A conservative House Republican is continuing his fight to repeal the the federal laws banning guns from school zones.
Earlier this week, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) introduced the “Safe Students Act,” which would repeal the “Gun-Free School Zones Act,” thereby eliminating what the congressman’s office calls a “one-size-fits-all federal ban on guns in school zones” and making it easier for local authorities to set their own gun policies.
The Gun-Free School Zones Act was passed in 1990 and 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.” The original law was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1995 on interstate commerce grounds and later amended by Congress.
“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,” Rep. Massie said in a press release. “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.” – READ MORE