In a recent op-ed published in USA Today, President Joe Biden sought to assure the public that he’s taking real steps to prevent more deaths at the hands of violent criminals with guns . The piece accompanied what Biden calls “meaningful executive action,” which included an executive order released earlier this month that will do nothing but set the federal bureaucracy’s sights on law-abiding Americans and responsible gun owners.

The president’s words, and the gun control policies pushed by his allies in Congress, do not represent a serious plan to protect innocent lives or make American communities safer. When you put their proposals under the slightest bit of scrutiny, they don’t hold water. What you’re left with are chants and expressions that may move people’s emotions, but won’t actually protect innocent people at the mall or children in their classrooms. Perhaps that’s why a recent poll found that approval of the president’s gun policy hit an all-time low of 31%.

Biden’s marquee proposal to ban so-called “assault weapons” is perhaps the best example of his ineffective gun control policies. Not only are most of its supporters unable to define the term “assault weapon,” including Biden’s own Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) director , but there’s no evidence that such a ban would actually reduce violent crime. Even generous assessments of the 1994 crime bill, which banned certain types of semi-automatic rifles for a decade, show it had little impact on reducing crime or gun deaths.

The deadliest school shooting in our nation’s history, for example, at Virginia Tech in 2007, was committed by a deranged man with two handguns. Furthermore, according to a Pew Research Center analysis from 2020, “rifles — the category that includes guns sometimes referred to as ‘assault weapons’ — were involved in 3% of firearm murders” that year. In other words, so-called assault weapons are rarely used in the acts of mass violence that Biden hopes to address. And yet, a ban on them is the centerpiece of the Biden administration’s plan.

Biden’s policies are ineffective, more unpopular than ever , and will never pass through Congress. It’s time to focus on real, achievable solutions.

Let’s look specifically at securing schools. The most common-sense, attainable solutions to protect schoolchildren have nothing at all to do with firearms policy, nor do they require restricting the rights of law-abiding gun owners. First and foremost, we need to expand the pool of eligible school resource officers (SROs). While requirements vary from state to state, there are tight restrictions on who can and can’t serve as an armed SRO. In Wisconsin, for example, the scope is limited to current and former law enforcement officers who meet strict requirements. That’s a very small pool of people. At minimum, we should extend eligibility to include veterans and private security contractors. Armed and trained SROs provide the strongest deterrent against criminals dead set on violence.

Allowing qualified teachers to carry concealed firearms in the classroom is another proposal that should be taken seriously but with careful consideration for teachers’ first priority: their students. In the event of a crisis, teachers should be focused on getting their students to safety and should only be a last line of defense. That’s why staffing more SROs in our schools is the top priority.

Next, there are numerous, non-lethal steps that states and local school boards should take to harden schools, which also deter criminals and, at the very least, obstruct their violent intentions. This includes ensuring all schools have single points of access, with all other doors securely locked. This is a no-brainer that every lawmaker, concerned parent, and other stakeholder can agree on.

On top of that, states and localities should be providing every school with resources to install safety glass so intruders can’t gain entry; equip classroom doors so they can be closed and locked from the inside; and add panic buttons or similar security systems for alerting law enforcement. These are undetectable but potentially lifesaving measures to protect schools that don’t require chipping away at Americans’ constitutional rights.

Ultimately, the preferred gun control policies of the Biden administration and its allies have no limiting principle. Biden himself has repeatedly said that the Second Amendment is “not absolute.” So, despite what they may say, they would not stop at an “assault weapons” ban, but would keep going until no American can lawfully defend themselves or their loved ones with a firearm. This approach will not protect schoolchildren, make communities safer, or save lives. It will only punish the millions of responsible gun owners across the country and empower criminals, who by definition don’t follow the law.

Biden wants lawmakers to “do something” to prevent more tragic killings by armed criminals. But when your “something” favors ineffective, unpopular, and unconstitutional bans and ignores sensible security enhancements to schools or other public places, then your plea is unserious. Americans see through it, and they deserve better.

Katie Pointer Baney serves as the managing director of government affairs for the U.S. Concealed Carry Association and is a senior advisor to the USCCA-For Saving Lives Super PAC.