As citizens concerned for the safety and welfare of our school children, we believe the governor should have state police posted in all school districts in the state.

The bottom line is we need to get these residents back into the community that can function on their own.

I have started a petition on We the People via Whitehouse.org to increase already existing taxes on firearms and ammo to specifically raise funds for state safety, education, and mental health programs. We need 150 signatures for it to be published on Whitehouse.org's We the People site and then 25,000 in 30 days for the administration to review it. Link is here: http://wh.gov/nTrv

Please institute reasonable licensing requirements for gun ownership. Require tests of a similar scale to those required for obtaining a driver's license; this is not an unreasonable burden on the populace. Institute a minimum age (I would suggest 21, the same age as when one is deemed responsible enough to purchase alcohol), a basic physical competency test (like the road test), a basic mental health screening (like the vision test), clear title registration, and renewals on a regular basis. Additionally, forbid the sale of ammunition to those without a state approved license. If we can consider requiring ID to vote, we can certainly require appropriate licensing to own a deadly weapon. This will not keep legitimate gun owners from owning legitimate weapons, but it will greatly decrease the number of tragedies we experience as the result of unsafe, irresponsible, and immature gun ownership.

Pass legislation preventing the mass media from releasing the names and photos of criminals.

After the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy many are left feeling scared or angry because nothing could be done to prevent this. Stricter gun laws won't change the fact that kids with emotional and mental issues are going to grow into adults with the same or worse issues without the support and help they need from our schools or communities. Schools once offered services to these students and were headed in the direction of raising a child together as a community. As more and more unfunded mandates have been put in place, less money has been available for these crucial student support services. State aid has been promised and never delivered, taking even more of the services from the students who need them most. Last year a 2% tax cap was implemented in NY state. This tax cap further reduces the local schools' ability to procure funding for basic educational programs, requiring further its to "non-essential" student services. Many school districts have to split school psychologists, have minimal counseling available, and school resource officers are becoming non-existent as school make difficult decisions to meet just the basic educational needs of students. Further, the local social services once offered have also been drastically cut. Schools are able to direct parents to where help is available, but parents often find that there is no funding available for these services either leaving them with nowhere to turn. Our society is turning its back to these kids. I firmly believe in the mantra, it takes a village to raise a child. Sadly our villages don't have the necessary expertise or services to do so. Now we face the fear caused by the tragedy in Conneticut. We demand that schools and communities be given the democratic right to choose their budget with the simple majority rule. Let each community across NY decide the services necessary to educate our children and prevent them from growing to become dangerous or threatening. Prevention and proactive measures will be far more successful in preventing violence than stricter gun laws. We believe schools are the community center of our villages and should be able to afford these services for children before it is too late. Repeal the NY state education tax cap.

As a country, we have been through this too many times! Mass shootings have terrified and grieved us over the past three decades, this year has been the worst by far. With more than 140 casualties (injuries and deaths), the toll from mass shootings in 2012 has been nearly twice that of any other year. And that isn't even counting other shootings that have captured national attention, such as the attack in a Portland-area mall this past weekend or the gunfire at a suburban Cleveland high school in the spring. The FBI defines a mass shooting as one in which at least four people are killed, not including the gunman, so those incidents don't count in the statistics. It can be difficult to get a sense of the scope of mass gun violence when we look at individual tragedies--especially when, as now, it is so hard to get past the heart-stopping thought of all those children and all those families. So let's look at the facts, gun control is not the total answer. We need our children to feel safe going back to school. We need to put police in every school! An officer in the school could possibly have stopped the shooter and saved some lives!

“Education funding went up four per cent last year. Four percent is a lot of money. That is a very, very large increase. What else in your life has gone up four per cent? Most people’s incomes have not gone up by 4%. At one point you cannot get water from a stone.”-Gov. Cuomo Governor, please stop being dishonest. We have all seen many costs rise beyond 4% over the last 12 months, as have our schools with gasoline prices up 6%, diesel up 9%, health care costs up 12%, and according to the Food Price Index; households face over a 5% increase in rising food costs. Our school districts shoulder these cost increases with historically declining state support. Since the 2009-2010 school year, one small, rural district (Cambridge Central School) has lost 12% in financial support provided by the state INCLUDING your reported 4% increase last year. Invest in the future of our state; our future residents, employees, business owners, and leaders. Recognize these future stakeholders are the very children sitting in our classrooms.

Stop killing our beautiful deer. They were no trouble but allowed us to see these beautiful animals here at home.

Ban Conibear / Body Grip Traps in NH