Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) appears to be the only lawmaker who responded to the school shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis with an actual solution to reduce the impact of these tragedies.
Massie, in a post on X, announced that he is introducing the “My Safe Students Act,” which “would repeal the dangerous Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990” and “make it easier for state governments and school boards to unambiguously set their own firearm policies.”
My Safe Students Act, HR 5066, would repeal the dangerous Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990, ending the default federal policy of making schools soft targets.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) August 29, 2025
HR 5066 would make it easier for state governments and school boards to unambiguously set their own firearm policies. pic.twitter.com/K73LMhyEme
The Gun-Free School Zones Act makes it a federal crime to carry a firearm within 1,000 feet of the grounds of a government-run or private school. This essentially makes large chunks of neighborhoods a “Gun-Free zone.”
There are exceptions to the law. Those who live on private property within the zone can still carry firearms. Those who have a concealed carry license issued by the state are also exempt.
Those who violate the law could face up to five years in federal prison and fines.
Massie’s bill would repeal the federal prohibition on carrying firearms in school zones and remove the penalties for doing so. In essence, it would amount to a full repeal of the Gun-Free School Zones Act.
This would mean that states can set their own policies on gun ownership near schools. Many states already have laws restricting the carrying of firearms near schools. These could remain in place.
The new bill comes amid yet another national conversation on mass shootings and gun control. Anti-gunners immediately jumped on the opportunity to exploit the victims of the Minneapolis school shooting to promote more restrictions on firearms.
However, none of them have shown which gun control laws would have prevented Robert “Robin” Westman from killing two young students and injuring over a dozen more. That’s because gun control doesn’t work.
Earlier this year, the Crime Prevention Research Center published a report challenging the popular anti-gunner myth that armed civilians don’t stop active shooters. Researchers analyzed 512 active shooter incidents between 2014 and 2023, showing that a “good guy with a gun” were more effective at stopping would-be mass shooters than members of law enforcement.
The study revealed that “according to police, armed citizens have stopped 57 active shooter events which otherwise were likely to have escalated into mass public shootings” and that “armed citizens reduce the number of people killed by 49 percent while police increase the number killed by 16 percent.”
This is largely because an armed individual who is already on the scene of an active shooter incident have more opportunities to stop the assailant. Conversely, police cannot act against an active shooter until they arrive on scene. Within that period of time, an active shooter can claim significant numbers of casualties before they are stopped.
The truth is that having more responsible gun owners around can save far more lives than gun control laws aimed at making it harder for these folks to arm themselves. Study after study has shown that gun owners are more likely to use their firearms to protect themselves or others than to commit a crime. It’s an inconvenient fact for anti-gunners. However, it is one of the only realistic ways to protect the lives of schoolchildren.
Editor’s Note: The radical left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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