Gun-Free-School-Fraud Costs Lives Again
Virginia Is Latest State to Suffer
By Alan Korwin
Another armed murderer has used the so-called Gun-Free-School-Zones law to simply walk onto school grounds and with impunity begin killing innocent children.
These dangerous criminals rely on the fact that no one on campus will be able to offer resistance. Congress passed the law in 1990 and renewed it in 1995 after the famous "Lopez" case declared it unconstitutional. Though it cannot stop murderers it has enabled many, experts say. States and schools themselves have copied the law locally for a false sense of security with disastrous effect.
"The Gun-Free-School law is a cruel hoax that costs lives," said Alan Korwin, author of Gun Laws of America. "Time and time again, psychotic killers are using the law to provide a safe haven, where they are the only people with guns." It's no surprise these madmen never attack gun stores, police stations, military facilities or other places where people are known to be armed, he says, and news reports tend to overlook this point.
Click “Read More” for further commentary.
Hoplophobic (gun-fearing) teacher's unions, school administrators and many legislators project their fears onto the system and disarm honest people, instead of taking prudent steps to protect the kids from a known menace. Hoplophobia is a poorly understood morbid fear of weapons that afflicts millions. It is one of the greatest undiagnosed and untreated sources of harm in the country, Korwin and other experts believe.
People who are terrified of guns give themselves a good feeling but false sense of security by passing such dangerous laws. "All they have done is create target-rich, no-risk environments for monsters who have no fear of encountering an armed teacher or administrator, or a legally-armed private citizen who might happen to be in the building," says Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Second Amendment Foundation. The Virginia attack follows the precise model of murderers in other states. Some observers suggest the incessant media replays of the atrocities inspire copycats.
"Gun-control extremists will use this incident to claim we have not done enough," Gottlieb predicted, and in the past, the harm caused by gun-free laws has lead to calls for more of the same. This is irrational, which is a sign of hoplophobic behavior. "They have disarmed the wrong people and left our schools, and the children inside, vulnerable to this kind of atrocity."
"We need empowerment, not avoidance," Korwin says, who believes that properly trained and prepared teachers are at least one prudent step to take against a rash of homicidal maniacs preying on schools.
Hundreds of thousands of FBI-certified individuals, who routinely use personal firearms for crime deterrence and safety, but are kept out of the news, are also banned from school grounds under many states' laws. They can provide little help against the criminals who simply ignore the words in a distant law book. Virginia lawmakers recently voted down an effort to allow the FBI-certified civilians to carry on campus.
Several states have introduced Gun-Free-Zone-Liability laws, which would allow people to make the arbitrary and unenforced gun-free zones, but would hold them liable for any harm the zones facilitate. It is believed this would make people think twice about making the dangerous and negligent zones. Sample bill language is here.
Gottlieb categorizes gun-free zones as a myth, since they stop no one, leaving victims defenseless.
An unintended consequence of the federal gun-free-school-zones law, 18 USC 922(q), is to criminalize millions of citizens who travel near schools. Because the law stipulates a 1,000-foot gun-free perimeter around schools, virtually all private travel with firearms in American cities violates the law.
This creates tens of millions of federal felonies, of unsuspecting citizens, with no enforcement, but no actual harm done. The law is a travesty needing repeal. See maps and details here.
