The Daily Item
September 14, 2024
At 7 p.m. on March 29, 2024, my friends and I clung to each other and texted our parents “I love you” as we sat and waited from the confines of my freshman-year dorm room. Though Smith Hall isn’t Bucknell University’s most glamorous dormitory building, I was grateful that we had been safely inside it when we received the alert that there was an active shooter on campus.
The incident was determined to be a hoax coordinated out of Virginia. However, the 45 minutes spent not knowing what was happening and fearing for the lives of ourselves and our friends most certainly did not feel like a joke.
It could have been real. In this day and age, school shootings are seen as an average occurrence. Sadly, they’re unsurprising in the news. Gun violence at large is the leading cause of death for children and teens in Pennsylvania and America. It takes the lives of neighbors old and young, students, law enforcement officers, veterans, teachers, and so many more.
In May 2024, the Pennsylvania House voted down two gun safety bills. One bill would have banned machine gun conversion devices. The other aimed to reduce gun trafficking. They both failed by a 101-100 vote. Since 2018, when Pennsylvania enacted the first gun violence prevention law in my lifetime, the Legislature has failed to act on popular measures for safety and violence prevention.
This is why I firmly support Nick Jacobson’s campaign for state representative; and why I spent my time this summer interning for the campaign. Nick is determined to address gun violence and has specific proposals that will allow us to take on gun violence without compromising our constitutional rights, including the Second Amendment.
As a native of the district, Nick understands the impact that gun violence has on the community. He understands that the rate of firearm suicide in more rural parts of America is three times higher than in American cities. In Pennsylvania as a whole, nearly 6 in 10 gun deaths are suicides. And he understands the solutions to gun violence should emerge from the communities that experience it. Nick will fight for solutions in Harrisburg that meet the needs of this district, including supporting background checks on all gun purchases and treating online or 3D-printed firearm sales like all other firearm sales.
The active shooting hoax that occurred at Bucknell University this past year taught me how horrifying it is to be under the perceived threat. We must ensure that students, veterans, and citizens alike don’t have to experience the same panic that I felt that day. I urge you to join me in supporting Nick for a better future for the safety of our community.
Abby Campion
Lewisburg Intern for Nick Jacobson’s Campaign