Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) has re-introduced his “Safe Students Act” to repeal all federal gun-free zones on April 6, just days after a video of him being shouted at over his proposal to arm teachers by a Democrat representative went viral.
Massie released a statement saying the Gun-Free School Zones Act, which was passed as part of the Crime Control Act of 1990, actually endangers students instead of protecting them.
“Gun-free zones make our schools less safe. Since 1950, 94 percent of mass public shootings have occurred in places where citizens are banned from having guns,” Massie’s statement reads.
For a document drafted by politicians and lawyers, Massie’s two-page bill is relatively concise and to the point. It proposes some changes to the existing text and then ends with, “The Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 ... is repealed.”
The Act was initially introduced by Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) in 2007 to repeal Gun-Free School Zones Act, which makes it “unlawful for any individual knowingly to possess a firearm at a place that the individual knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone.”
Massie introduced the bill during Congress’ last session, but it was not acted upon.
One of the bill’s 22 co-sponsors, Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), said gun-free zones are the opposite of what should be done.
“We shouldn’t leave our most vulnerable—our children—in an unsafe environment like gun-free zones where acts of violence cannot be stopped,” Duncan said.
A March 29 video of Massie confronting Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) as the Democrat urged reporters to press Republicans about their views on mass shootings and semi-automatic rifle bans.
Bowman accused the GOP of being in the gun lobby’s pocket for not supporting gun legislation after the March 27 Covenant School shooting in Nashville, Tennessee.
He repeatedly called Republicans cowards.
Massie, walking past, asked Bowman how many shootings had occurred in schools where teachers were allowed to carry firearms. Bowman responded with incredulity claiming that the plan would endanger teachers and students.
Massie disagreed.
He said that no mass shootings had been reported in schools that allow teachers to be armed.
Data from the Crime Prevention Research Center appears to confirm Massie’s claim.
The CPRC gathered data on school shootings between 2000 and 2018. According to the CPRC website, in that period, no one was “wounded or killed from a shooting, let alone a mass public shooting, between 6 a.m. and midnight at a school that lets teachers carry guns.”
During the period studied, 20 schools allowed teachers to be armed. By January 2021, that had increased to 28.
Gun-free schools did not fare so well. While the numbers fluctuated, the period started with seven casualties in 2000 and ended in 2018 with a high of 39 shot.
“The number of people killed at other schools has increased significantly—doubling between 2001 and 2008 versus 2009 and 2018,” the website reads.
Gun rights organizations have voiced support for Massie’s bill.
“The D.C. Project fully supports the Safe Students Act and applauds Congressman Massie and his colleagues for their leadership to ensure parents and teachers can lawfully carry and protect our kids,” said Dianna Muller, founder of the D.C. Project, Women for Gun Rights.
