Marjorie Taylor Greene has said the country needs “more good guys with guns” to protect children, after the school shooting in Georgia.
The nation is currently reeling from the devastating violence on Wednesday, when 14-year-old Colt Gray allegedly opened fire at Apalachee High School, in Barrow County, and killed two students, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, also 14, and two teachers, Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irimie.
As with previous mass shootings, the tragedy has sparked a debate about gun control. Greene, a Representative for Georgia’s 14th congressional district, has defended gun rights, saying “more good guys with guns” not fewer guns is the answer.
She told One America News Network’s Real America with Dan Ball: “When I was sixteen years old, starting 11th grade in Georgia, Joe Biden then-Senator made schools gun-free zones. And at my own school, September sixth of that year, I’ll never forget it, one of my fellow students brought three guns to school and our school went on lockdown.
“And it was because no one there was able to defend us from a student bringing guns into school and into his classroom.
“I know what that means. I know that reality as a student, I also know what it’s like as a parent to drop your kids off in a public school not knowing if that will happen and it’s tragic.”
When I was in high school, then-Senator Joe Biden was responsible for gun free school zones, but a student still brought guns to my school and we were put on lock down.
We should be protecting our kids the same way Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, and so many of our politicians are… pic.twitter.com/CPsV44uz5F
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) September 5, 2024
She went on: “And we’re praying for these families, these victims and the teachers and students, everyone affected. But the reality is, Dan, we need to protect our kids in schools the same way Kamala Harris, Joe Biden and all our politicians are protected, the same way we protect gold and precious jewels, the same way we protect a lot of money. And that’s good guys with guns. And we always need to make sure we support our Second Amendment and not disarm legal gun owners simply because a madman with a gun chose to go in and murder people.
“Murder’s been around since the beginning of time and murder will continue, but the best thing we can do is we can spend America’s hard-earned tax dollars to protect our kids. And I think that’s something that everyone would agree with. Let’s protect our kids.”
Multiple people agreed with her, but responses were mixed. Anti-Trump account @4HumanUnity called her comments “beyond ignorant” and “warped logic.”
He said: “The notion that ‘more good guys with guns’ will fix the issue is not just baseless, it’s dangerous. We need less bad guys with guns.”
“The comparison between school safety and security for politicians is outright ridiculous,” he added, “schools aren’t high-risk targets like public officials, and the idea of matching that level of security is (…) unrealistic.”
Similarly, liberal account @winburn_kim said: “We have more guns in this country than any other country! And we have more gun violence! Even a kindergartner could figure this out!”
It is important to note that Joe Biden did not introduce the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990, which created gun-free zones at schools.
Biden was involved in gun control legislation, but this law was brought in by then-Senator Herb Khol and was signed into law by then-President George H.W. Bush.
Greene has long been a supporter of gun rights. She has previously said: “You have to be an idiot to think gun control will create a utopian society where criminals disarm themselves and obey the law. ‘Gun-free’ zones kill people.”
Newsweek has contacted Green via email, outside of normal working hours, for comment.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene photographed during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, on May 1. Greene has said the answer to school shootings is “more good guys with guns.”
AP
Georgia is a state that has also backed gun rights, with firearms magazine Guns & Ammo ranking it 13th in a list of the best states for gun owners, looking at “how well each state upheld the Second Amendment in 2023.”
Gun control advocacy organization Everytown frames this differently, ranking Georgia 46th for gun law strength and calling its gun laws “some of the weakest in the country.” Newsweek has broken out Georgia’s gun laws compared to other states here.
Gray, who was taken into police custody on Wednesday, is set to be charged with murder and tried and as an adult.
