Representative Proposes Repeal of Gun-Free School Zone Act

Congressman Thomas Massie has proposed repealing the controversial federal ban on guns within a thousand feet of a school. From cnsnews.com:

Massie said the solution to school shootings is putting more than one armed guard at school or allowing teachers to be armed, adding that “98 percent of mass public shootings happen in a gun free zone.”

“And we’ve labeled all of our schools as gun free zones. We need to take those labels off, and put our kids in that two percent category of being safe, instead of being in that 98 percent vulnerable category,” he said.

Massie said his bill, the Safe Students Act (H.R. 34), has the support of Columbine survivor Evan Todd.

Congressman Massie (R-KY) is right about an important fact. School shootings increased after federal gun bans were passed.

The 1990 Gun Free School Zone Act (GFSZA) was a ban on guns within a thousand feet of school. It effectively banned the carry of guns in most cities and towns. The 1996 GFSZA act included a minor change that exempted people with concealed carry permits. The 1994 Gun Free School act gave incentives for schools to ban guns inside the schools.

What caused the increase in mass murder in schools? There are two likely possibilities. The gun bans make the schools inviting targets. Potential mass murderers know that they can kill more people without armed opposition. The number they kill is important, because they want fame.

The second factor is the copycat effect. Fame gives societal misfits a pseudo-immortality in celebrity. Celebrity is valued about all other things in our popular culture. Potential mass murderers who are unhinged, poorly integrated into society, and considering suicide, see an option to leave the life they hate while achieving celebrity status.

The media loved the restrictions. The establishment media use school shootings to push for more gun bans, restrictions on gun ownership and use. The media  give coverage to school shootings all out of proportion to the number of people killed.  The coverage gives future mass murderers incentive to kill large numbers of people and "break the record".

Congressman Massie is working to bring to the debate a factor ignored by the elite media for decades.  School shootings shot up after the federal gun bans were passed, not before they took effect.

©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch