Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, sounded off on the National Rifle Association's goal of having every U.S. school protected by armed guards, asserting that government involvement in trying to reduce violence is "misguided," CBS News reported.

Paul, who is retiring from the House next week, wrote on his website that he agreed with the NRA's position that private gun ownership prevents many shootings, but did not support federal legislation as a means to curb gun violence.

"Real change can happen only when we commit ourselves to rebuilding civil society in America, meaning a society based on family, religion, civic and social institutions, and peaceful cooperation through markets," Paul wrote. "We cannot reverse decades of moral and intellectual decline by snapping our fingers and passing laws.

Although Paul is the first GOP politician to speak out against the NRA's proposal, he did not endorse the pro-gun control crowd either. 

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"Predictably, the political left responded to the tragedy with emotional calls for increased gun control. This is understandable, but misguided," Paul wrote.

"Government cannot create a world without risks, nor would we really wish to live in such a fictional place. Only a totalitarian society would even claim absolute safety as a worthy ideal, because it would require total state control over its citizens' lives," he continued.

The national debate on gun control has heated up since the Dec. 14 shooting in Newtown, Conn., which left 26 students and faculty at Sandy Hook Elementary School dead.

 

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