GOP state rep calls for end to gun-free zones after Florida shooting

A Republican state lawmaker on Wednesday called for an end to gun-free zones following last week’s mass shooting at a high school in South Florida.

“Well, the current policy of gun-free zones actually invites these kinds of attacks. It’s not a realistic policy and it sends a message that our students are soft targets,” Colorado state Rep. Patrick Neville (R) told “Fox & Friends.”

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“So I want to end gun-free zones and actually allow good people to defend our students,” he said.

Some conservatives have suggested arming teachers as a means to prevent mass shootings after a gunman killed 17 people and wounded more than a dozen people last week in Florida.

Conservative talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh called for concealed carry in American schools during a rare television appearance on Sunday.

Democrats have increased calls for gun control after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Students from that school and others in the state and country have since urged officials to act.

Following the shooting, President Trump on Tuesday directed the Justice Department to put forward regulations to ban bump stocks, a device used to increase a semi-automatic rifle’s rate of fire.

The weapons used during an attack on an outdoor concert in Las Vegas last year were reportedly equipped with bump stocks, though the device was not used in the most recent shooting in Florida.