Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie on Thursday introduced a bill, with the support of 22 other House Republicans, to repeal a federal ban on guns in school zones, which would allow local governments and school boards to "unambiguously" set their own gun policies.
The national debate on gun control was reignited recently after a mass shooting at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, which sent shock waves across the country. On March 27, six people were fatally shot at the Covenant School, including three 9-year-olds. Audrey Hale, 28, was shot and killed by the police after they arrived at the scene.
The Nashville attack is one of the hundreds of school shootings that have occurred over the past few years. The K-12 School Shooting Database, an independent research project, says that 103 school shootings have taken place so far in 2023, while 303 occurred in 2022.
Massie's bill, the Safe Students Act, was originally introduced in 2007 by former GOP Representative Ron Paul of Texas. It would end the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act, a 1990 law that prohibits any individual from knowingly possessing a firearm "at a place that the individual knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone."
The act was ruled unconstitutional in 1995 by the Supreme Court, prompting lawmakers to amend the law the following year. No ruling has been made on the constitutionality of the amended law.
Families of mass shooting victims and the Biden administration continue to call for stricter gun control measures. But Republicans have said that placing more armed officers in schools and arming teachers will prevent mass shootings and that the reintroduced Safe Students Act may be a way to accomplish that.
Below are the 22 Republican House members who are co-sponsoring Massie's bill:
- Andy Biggs of Arizona
- Lauren Boebert of Colorado
- Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma
- Eric Burlison of Missouri
- Andrew Clyde of Georgia
- Warren Davidson of Ohio
- Jeff Duncan of South Carolina
- Matt Gaetz of Florida
- Bob Good of Virginia
- Paul Gosar of Arizona
- Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia
- Harriet Hageman of Wyoming
- Doug LaMalfa of California
- Anna Paulina Luna of Florida
- Tom McClintock of California
- Mary Miller of Illinois
- Alex Mooney of West Virginia
- Barry Moore of Alabama
- Scott Perry of Pennsylvania
- Guy Reschenthaler of Pennsylvania
- Matt Rosendale of Montana
- Chip Roy of Texas
The bill has also drawn the support of gun rights advocates, including Patrick Parsons of the American Firearms Association. He said in a statement released by Massie's office that the Gun-Free School Zones Act allows more violence to occur at schools.
"More than three decades of evidence since the passage of the 'Gun-Free School Zones Act' shows us that those who wish to do harm to others specifically target schools because they know everyone there is a sitting duck. These 'gun free zones' don't work, they empower criminals and endanger students, teachers, and staff," Parsons said.
Dudley Brown, president of the National Association for Gun Rights, said in the same statement that "so-called 'gun free' school zones have left our children utterly defenseless. Instead of 'protecting' our kids with a tin sign, let's defend them with something that makes a difference: a good guy with a gun.
"We're proud to support the Safe Students Act and we're lobbying everyone in Congress to join as a co-sponsor. It's time to protect America's most precious resource: our kids," Brown said.
Adzi Vokhiwa, federal affairs director at Giffords, a gun-control advocacy group, told Newsweek that the attempt to repeal the Gun-Free School Zones Act is a "distraction tactic" by Republicans to avoid finding "real" solutions to gun violence. Giffords is an organization named after Gabrielle Giffords, the former Arizona congresswoman who was shot in the head and nearly killed in a 2011 mass shooting.
"The gun lobby continues to push the false and dangerous narrative that 'the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,' but that is absolutely untrue. There is a long history of restricting guns from sensitive places like schools for good reason, and this proposal from Rep. Massie is dangerous and misguided," Vokhiwa said.
Some Republican lawmakers in GOP-led states suggested last year arming teachers to help combat gun violence on school campuses, but Vokhiwa said that's an "ineffective" solution. The proposal was made after the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, which left 19 students and two teachers dead in May.
"Putting guns in schools has not and will not serve as a deterrent for gun violence. Sadly, we've seen time and again that shootings still occur in schools where there are armed security officers or teachers, including in Parkland and recently in Nashville at The Covenant School," Vokhiwa said. "Teachers and school administrators are not trained to intervene in a mass shooting like law enforcement."
Update 4/20/2023, 6:54 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment by Adzi Vokhiwa, federal affairs director at Giffords.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Fatma Khaled is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in New York City. Her focus is reporting on U.S. politics, world ... Read more
