BELLEVUE, WA – The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms today lauded Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie for reintroducing legislation aimed at repealing the Gun-Free School Zones Act and replacing it with the far more sensible Safe Students Act.
“The Gun-Free School Zones Act was passed by Congress in 1990, and it’s been a disaster,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “It has not prevented a single tragic school shooting, but instead has given students, teachers, administrators and parents a false sense of security that evaporates the moment some madman ignores the law and invades a school campus to commit mayhem.
“By declaring schools to be ‘gun-free,’ the law has simply turned schools into risk-free, target-rich environments for disturbed people willing to harm innocent children and teens,” he continued.
But Massie’s effort, which follows similar attempts in 2017 and 2018, is a common sense approach to a serious problem. It would allow teachers to carry firearms for self-defense and the defense of students in emergencies. As the congressman noted in a news release, “Gun-free zones prevent law-abiding citizens from protecting themselves, and create vulnerable populations that are targeted by criminals.”
Joining Massie as sponsors of H.R. 3200 are Republican Congressmen Justin Amash (MI), Jody Hice (GA), Jeff Duncan (SC), Matt Gaetz (FL), Louie Gohmert and Brian Babin (TX) and fellow Kentuckian James Comer.
“History has tragically demonstrated that the Gun-Free School Zones Act, which was sponsored by then-Senator Joe Biden, has failed miserably to accomplish its purpose,” Gottlieb stated. “It was a stupid idea then, and it has become a dangerous policy today. The law’s supporters are simply too vain and stubborn to admit they were wrong.
“The time has come to trash this ineffective mandate and make the nation’s schools safe again by allowing teachers and administrators the means to fight back in an emergency,” Gottlieb concluded.