As President Bush’s school violence summit begins meeting this week, Wisconsin State representative, Frank Lasee, has indicated that he will be introducing legislation to allow responsible teachers or principals to defend students with guns. GOA today issued a strong statement in support of the Lasee legislation.

“Banning guns in school zones has failed,” said Erich Pratt, Director of Communications for Gun Owners of America. “Criminals don’t obey the laws and will always manage to get firearms. Putting a ‘gun free zone’ sign on the front of a school only emboldens criminals who love disarmed victims.

“The only school shootings that have been stopped prematurely were ended because law-abiding citizens had guns — such as in Pearl Mississippi (1997) and at the Appalachian School of Law (2002), where faculty and responsible adults were able to bring their own defensive firearms to bear,” Pratt said.

This is an idea that Americans support, as 85% of the American public find it appropriate for a principal or teacher to use “a gun at school to defend the lives of students” in stopping a school massacre (Research 2000 poll).

“No amount of gun control would have stopped Charles Carl Roberts from acquiring guns to commit his atrocity,” Pratt said. “Roberts had a clean record and would have passed any and every background check.”