Byron Dorgan: “It is hard for a parent to explain to a child a news story about children allegedly murdering other children, at a…”

“It is hard for a parent to explain to a child a news story about children allegedly murdering other children, at a schoolyard. It is hard for me to understand what all of that means or what causes that kind of behavior. I don't think any of us know. We do know that in this country there always needs to be an understanding by everyone--parents, children, and all Americans--that guns and schools don't mix, and that there never ought to be a circumstance in which a child brings a gun to school. The reason I mention this on the floor today is I want to put this in the context of a piece of legislation that is now law and another piece of legislation that I want to make law. The piece that is now law is a bill I offered a couple of years ago here in the Senate saying that there ought to be a uniform zero tolerance policy in every school district in this country. If a child brings a gun to school, that child will be expelled for a year.”