[DRAFT] Safe Schools Act

[Cretox]

Onsite forum link: https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=487523

First draft of a proposal restricting firearm use/carrying in school zones. As always, any feedback is appreciated.

Edit: Most recent version will always be the NS forum one.

Safe Schools Act

Category: Regulation
Area of Effect: Safety

The World Assembly,

Recognizing the key role education plays in the advancement of modern society through ensuring that people are equipped to play their part in an ever-changing world;

Understanding that firearms, when used responsibly, are an important tool in protecting individuals and nations, in addition to their recreational applications;

Noting that the safety of schools and other educational institutions is essential to providing a quality education to students;

Aware that the possession of firearms in school zones by unauthorized individuals and those unaffiliated with law enforcement undermines the quality of education, is dangerous to the safety of a nation’s youth, and carries an implicit threat of imminent lawless action;

Wishing to address this threat of imminent lawless action, and provide member-nations and their law-abiding citizens with legal recourse in the event of antisocial behavior in school zones with regards to firearms, without infringing on the use of firearms by authorized individuals such as law enforcement, hereby:

1. Defines for the purposes of this resolution:
   1. A "destructive device" as:
      1. Any explosive, incendiary, or poison gas bomb, grenade, mine, or similar device, whether or not attached to a propellant charge; or
      2. Any combination of parts designed or intended for use in converting a given device into a destructive device, or from which a destructive device may be readily assembled;
   2. A "firearm" as:
      1. Any weapon which will, is designed to, or may readily be converted to expel a projectile through the action of an explosive;
      2. The frame of any such weapon; or
      3. Any destructive device;
   3. A "school" as any public, parochial, or private institution whose primary purpose is the education of children, or any institution of higher learning;
   4. A "school zone" as the area within a school, or on the legally recognized grounds of a school;
2. Declares it unlawful for any individual to:
   1. Knowingly possess a firearm in a school zone;
   2. Knowingly or with disregard for the safety of another to discharge, or attempt to discharge, a firearm in a school zone;
3. Clarifies:
   1. Nothing in this resolution applies to the possession or discharge of a firearm:
      1. On any property not part of a school zone;
      2. By an individual for use in a program approved by a school;
      3. By an individual in accordance with a contract entered into between a school and said individual or an authorized representative of said individual;
      4. By a law enforcement officer acting in their official capacity;
   2. Nothing in this resolution applies to the possession of an unloaded firearm in a secure and locked container, or on a secure and locked firearms rack attached to a motor vehicle;
   3. Nothing in this resolution applies to the possession of a firearm by an individual traversing a school zone, so long as said individual's entry into the school zone is authorized by school authorities;
   4. Nothing in this resolution shall be construed to prevent national, international, or other governing bodies from enacting regulation regarding school zones or firearms in general, so long as said regulation does not contradict any part of this resolution;
4. Urges member-nations to take action regulating the use of firearms when that use poses an imminent threat of lawless action.

 

[Isaris]

Maybe I'm missing something but it seems to me that you've defined a "destructive device", but then you never go on to actually use the term anywhere in your text. Why do you need to define it then?

Edit: I was missing something! I see you have a sub-clause defining a "firearm" as any destructive device. It would be better if you defined destructive device first in this case, as currently you're using a term before you've defined it.

 

[Imperium Anglorum]

Because you are attempting to determine firearm policy within member nations, without a preamble section which explains why and how this proposal complies with Responsibility in Transferring Arms, this proposal will be found illegal. See Agricultural Invasive Species Act, [2018] GAS 4 (holding in part that contradiction tests established in previous legislation can be dealt with by explanation clauses warranting why it complies with the test).

That said, however, RiTAs balancing test is very difficult to comply with: the assurance of "member nations of the exclusive right to determine purely internal arms trading and firearm policy, excepting ... future regulations which seek to prevent firearms from being sold to or used by individuals that pose a danger of performing imminent lawless action".

 

[Comfed]

Umm... this is not furtherment of democracy.
This could be civil rights, or regulation, but not furtherment if democracy. It is also not mild.

 

[Cretox]

Didn't I update this? In any case, the version here is now the same as the forum version. Also, I most likely will not be going forward with this (since it's not exactly the sort of thing an international body would attempt to regulate in the first place).

 

[Comfed]

Didn't I update this? In any case, the version here is now the same as the forum version. Also, I most likely will not be going forward with this (since it's not exactly the sort of thing an international body would attempt to regulate in the first place).

I think the problem is that you are trying to legislate on a very specific topic in a very controversial way. This bill will almost certainly enrage NatSovers.