Should schools be gun-free zones?

 

Over the last several months, some of the colleges in our nation have been in the news, not for any academic achievement or sporting event but because of massacres by gun-wielding nut jobs.

In 1994, Congress passed the Gun Free School Zones Act, which established a policy that prohibits the possession of guns in schools and within a set distance of any school building to curb gun violence in schools.

But, as I mentioned, there have been several shootings at various colleges across the country. The two that first come to mind are the shootings at Northern Illinois University last month, where five students were killed, and the shooting last year at Virginia Tech that took 32 lives. In both incidents the gunmen killed themselves.

 

Because of these two recent acts of violence, there is a strong push to change the Gun Free School Zones Act. There is now a call to allow those who are licensed to own and carry a gun to be allowed to bring them to our school campuses.

Those against gun-free school zones want to allow students and teachers, and anyone else who has a reason to be at a school, to carry a gun as long as they have a license, and to me this just sounds insane. More guns in school would just mean more killings in school.

Those who want to do away with the gun free zone policy at school say that if the teachers and students had the right to carry a gun on campus they wouldn’t have been sitting ducks.

But they don’t mention that not everyone wants to carry a gun, even if they had the option. So even if the policy were changed there would be no guarantee that someone in the classroom would be armed to protect him or herself.

 

Gun advocates cry out that the Second Amendment allows them to own and carry a gun wherever they want, but don’t realize that it’s not just schools that prohibit those with a license to carry. Government buildings, national parks, and most employers prohibit guns in the work place.

There is a very good reason why the Gun Free School Zone Act was implemented. It came about because there were too many people being killed in schools by people who were or were not licensed to carry guns.

I am reminded of an old TV show from the 70’s called “All in the Family.” I am sure that most of you know the show, but the character Archie Bunker once said that he knew how to stop any further hi-jacking of airplanes. He said as all the passengers are getting on the plane, give each one of them a gun.

 

Now we have gun advocates who are saying arm the teachers and arm the students. I am truly amazed that there are so many people who really think that more guns in schools will keep people safer.

Many gun fanatics like to say, “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” I’ve got some news for those who say that: guns do kill people.

On a closing note, you should know that I am a gun owner; I do not advocate taking guns away from people, but I do think that there are places that should be gun free zones.