Op-Ed: Do ''Gun-Free'' Zones Encourage School Shootings?

By Larry Elder

This time, Cleveland.

A 14-year-old suspended high school student entered Cleveland's Success
Tech Academy, a gun in each hand, and opened fire, wounding four. Later,
we learn that the shooter's past included violent confrontations, mental
problems and at least one previous suspension. A month earlier he told a
friend that he intended to shoot up the school. But no one, apparently,
took his behavior seriously enough to notify authorities.

Meanwhile, a high school teacher in Oregon, with a permit to carry a
concealed weapon plus training, sought permission to carry her firearm
to school. In fear of her ex-husband, against whom she filed and
received two restraining orders, she wanted the ability to protect
herself in the event he showed up. Furthermore, she argued that even
without the fear of her ex-husband, the Second Amendment and Oregon
state law allow her to carry her firearm to work. Her school district,
however, prevents her from carrying a firearm to school.

This raises a question. Do shooters consider schools "gun-free zones"?
Do they consider it unlikely that any authority figure -- whether
teachers or, in some cases, security guards -- poses an armed threat?

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