Gun free zones are soft targets that inspire shooters to walk in and begin their murder spree, knowing that they won’t receive any immediate retribution. This is a solid point that President Trump brought up recently that needs to be expanded on.

“We have to harden our schools, not soften them up,” Trump told students during his talk with them. “A gun free zone to a killer…that’s like going in for the ice cream. That’s like “here I am. Take me.””

Trump continued by saying that a gun free zone is little more to a shooter than a sign that tells them that no one there is armed but him, and he’ll be safe from return fire.

“They live for gun free zones,” added Trump.

Trump added that hard targets make for easy death, and that when a killer walks into a school, he wants him dead fast.

“I want my schools protected just like I want my banks protected,” he said. “If you harden the sites you’re not going to have this problem… When you say this school is gun free… That’s what they want to hear.”

He added “You come into our schools. You’re going to be dead. It’s going to be fast.”

Like him or not, Trump’s words here are 100 percent accurate, and should be weighed into deciding how to deal with the issue of school shootings. While many people are calling for the illegality of certain firearms, or the illegality of firearms altogether, the fact of the matter is that guns will actually help solve the problem, not make it worse.

For starters, gun free zones constitute the vast number of locations where a mass shootings took place at a whopping 98.4 percent. The lack of guns, or even semi-automatic rifles will do nothing to help this stat get any lower. For one, most mass shootings occur with the use of a handgun, and taking away rifles will only let that trend continue. And getting rid of guns altogether just isn’t realistic.

Secondly, Israel has already proven that armed guards in a school stop school shootings cold. Furthermore, Israel also trains their students to know what to do in the event of a shooter. Instead of hiding and hoping for the best, students are taught proactive ways to make the gunman’s job more difficult. This includes using things found in the classroom to form a barricade around the door, taking opportune moments to get somewhere safe while the shooter can’t fire due to reloading or weapon malfunctions.

While putting guns into the hands of teachers is a conversation that is yet to happen, Trump’s suggestion of arming those with experience in firearms is also likely to make a shooter’s changes of success even slimmer. However, some teachers believe this could create more problems than solve.

Regardless, gun free zones have to go.