For Immediate Release
Contact: massie.press@mail.house.gov
(202) 225-3465
Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) announces his re-introduction of the "Safe Students Act," H.R. 7415. The "Safe Students Act" repeals the "Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990," (GFSZA) eliminating GFSZA's one-size-fits-all federal ban on guns in school zones. Enactment of the "Safe Students Act" would make it easier for state and local governments and school boards to unambiguously set their own firearms policies.
“Gun-free zones are ineffective and make our schools less safe. Since 1950, 98 percent of mass public shootings have occurred in places where citizens are banned from having guns,” Rep. Massie said. “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.”
“The only thing gun-free zones do is disarm law-abiding citizens and take away their ability to protect themselves and others. We shouldn’t leave our most vulnerable – our children – in an unsafe environment like gun-free zones where acts of violence cannot be stopped,” Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) said.
“Gun Free School Zones are a lie,” said Dudley Brown, President of National Association for Gun Rights. “It doesn’t make guns magically disappear. They only make criminals out of the people who would protect our children. Repealing this ludicrous federal law would put criminals on notice that they can’t commit heinous acts in schools with impunity any longer.”
"GOA is proud to support Rep. Thomas Massie’s bill to repeal the unconstitutional Gun-Free School Zones Act which disarms parents and teachers and leaves our childrens' schools as soft targets for violent criminals," said Aidan Johnston, Director of Federal Affairs, Gun Owners of America. "'Gun-free' zones infringe on the right to keep and bear arms for law-abiding citizens, and the federal government has no business prohibiting firearms in certain locations."
“We all agree that protecting our children is a priority,” said Dianna Muller, Founder of the DC Project, Women for Gun Rights. “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.”
This bill, originally introduced by Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) in 2007, repeals GFSZA, a law that 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.” In 1995, the Supreme Court held the GFSZA unconstitutional, which prompted Congress to amend the bill in 1996. The Supreme Court has not ruled on the constitutionality of the amended Act.
H.R. 7415's original cosponsors include: Representatives Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Mo Brooks (R-AL), James Comer (R-KY), Andrew Clyde (R-GA), Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Jody Hice (R-GA), Doug LaMalfa (R-CA), Tom McClintock (R-CA), Mary Miller (R-IL), Alex Mooney (R-WV), Matt Rosendale (R-MT), and Chip Roy (R-TX).
Rep. Massie and Rep. Boebert co-chair the Congressional Second Amendment Caucus in the 117th Congress.
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