Those longing for limited government will sympathize with Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-KY) sentiment that “we need more pieces of legislation that repeal laws.”
The Kentucky Congressman has reintroduced the “Safe Students Act,” which would repeal the Gun-Free School Zones Act originally passed in 1990 but then amended years later in 1996 after the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional.
“The act has long restricted gun possession within 1,000 feet of a school campus,” according to Guns.com.
Rep. Massie’s press release says that legislation “would repeal the Gun-Free School Zones Act, eliminating the one-size-fits-all federal ban on guns in school zones, making it easier for state and local governments and school boards to unambiguously set their own firearms policies.”
Rep. Massie asserted that gun-free school zones do not work and actually have the effect of endangering the people left defenseless inside of their perimeters.
“Gun-free zones are ineffective and make our schools less safe. 98 percent of mass public shootings since 1950 have occurred in places where citizens are banned from having guns,” he stated. “Banks, churches, sports stadiums, and many of my colleagues in Congress are protected with firearms. Yet children inside the classroom are too frequently left vulnerable.”
Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC), one of the bill’s co-sponsors said that, “The only thing gun-free zones do is disarm law-abiding citizens and take away their ability to protect themselves and others. We shouldn’t leave our most vulnerable – our children – in an unsafe environment like gun-free zones where acts of violence cannot be stopped.”
This is not the first year that Rep. Massie has introduced this bill and he’s not even the first legislator to introduce it. Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) first introduced the bill in 2007.
The bill received zero support from Democrats, but has seven Republican cosponsors including: Representatives Justin Amash (R-MI), Jody Hice (R-GA), Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), James Comer (R-KY), and Brian Babin (R-TX).