Cathy Myers is a Wisconsinite running for Congress in hopes of eventually removing Paul Ryan from office.
She arrived in Washington, D.C. late Friday evening on March 23 and made a stop in DuPont, an affluent sector of the city to meet Marjory Stoneman Douglas Alumna who currently attends the University of Alabama and organized a homestay program so she and several of her friends could attend the National Gun March the following afternoon
Myers was a high school English teacher for 24 years and sat on the school board in Janesville, Wisconsin.
“Kids and guns don’t mix. Guns in schools don’t mix,” said Myers.
Myers said that the issue of guns has been incredibly important for a long time. She has been through active shooter drills and says that such drills are traumatizing to students, in her school district they would have teachers use airsoft guns to add a level of seriousness to their Active Shooter Drills.
“Teachers? Bearing arms? That is the most ridiculous thing I have heard in my whole life,” said Myers. “I’m here to teach. I got into this job to be able to have an incredible impact on young people I did not get into this job to potentially take someone’s life. I just don’t think that’s what we sign up for.”
She said if teachers were to bare arms law enforcement might have a difficult time distinguishing between the assailant and the individuals working to protect the school. Myers finds it so lopsided that politicians look to schools to solve this issue.
“We don’t even have proper school supplies. Do you think that when push comes to shove they will really be able to provide us or be willing to provide us with proper training,” said Myers.
Myers finds the issues surrounding gun control complex but says the solutions lie in universal background checks, banning military style assault weapons, limiting clip sizes as well as reversing the Dickey Amendment, which bans the Center for Disease Control from looking at intersections of guns and mental health.
Myers said that the young people inspire her, that she is proud to teach them and proud to know them. She emphasized that this is a historical movement and moment in time.
“I hope that this keeps the issue in the face of politicians who are not acting,” said Myers.