Ron Paul Opposes Both Armed Security at Schools and Gun Control

Ron Paul, the departing Texas congressman and failed presidential candidate, has spoken his mind concerning the calls for solutions for school violence in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre.

Paul attacks the idea of armed security at public schools

Paul has taken umbrage with NRA president Wayne LaPierre's ideas of assigning armed security guards at public schools, according to Fox News. Paul believes that it would turn schools into a "TSA-style nightmare" of security check points, surveillance cameras, and hassles that will degrade the learning environment and would have little effect on the security of public school students. Paul mentions the security regime that now exists at airports in the wake of 9/11 and suggests that clamping down on security in public schools would have a similar aggravating effect.

LaPierre's proposal to post armed guards at schools attacked

LaPierre's proposal to post armed guards at public schools has attracted broad opposition, besides that of Ron Paul. According to the New York Daily News, "crazy" is just one of the milder things some media outlets have termed his proposal. Nevertheless, on "Meet the Press," LaPierre doubled down on his proposal, suggesting that it was crazy not to protect students in public schools with armed guards, considering incidents as what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary. His proposal was later denounced on the same program by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., a leading advocate of gun control measures like an assault weapons ban. Schumer suggested that the "political middle would rise up" to support the legislation he and others are proposing to restrict guns. Politico reported a recent poll, taken in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary Massacre, a bump in support for gun control legislation.

Paul opposes gun control

The same libertarian reflex that causes Paul to oppose enhanced security at public schools has caused him in the past to oppose gun control measures. In a 2008 essay on the subject, Paul suggested that efforts to control the types of fire arms people can have or to ban them altogether are not only ineffective but are an affront to the civil liberties of law-abiding gun owners. In an op-ed for The Hill, written in the wake of the Tucson shooting when Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was maimed and a number of other people were killed, Paul suggested that calls to restrict guns around politicians and other security measures had more to do with his view that the same politicians view their lives as more important than those of ordinary people.

Texas resident Mark Whittington writes about state issues for the Yahoo! Contributor Network.

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Ron Paul Opposes Both Armed Security at Schools and Gun Control