Former Education Secretary Arne Duncan Arne Starkey DuncanThe Hill's 12:30 Report: White House, Dems debate coronavirus relief package For the sake of equity, reopen schools — digitally, with exceptions It's up to local leaders: An Iowa perspective on reopening schools MORE said Friday that it was "tragically necessary" for parents to pull their children out of school en masse until U.S. gun laws are changed.

In a tweet, the former Obama administration official asked what would happen if no children went to school until "gun laws changed to keep them safe."

"My family is all in if we can do this at scale. Parents, will you please join us?" he asked.

This is brilliant, and tragically necessary.

What if no children went to school until gun laws changed to keep them safe?

My family is all in if we can do this at scale.

Parents, will you please join us? https://t.co/Yo4wsFuJI5 — Arne Duncan (@arneduncan) May 18, 2018

Duncan's plea comes one day after two shootings at two different schools on Friday, one of which killed 10 people at a Texas high school. Another shooting, later in the day, occurred outside of a graduation ceremony at a Georgia high school, where one person was killed and another was injured.

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Democrats and anti gun violence activists reacted to Friday's shootings with calls to vote out Republicans who oppose gun control measures in November's midterm elections.

The father of a student killed in the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida blasted Republican leaders on MSNBC after the first shooting on Friday, predicting gun violence would be the "No. 1 issue" for voters in November.

"And if you're wrong on this issue, we're going to fire you," the father, Fred Guttenberg, said. "Because enough is enough is enough."