Two weeks after a student was shot outside Westinghouse High School, state Rep. Michael Diven will propose mandatory prison sentences for gun-related offenses in and near schools.

		Recent gun-related incidents at City Schools Feb. 21 Aaron Henderson, 16 is shot outside Westinghouse High School. Feb. 11 A school security guard confiscates a gun from one of two students who sneaked into Perry Traditional Academy on the North Side while they were truant from another school. Jan. 11 School police officers wrestle a gun from a Carrick High School student. March 16, 2005 Keith Watts Jr., 16, is gunned down outside Carrick High. Three men have been charged in the slaying, allegedly triggered by a neighborhood dispute.

Mr. Diven, R-Brookline, said he'll introduce legislation that would impose a mandatory two-year sentence on any person older than 12 who brandishes a gun while committing a crime within 300 feet of a school.

The bill, to be called the Pennsylvania School Zone Firearm Safety Act, would impose a mandatory four-year sentence on a person older than 12 who fires a gun in the commission of a crime within 300 feet of a school.

Mr. Diven said he hopes adult punishments would be a strong deterrent to adolescent offenders, who otherwise might be sent to a juvenile detention center until their 18th birthday. The mandatory sentence would be in addition to other prison time a person might receive for the underlying crime.

For example, a person who brandishes a gun in a violent crime in Pennsylvania faces a mandatory sentence of at least five years. Under Mr. Diven's proposal, the person would receive an additional two to four years in prison if the crime occurred in or near a school.

"If you don't have safe schools, then you can't accomplish any of the things schools are supposed to accomplish," said Mr. Diven, who will unveil the legislation today at a 1 p.m. news conference at Pittsburgh Public Schools headquarters in Oakland. Joining him will be parents, Pittsburgh school Superintendent Mark Roosevelt and school board member Daniel Romaniello Sr.

Police have identified Brandon Murray, 22, and Thomas Beck, 23, both of Homewood, as suspects in the shooting of Aaron Henderson, 16, outside Westinghouse's doors the morning of Feb. 21. That followed other gun-related incidents in and around city schools.

After the Westinghouse shooting, Mr. Roosevelt and Mayor Bob O'Connor announced a plan to create "safety zones" in a 1,000-foot radius of schools. The plan targets threats ranging from abandoned cars to drug sales and from overgrown lots to dilapidated houses.

Mr. Romaniello, chairman of the government relations committee, said the incidents prompted him and Mr. Diven to talk about tougher laws for gun-related offenses.

He said Mr. Diven's bill is an outgrowth of those discussions. Mr. Romaniello applauded the concept of giving adult punishment to juveniles who "want to be in the big-boy world and play with guns."

The legislation also would impose tougher penalties on those who possess firearms on or near schools, even if they don't commit other crimes.

For example, current law imposes a sentence of up to five years for adults convicted of illegally possessing a firearm on school property. Mr. Diven's bill would boost the offense from first-degree misdemeanor to third-degree felony, with a sentence of up to seven years. He'd also extend the law to juveniles older than 12.

Mr. Diven stressed that he wouldn't deprive law-abiding gun owners of their rights. His bill wouldn't keep guns from people who live near schools, and it wouldn't affect those licensed to carry concealed weapons or those legally transporting firearms along a route near a school.

In some ways, the legislation would build on the state's "drug-free school zones." Adults convicted of drug dealing near schools and playgrounds face minimum sentences of two years.

Mr. Romaniello and Mr. Diven said the legislation unveiled today may be part of a package of safe-school initiatives.

Mr. Romaniello said state Rep. William F. Keller, D-Philadelphia, and Philadelphia Controller Alan Butkovitz will come to Pittsburgh on March 24 to discuss the School District of Philadelphia's school victim advocate program, set up to offer services to students, staff and teachers affected by crime. Mr. Romaniello said he'd like to see a similar program in place here.

Pittsburgh school Police Chief Robert Fadzen has called for additional training for school guards. Mr. Diven said he's started to look at that issue.

Students face one-year expulsions for gun-related offenses, said J. Kaye Cupples, the district's executive director of support services. Usually, Dr. Cupples said, they can continue their education at the district's special education center in Homewood.