Re: Rep. Thomas Massie, John Lott: Gun-free zones need to go. They are not only ineffective, they're dangerous

[Hoplophobia]

In article <t2svmg$3rhpb$3...@news.freedyn.de>
<governo...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Democrats want to control your lives.
>

The tragedy at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center fits an all
too familiar pattern—yet another mass shooting in a place the
victims were banned from carrying guns. The most lives are
claimed in places where people can’t defend themselves on equal
footing. It’s not a coincidence the attack occurred in a public
building filled with public employees prohibited from carrying
handguns, concealed or otherwise.

This attack could have ended with much less bloodshed. Kate
Nixon, a compliance manager at the municipal center, was
concerned about a fellow employee and spoke with her husband the
night before the attack about taking her permitted, concealed
carry handgun to work. However, the city bans individuals,
including public employees, from possessing "any weapon" on city
property unless authorized by a supervisor so she decided
against it. Unlike his law-abiding colleagues, the killer didn’t
abide by the ban. Kate Nixon was one of the 12 people killed in
the attack.

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This pattern of attacks at gun-free zones isn’t limited to
workplace shootings: 98 percent of all mass public shootings in
the U.S. since 1950 have occurred in places where the average
citizen was banned from possessing guns.\

Banks, churches, sports stadiums, and many members of Congress
are protected with firearms. Yet children inside the classroom
are too frequently left vulnerable. To combat this, Rep. Thomas
Massie, co-author of this op-ed, introduced H.R. 3200 last week,
a bill that repeals the Gun-Free School Zones Act (GFSZA) of
1990.

Twenty states, to varying degrees, allow teachers to carry—some
of these states have had their laws in place for decades. The
Safe Students Act would make it easier for state and local
governments to unambiguously set their own firearm policies by
eliminating the one-size-fits-all federal ban on guns in school
zones.

Banks, churches, sports stadiums, and many members of Congress
are protected with firearms. Yet children inside the classroom
are too frequently left vulnerable.

Safe Students Act cosponsors currently include Representatives
Justin Amash, R-Mich., Jody Hice, R-Ga., Jeff Duncan, R-S.C.,
Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, James Comer, R-Ky.,
and Brian Babin, R-Texas.

The Crime Prevention Research Center has released a new report
examining every school shooting in the United States from 2000
through 2018.

There were 306 documented cases of gunshots on school property,
48 of which were suicides. Not counting suicides, 193 people
died and 267 were injured in these incidents. Four cases were
instances of accidental gunshots by police officers.

The rate of school shootings and the number of people killed by
them has increased significantly since 2000. The annual death
rate from 2009-2018 was twice that of 2001-2008 (even when one
excludes suicides). This increase has occurred exclusively among
schools that don’t allow concealed carry for teachers and staff.
Indeed, with the exception of suicides or gang violence outside
of school hours, no school that allows teachers to carry has
experienced a death or injury from a shooting.

Utah, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and parts of Oregon allowed
all permitted teachers and staff to carry without any additional
training requirements. Other states left it to the discretion of
local superintendents or school boards. As of December 2018,
teachers carried handguns in more than 30 percent of Texas
school districts. And in September 2018, Ohio teachers were
carrying in over 200 school districts.

According to Clark Aposhian, senior member of Utah’s Concealed
Firearm Review Board, roughly 5 percent of Utah teachers carry
permitted, concealed handguns at school. Aposhian estimates that
support staff — janitors, librarians, secretaries, cafeteria
staff, etc. — carry at a higher rate, between 10 and 12 percent.

Seventeen million Americans have concealed handgun permits. This
is 8.5 percent of the adult population when one excludes permit-
unfriendly California and New York. Nobody knows whether the
person next to them might have a gun. Carrying in a school isn’t
really any different from carrying in a grocery store, a movie
theater, or a restaurant.

The rate of school shootings and the number of people killed by
them has increased significantly since 2000. Yet no school that
allows teachers to carry has experienced a death or injury from
a shooting.

No student has ever taken a teacher’s gun. In fact, the only
accidental discharge occurred outside of school hours and
resulted in minor injuries for the teacher in possession of the
handgun.

Moreover, school insurance premiums haven’t risen as a result of
allowing teachers to carry.

“From what I’ve seen in Utah, [school insurance] rates have not
gone up because of guns being allowed,” says Curt Oda, former
president of the Utah Association of Independent Insurance
Agents. Nor has a survey of six other states shown any increase
in insurance costs.

Police are essential, but they can't be everywhere at once.
Even if an officer is stationed at a school, shooters are most
likely to target him first. We’ve seen this time and again at
malls, nightclubs, and schools. By contrast, concealed carry
means would-be shooters won't know who is armed. Even if they
take an officer by surprise, they must consider they are
revealing their position to someone else who has the potential
to stop them.

Gun control groups paint a frightening picture of what might go
wrong if teachers carry concealed firearms, but that fear loses
credibility in light of the overwhelming success of concealed
carry at schools. Armed teachers deter attackers. It is past
time for us to pass common sense gun laws that work.

John R. Lott, Jr. is an economist and was formerly chief
economist at the United States Sentencing Commission. Lott is
also a leading expert on guns and op-eds on that issue are done
in conjunction with the Crime Prevention Research Center. He is
the author of nine books including "More Guns, Less Crime."
Follow him on Twitter @johnrlottjr.

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/rep-thomas-massie-and-john-lott-
gun-free-zones-are-not-only-ineffective-theyre-dangerous