By Brian Wright
Casa Grande Dispatch
In the wake of the Dec. 14 school tragedy in Newtown, Conn., Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu is calling for designated teachers and school administrators across the nation to be trained and armed to avoid future school massacres.
“This is not the first time that this has happened, and it will not be the last time,” Babeu told the Maricopa Monitor on Wednesday.
Babeu said a federal law passed in 1990, the “Gun-Free School Zones Act,” which prohibits guns on school grounds or within 1,000 feet of a school, hasn’t worked and has put more students in danger.
He said efforts to ban assault weapons won’t do any good, in part, because the only people who will obey the laws aren’t a threat to society. He also said restricting or confiscating guns from people is unconstitutional.
He said for the criminals and mentally disturbed individuals who want to commit acts of mass murder, the law actually makes schools an “alluring target” because it creates “sitting- duck zones” of unarmed people. He said it gives people a “false sense of hope” when it comes to school safety.
Babeu proposes to have designated teachers and administrators trained and armed.
