Gunshots have been heard multiple times on the grounds of our public school campus in Vincentown, fired from private property that borders the school. Families were there when it happened, and children were frightened.

Southampton Township has no ordinance on discharging firearms near a school zone.

This is not a rural corner of the township. Our school sits in a village, surrounded by closely spaced houses, a patch of woods beside a house should not make it a place to shoot.

Westampton Township prohibits firing a gun within 1,000 feet of school grounds, including on your own land (Chapter 124 of its code). We ask the Southampton Township Committee to adopt the same protection: an ordinance prohibiting the discharge of firearms within 1,000 feet of school property in Southampton Township.

This does not affect anyone’s right to own firearms. It asks that gunfire stay a safe distance from the places where our children learn and play.

Please sign to tell the Township Committee that Southampton’s students deserve protection and to feel safe on school grounds.