Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) has re-introduced the “Safe Students Act” (H.R. 5066), a bill seeking to repeal the “Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990.” The legislation would remove the federal ban on firearms in school zones, allowing state and local governments as well as school boards to set their own policies regarding guns on school grounds.
Massie said, “Gun-free zones are ineffective and make our schools less safe. Since 1950, 94 percent of mass public shootings have occurred in places where citizens are banned from having guns. 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.”
Supporters of the bill voiced their positions alongside Massie. Dudley Brown, President of the National Association for Gun Rights, stated, “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.”
Aidan Johnston, Director of Federal Affairs at Gun Owners of America, added, “GOA staunchly advocates for the repeal of the Gun-Free School Zones Act, which disarms parents and staff, and more importantly, leaves schools significantly less protected as soft targets for those looking to commit violence. The government has no business dictating where law-abiding citizens carry arms in public, and prohibiting firearms in schools has certainly not yielded the outcome anti-gun politicians thought it would. We must harden schools to protect teachers and students and to do that we must end Gun Free Zones.”
Dianna Muller, Founder of Women for Gun Rights, said, “We all agree that protecting our children is a priority. The DC 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.”
Patrick Parsons from The American Firearms Association commented: “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.”
The original version of this bill was introduced by Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) in 2007. The current law prohibits individuals from knowingly possessing firearms in areas known or reasonably believed to be school zones. In 1995, the Supreme Court found the GFSZA unconstitutional; Congress amended it in 1996 but its constitutionality has not been reconsidered by the Court since then.
Original cosponsors for H.R. 5066 include Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO), Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA), Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ), Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH), Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL), Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), and Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX). The full text of H.R. 5066 is available online.
Thomas Massie currently represents Kentucky’s 4th district in Congress after replacing Geoff Davis in 2012 https://massie.house.gov/. Before serving in Congress he was part of Kentucky’s House of Representatives and served as Lewis County Judge Executive https://bioguideretro.congress.gov/Home/MemberDetails?memIndex=M001184. Born in Huntington, West Virginia in 1971, Massie now lives in Garrison at age 52 https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/elections/kentucky/2022/05/17/thomas-massie-kentucky-primary-election-results-republican-us-house-district-4/9741017002/. He graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Bachelor’s degree in 1993.
