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Make Schools Safe Again: Repeal The Gun-Free School Zones Act
Townhall.com ^ | May 21, 2018 | Arthur Shaper

Posted on 05/21/2018 6:13:19 AM PDT by Kaslin

Another mass shooting, and another round of talking heads is clamoring for “common-sense” gun control.  The latest massacre, at Santa Fe High School in Texas, lead to the murder of 10 people by deranged teenager Dimitrious Pagourtzis, who stole the firearms from his father. After suffering intense humiliation from a would-be girlfriend, he went on a shooting spree in unhinged retaliation. This is beyond terrible. The rapid pace of gun massacres must be confronted, especially at public schools.

The media are not helping, of course. They over-cover these tragedies and relentless push a gun control agenda. We still don’t know what happened in Las Vegas (I can tell you, just hold on a sec). Following the Santa Fe shooting, CNN fudged the numbers, lumping in gang-shootings and accidental deaths with the mass shootings that have targeted schools. They also mocked Texas Lieutenant Governor Patrick, claiming that he blamed the number of exits and entrances to the high school. Honestly, diminishing the number of entrances in a school will better protect schools. Even in California, school boards are reducing the number of ways anyone can enter a school, and those proposals can eliminate dangerous malefactors. David Hogg and the rest of the Parkland. Other left-wing mainstream media agents like the Los Angeles Times focus on the “mass-shooting” firearms. “Get rid of the guns!” How about we tax the bullets, while we’re waiting? Chris Rock suggested as much in one of his comedy routines.

These proposals are not enough and will never work. No matter how much common sense comes into the discussion, the regressive left refuses to recognize that guns do not kill anyone. An assailant has to aim the barrel and pull the trigger. It’s not the guns. Thankfully, Texas elected officials are not calling for gun control. They are not targeting the Second Amendment in any way—yet. Conservative experts are talking about the over-medication of our youth, the removal of God from our schools, the disregard for the rule of law from elected officials. The biggest problem, however, remains that schools are mandated gun-free zones per federal law. I have addressed this issue before, and it’s astounding that still so few want to talk about it, especially among Second Amendment proponents.

Time for a brief history lesson. The Gun-Free School Zones Act passed in 1990 as part of a larger crime control bill introduced by US Senators Joe Biden (who would have guessed?) and Herb Kohl (D-Wisconsin). Sadly, it was signed into law by George Herbert Walker Bush. Using a similar “I hate this part, but I have to sign the whole bill” rhetoric that was saw recently employed by Trump over the Omnibus bill, Bush disliked the gun-free zone aspect.

Bush called the gun-free zone law an overreach, and the United States Supreme Court agreed later that same year. The Court struck down the because it overly stretched the commerce clause. Four years after the bill was signed, Congress passed and Bill Clinton signed the Brady Law, with US Senator Dianne Feinstein strapping on a scary-looking assault rifle to bully and shame anyone who opposed comprehensive gun bans. Seven years later, with US Attorney General Janet Reno’s promptings, Congress revised the law to get around the Supreme Court’s primary objections. Twenty-one years later, and no comprehensive lawsuit has emerged to challenge this nonsense.

How many schools have been targeted for mass shootings? Too many. Why should anyone be surprised. The kids are sitting ducks. Yet we need more gun control laws, right? It’s already against the law for a minor to own a gun. It’s also against the law to bring a gun onto school grounds expect for recognized peace officers; to carry a gun without a permit in Texas; and to saw off the barrel from a shotgun. In California, criminal enhancements exist to ensure greater punishment (although not necessarily deterrence) for gun crimes, but we’ve seen our own eruption in gun violence on school campuses, nonetheless. Oh, and it’s illegal to murder people with a firearm, too, but that didn’t stop Demetrius or Nikolas Cruz or the other mass murderers who raised hell on public school campuses.  Both sides of the political divide have fomented into pushing for gun control or allowing more good guys to keep and bear arms.

But no one is talking about ending this Gun Free Zone insanity … except President Trump, but even then, he was talking about it last year. At least The Hill brought attention to how arbitrary and nonsensical this provision has become. If someone brings a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school, they face federal penalties, like 10 years in prison. Granted, one suspect faced these charges for firing a shot at the Charlottesville, Virgina rally last year, tiki torches notwithstanding. School wasn’t in session that weekend, so the statute has become more arbitrary than meaningful.

How many schools have been targeted for mass shootings? Too many. Why should anyone be surprised. The kids are sitting ducks. Yet we need more gun control laws, right? It’s already against the law for a minor to own a gun. It’s also against the law to bring a gun onto school grounds expect for recognized peace officers; to carry a gun without a permit in Texas; and to saw off the barrel from a shotgun. In California, criminal enhancements exist to ensure greater punishment (although not necessarily deterrence) for gun crimes, but we’ve seen our own eruption in gun violence on school campuses, nonetheless. Oh, and it’s illegal to murder people with a firearm, too, but that didn’t stop Demetrius or Nikolas Cruz or the other mass murderers who raised hell on public school campuses.  Both sides of the political divide have fomented into pushing for gun control or allowing more good guys to keep and bear arms.

But no one is talking about ending this Gun Free Zone insanity … except President Trump, but even then, he was talking about it last year. At least The Hill brought attention to how arbitrary and nonsensical this provision has become. If someone brings a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school, they face federal penalties, like 10 years in prison. Granted, one suspect faced these charges for firing a shot at the Charlottesville, Virgina rally last year, tiki torches notwithstanding. School wasn’t in session that weekend, so the statute has become more arbitrary than meaningful.



TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: banglist; education; gunfreezones

1 posted on 05/21/2018 6:13:19 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

2 posted on 05/21/2018 6:14:12 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (<img src="http://i.imgur.com/WukZwJP.gif" width=800>https://i.imgur.com/zXSEP5Z.gif)
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To: Kaslin

Close and end public schools.


3 posted on 05/21/2018 6:20:38 AM PDT by onedoug
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Read my Tagline...it hasn’t changed in 5 years, only ignored (sigh).


4 posted on 05/21/2018 6:30:09 AM PDT by immadashell (Save Innocent Lives - ban gun free zones)
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To: Kaslin

Just posted to Facebook. Thanks for the heads up!

My comment at the top;

We don’t need or want to militarize our schools via a police state. All we need to do is repeal the Gun-Free School Zone Act. Nearly all these school shootings started AFTER that law was passed.


5 posted on 05/21/2018 6:30:10 AM PDT by upsdriver
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To: Kaslin

I DISAGREE, we should EXPAND the Gun Free School Zones to ALL PRIVATE SCHOOLS so our fearless masters will know their children will be safe and kept away from GUNS while at school.


6 posted on 05/21/2018 6:37:38 AM PDT by eyeamok
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To: Kaslin
Absolutely agree! All these mass-murders happen in GUN FREE ZONES, which are safe for the criminals, unsafe for everyone else!

It's long past time to repeal these stupid gun free zones EVERYWHERE and not just schools!

7 posted on 05/21/2018 6:39:03 AM PDT by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
After suffering intense humiliation from a would-be girlfriend, he went on a shooting spree in unhinged retaliation.

From what I have read, he would not take no for an answer until he was humiliated publicly. The sentence above blames the girl, who was his first shooting victim.

8 posted on 05/21/2018 6:44:09 AM PDT by MortMan (The white board is a remarkable invention.)
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To: Kaslin

1. Remove all gun-free zones as all they do is create targets.

2. Automatic death sentences for those involve in the attack.

3. Adding personnel to schools WITH firearms to protect students, teachers and others in the school.

4. Any methods IE: Metal Detectors and other means to help detect weapons on persons.

5. Stoppage of liberals ideals of blaming everyone except the person attacking and themselves for protecting the criminal and not the students.

If you wish to add more, be my guest.


9 posted on 05/21/2018 6:47:56 AM PDT by RollingThunder (i LIBERAL - Lying Idiotic B-tard Endangering Real American Lives)
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To: Kaslin
It’s already against the law for a minor to own a gun.

WHAT A LIE!

This might be true in Noo Yawk and Commiefornia and other slave slates, but it sure ain't true in Sweet Home Alabama and other sensible states. While minors can't buy a gun from an FFL, they sure can be gifted one by a relative. And here in Alabama, 18-year-olds who pass a background check can be granted a permit (I know, I know...) to carry.

10 posted on 05/21/2018 6:57:28 AM PDT by backwoods-engineer (Enjoy the decline of the American empire.)
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To: Kaslin

Every other gun free zone has restricted entrance, armed guards, etc.

Airports, courthouses, govt bldgs, etc.


11 posted on 05/21/2018 7:17:32 AM PDT by joshua c (To disrupt the system, we must disrupt our lives)
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To: Kaslin

And for the LEFTIES who say armed teachers would go crazy and shoot the students:

What is preventing them from doing that now?

Has there ever been a case where teachers shot students?


12 posted on 05/21/2018 7:19:36 AM PDT by joshua c (To disrupt the system, we must disrupt our lives)
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To: usconservative

One solution people are not pushing is banning back packs.

I carried everything I needed for school in my hands. So did my sister. No damn back packs.


13 posted on 05/21/2018 7:37:45 AM PDT by Lumper20
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To: onedoug
Close and end public schools.

I agree.

Also, start calling these acts “terrorist attacks” because that’s what they are.

14 posted on 05/21/2018 7:45:17 AM PDT by pax_et_bonum (Never Forget the SEALs of Extortion 17 - and God Bless The United States of America.)
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To: Lumper20

That and those heavy backpacks with 30 pounds or more worth of books are destroying these kids still growing spines.....


15 posted on 05/21/2018 8:04:27 AM PDT by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
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To: Kaslin

Thanks for nothing Bush you dumshit. He could have refused to sign the bill until that part was taken out. All the gun free zones should go.


16 posted on 05/21/2018 8:14:11 AM PDT by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
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To: Kaslin

... I remember years ago when the vapid pop culture and activists were declaring certain areas and cities “Nuclear Free Zones” as if that would some how protect them from Nuclear attack or fallout.


17 posted on 05/21/2018 8:45:49 AM PDT by R_Kangel ( "A Nation of Sheep ..... Will Beget ..... a Nation Ruled by Wolves.")
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To: Kaslin
The Federal Gun-Free School Zone law does not apply to those with state-issued concealed carry licenses.

It is State law that prohibits CCW holders from carrying on school grounds in most states.

18 posted on 05/21/2018 9:54:21 AM PDT by Yo-Yo (Is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: eyeamok
I DISAGREE, we should EXPAND the Gun Free School Zones to ALL PRIVATE SCHOOLS so our fearless masters will know their children will be safe and kept away from GUNS while at school.

It already does cover private and parochial schools.

19 posted on 05/21/2018 9:55:11 AM PDT by Yo-Yo (Is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

#VictimZones


20 posted on 05/22/2018 1:47:02 AM PDT by momincombatboots (No Wall, No Way 2018)
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