered and dying in fear, pain, and without the comfort of their parents' love. We owe it to our children and ourselves to do everything possible to truly make sure our saying "never again" is a solemn vow rather than an aspiration. Please add your name to this petition urging Governor Cuomo to make sure New York state has no investments in the gun industry.

This petition is being started because too many of our American citizens are being killed by guns that are not owned legally.

My son is in custody for over two months on a bogus DUI and is being represented by an incompetent public defender who did not show up at the hearing, who has ignored his phone calls and who has advised him not to have a jury trial even though he wanted to. Blood results show "negative" for blood alcohol. DUIs destroy lives, being compelled to face incompetent attorneys over bogus DUIs is a problem I have found out not only faces my son. Investigation of DUIs at West Jordan and other places in imperative.

It is an outrage to see so many innocent men, women, and children who life was ended by a senseless murder. Gun violence has to come to an end in our country.

It is time we find a way to keep our citizens safe. If the members of our Congress are too afraid to stand up to the NRA by enacting tighter gun control then we must find a way to curb the gun industry's power. We all know hitting the pocket book is a forceful weapon. State by state, one small step at a time is the way we can do this. Help South Carolina be a leader in giving our children a future.

i want to walk my dog on my street safe in the knowledge that no one passing by has a loaded gun in his pocket

My grandchildren attend elementary schools and I want to help then get the best education possible throughout the years. I also want to keep them safe by decreasing the number of illegal guns; as well as, guns sold without background checks in the United States

A dear friend was directly affected by this when his five-year-old nephew found a gun and shot and killed his six-year-old brother. It was pretty devastating to everyone—friends and family alike. And now all these senseless mass murders. Somehow this madness needs to stop and stop now.

This initiative is introduced EVERY session, and dies in committee before ever making it to a vote on the floor. Stop playing politics. We do not want Daylight Savings anymore.

I am starting a petition to request our state pension to divest from the gun industry In honor of the students and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. Today is the one year anniversary of their untimely deaths. I am advocating for less gun violence on a grassroots local level to respect the Newtown families' wishes that citizens wishing to pay tribute to their children and loved ones do an act of kindness in their own communities. On a personal level, I was mugged and robbed in July in Santa Fe, NM. The young assailant crashed into me, knocked out a tooth, gave me a concussion and bruised my face, chest and ribs with the force of his body. Luckily he did not have a weapon other than his body. Had he had a gun at such close range, my injuries would have been severe, perhaps fatal.

Gun violence in Kansas City alone has tripled in 2013. My godson was gunned down for no reason. My neighbor's two sons were shot and one died. Our communities need to feel safe. Our young people deserve better and should be our top priority before our future slips away, right before our eyes.

The social and economic benefits of legal cannabis would be enormous. Millions of tax dollars could be saved from no longer incarcerating people for doing no more than our last three presidents themselves admitted to doing but was laughed off as if it was actually funny. We do not find it amusing in the least. If you deny people from using something that makes them feel better, then YOU are the criminal. Cannabis does not meet the criteria for it to be a Schedule 1 Controlled Substance. It does not even meet the criteria for it to be called a drug. You work for us and you are to do what we wish for you to do. You represent the people of Kansas, and the people have spoken.