The Second Amendment Foundation called for an end of gun-free zones Tuesday, calling them “shooting galleries for maniacs.” The coordinated advertising campaign aimed at print and online publications attempts to call attention to a policy that not only serves no worthwhile purpose, but one that makes potential victims of us all.

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“Without a self-defense option,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb, “we are all at greater risk.”

Second Amendment Foundation Speaks Out

The campaign has a simple message: “You’re a sitting duck in a gun-free zone.”

According to a report from the Crime Prevention Research Center, 98-percent of the mass public shootings since 1950 occurred in places where citizens face prohibitions carrying firearms. In other words, nearly all mass shootings occur in or around gun-free zones. Gottlieb noted that in Europe, “every mass public shooting has occurred in a gun-free zone.”

At home, we’ve all seen the images online and on the nightly news. Assailants choose to carry out their terror in schools, shopping centers, business, movie theaters and churches. Most of these stand as examples of where local leaders have turned these establishments into gun-free zones. So nearly every time, the bad guy knows they are going into an environment where every person in simply a target, and no one is a threat to the attacker.

Prohibition Equals No Defense

“Whether you’re talking about a high school in Florida, a theater in Colorado or a mall in Nebraska,” Gottlieb observed, “the common denominator has been that they all prohibited firearms on the premises. Of course, in every case, that ban had zero effect on the shooters who took innocent lives. There are numerous other examples where the gun-free mindset has been worse than a failure, and history has provided us the grim casualty counts to prove it.

“The evidence shows that gun-free zones are not the answer,” he stated. “Indeed, they provide an added danger because they prevent legally armed citizens from defending themselves and others, while creating the mere illusion of safety.

“For more than two decades,” Gottlieb said, “the U.S. has perpetuated a false sense of security with gun-free zones. It’s time to end this dangerous folly. Nobody wants to be a sitting duck in a maniac’s shooting gallery.”

For more information, visit saf.org.