Gun Violence at Schools
* It’s time to stop making excuses about gun violence in schools so that our law-abiding students can learn in safety. I entirely agree with The Times’ editorial (“Don’t Fire Indiscriminately,” July 24) that schools need to be safe havens from guns and that local school districts need to have some flexibility in administering gun-free school policies. The legislation I have introduced with Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) accomplishes both goals.
Each day, an estimated 100,000 students bring guns to school. Thirty-two of the 44 largest school districts in the country now use metal detectors to keep guns off campus. By adopting a gun-free school policy, the Los Angeles Unified School District has seen gun-related incidents decrease by 14% in the last year.
The straightforward amendment I have introduced with Dorgan will mean that any school district that wants a portion of $12 billion in federal funds over the next five years must adopt a policy to expel any student who brings a gun on campus for one year. Flexibility is built into the policy so that school administrators can make exceptions on a case-by-case basis.
A similar amendment was added earlier this year to the Goals 2000 education bill, which will impact some schools around the country. Yet, the only way to impact every public school is by adding this legislation, as we have suggested, to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that will be considered by the Senate in the next two weeks.
Making schools gun-free is just part of the mosaic of efforts--at home, at school, and in the community--to reduce violence. The crime bill, approved by a Senate-House conference committee Thursday, complements the gun-free policy by providing $100 million for drug and gang prevention programs, $3 billion for programs such as military-style boot camps for first-time offenders, and $8.9 billion over five years to put 100,000 more police on our streets.
SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN
D-Calif.
* A “bring a gun and you’re out of school” law is labeled as simple-minded by The Times because it allows for zero flexibility. Yet you have no difficulty in crusading for a zero-flexibility law that would prohibit the mere possession of a handgun by an honest and law-abiding citizen.
You contend that the proposed law to exclude students who bring guns to school should have broad-based support if it can provide some flexibility. Perhaps the argument for the absolute ban of all guns from honest citizens would also benefit from some flexibility.
If the possession of guns is so injurious to society that The Times would confiscate the handgun of a 70-year-old woman who can’t defend herself from an intruder without such a gun, even if the intruder is armed only with a strong body, then might not one legitimately argue that “children who foolishly, but without malice, carry weapons because they live in fear” should be excluded from school? A gun at school is certainly as dangerous as one in the home of an honest citizen.
FRANK WAGNER
Playa del Rey
* I was appalled to read that Sen. Feinstein and Sen. Dorgan are seeking passage of legislation to require nearly every public school to expel any student for one year if he or she is caught carrying a gun in school.
While I totally support a gun-free school policy, this legislation is destined to cause more problems than solutions. Students who carry guns to school and are consequently expelled for one year will have 365 days to pursue a life of crime. Education is the solution. Prohibiting these potential felons to get an education will only push them in the wrong direction.
JOEY GREEN
Sherman Oaks
