G F Z’s  by Bohdan Rabarsky

Last month another horrific shooting occurred, yet again in a “Gun Free Zone (GFZ).”  American Conservative political activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated on the grounds of Utah Valley University. GFZ’s include all schools, at both the local or state levels, as well as any property within 1,000 feet of a GFZ.

Two months ago, another horrific tragedy occurred in a GFZ, this time at the Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis Minnesota. The shooter was of legal age and purchased his weapons legally. The weapons used weren’t automatic weapons, assault weapons or weapons of war, but a shotgun, a semi-auto pistol and a semi-auto rifle. While the crime scene was still active, Minnesota Democrats were out in full force calling for “sensible” gun control, bans on assault weapons and weapons of war. Calls were made for Congress to act and blame was laid at the feet of Republicans for doing nothing.    

If the Democrat leadership can’t control the narrative, they lose the upper hand in the gun control battle.  They always focus on the type of weapon, instead of focusing on both the shooter and the “Gun Free Zone”.  In fact, in almost all cases, GFZ’s are absent from the discussions.

One of the school shootings that captured national attention was the April 20th 1999 shooting at Columbine High School, where so-called assault weapons were used. Though the primary attack was supposed to be made with bombs, they didn’t detonate, so the firearms were the secondary method of attack. Columbine had one (SRO) School Resource Officer.

Interestingly, five years before the Columbine shooting, Congress had passed a Federal Assault Weapons Ban as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, but it didn’t seem to deter the Columbine shooters, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.  

The original Gun-Free School Zone Act (GFSZA) of 1990 was declared unconstitutional by SCOTUS in U.S. v Lopez. So, in 1995, Congress amended the GFSZA to apply only to firearms that had moved in interstate commerce, which is just about all firearms. This reinstated the gun free zone, which also didn’t deter Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.  

Democrats keep blaming the NRA’s lobbying influence over Republicans, but when Democrats have had their chance to make changes, they did nothing. In the 117th Congress, President Biden had control of both houses and did nothing. In the 118th Congress, Democrats controlled the upper chamber, yet they also did nothing.

A handful of states allow either public or private schools to have armed teachers. Some states passed these laws after experiencing a mass school shooting. For example: Florida allowed armed teachers after the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting; Texas allowed armed teachers after the 2022 shooting in Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.  

If Congress was serious about ending school shootings, protecting the most vulnerable amongst us and allowing teachers the ability to teach in a safe environment, here are a few things I believe they should allow:

1.      Mandatory metal detector at a single-entry point of the school.

2.     Plain clothes armed school resource officers in every school.

3.      Use retired law enforcement & military personnel as SROs in school; they’re already trained in the use of firearms.

4.      Offer certified and trained teachers the ability to carry conceal, with firearms being easily accessible to only the teacher within the classroom in the event of an attack.

If legislators are serious about stopping shootings, they will stop obsessing on the firearm and shift their focus to a real problem, GFZ’s.