Time for a Policy Change

[1gewehr]

Previously posted on Tea Party Nation.

 

What you have heard from many politicians and news commentators IS correct. It IS time to have a reasonable discussion about Gun Control. Let's start with the absolute FACT that gun-free zones and gun control have been dismal failures at preventing crime and mass killings. The highly-publicized shootings at the theater in Aurora, Colorado and now at an elementary school in Connecticut should have proven those facts beyond any doubt.

 

So lets look at what our leaders have come up with as a way to stop or reduce such incidents.

More gun control. Oh, sure, since the gun-free zones and existing gun control have done such a good job, let's have more of it. We have just seen 22 6 year-old children sacrificed on the altar of THAT absurd idea.

 

In one of the most gun free zones in the world, a man with a knife stabbed and slashed 22 children at a school in China on the same day that 22 children in the US were being shot to death (1). And NBC News reported that this was not the only such incident in China (2). A string of such incidents in early 2010 resulted in over 20 deaths and more than 50 wounded. the largest mass murder in the US, was done by a farmer who killed 44 people and injured another 58 when he blew up a school in Bath, MI. No amount of gun control could have stopped any of those.

 

The BBC recently reported that handgun murders INCREASED in the two years after the UK confiscated nearly all of the legally-owned handguns in the country (3). And other countries with very strict gun control have seen mass murders as well. In Norway last summer, Anders Breivik killed 77 people before being stopped by a heavily-armed SWAT team (4). In 2009, a 17 year-old in Germany killed 15 and wounded 11 (5).

 

So, having shown that Gun Control does NOT work, what is there with a proven record of stopping such violence?

 

Someone with a gun.

 

Is it preferable to have a murderer free to continue methodically killing until the police arrive, or to have somebody on the scene with at least a chance to stop him?

 

Ideally, you would want a fully-armed Navy SEAL, Army Ranger, Marine Recon, or other elite warrior, on hand and ready to place their lives between a killer and innocent children. Sadly, mass murderers very rarely attack innocent people when there are armed warriors around. In fact, you could say that they intentionally plan their attacks for places where such armed warriors are NOT present.

 

However, there are a very large number of armed people who have often shown that they have not only the ability, but the willingness to place themselves between killers and their victims.

 

In the US, there are at least 9.6 million potential civilian concealed handgun carriers. There are several states that do not require permits to carry a concealed weapon, so there is no telling how many of them may be armed. But with almost 10 million folks that may be armed, there is a good chance that someone you see today is carrying a weapon.

 

Just last week, there was a shooting at a mall in Oregon. After killing two people, the shooter, with several working firearms and lots of ammunition left, suddenly decided to kill himself. He was suddenly confronted by an armed citizen with a handgun, who was carrying that weapon in spite of signs that posted the mall as a Gun-Free zone (6). There is no way to know how many lives were saved by that decision. And that was not the only time in recent history that a mass-murderer was stopped by an armed citizen (7).

2012 - church, Aurora, CO

2012 - store, Santa Clara, CA

2012 - RV Park, Early, TX

2010 - store, New York Mills, NY

2009 - store, Richmond, VA

2009 - birthday party, College Park, GA

2007 - New Life Church, Colorado Springs, CO

2007 - bar, Winnemuca, NV

2002 - Appalachian School of Law, Grundy, VA

1998 - school dance, Edinboro, PA

1997 - Pearl High School, Pearl, Mississippi

1995 - store, Muskegon, MI

1991 - Shoney's, Anniston, AL

 

Sadly, mass murderers who are stopped do not get very much attention from the news. In fact, murders and other crimes that are stopped by armed civilians do not get reported very often. Sometimes, the story is reported, but the fact that an armed person stopped the crime is not mentioned.

 

For the past fifty years, we have been told that guns are bad. And that civilians with guns will cause murder rates to rise, 'Wild-West' shootouts, and 'blood in the streets'. Firearm ownership has increased during that time, as have the numbers of concealed carry permit holders. And what has happened? Murder rates have DECLINED. And violent crime has declined most in places that have made civilian concealed carry possible (8, 9). Whether there is an actual correlation between those two statistics is in debate. But the FACT is that the 'Wild-West', and 'blood-in-the-streets' nightmares have NOT happened. And the most significant fact is that while firearm ownership has gone UP, violence has not. So obviously, having guns around does NOT cause violence.

 

Those who propose to confiscate all firearms and/or ammunition from civilians are just ignorant. Making either firearms and/or ammunition is not rocket science. This is a technology that is hundreds of years old and widely known. Anyone with simple skills and a minumum of tools can accomplish it. People with primive tools and materials make machine guns and ammunition under the harshest conditions (10). Does anyone believe that a nation of craftsman-hobbyists cannot accomplish it as well?

 

The conclusion is that our national policy of not allowing legally-armed citizens to carry in schools and other 'gun-free zones' has been a disaster. It has allowed an untold number of needless murders, and made our children into defenseless targets for anyone seeking to end their life with national headlines. It is time to reverse this idiocy and allow those who are willing and able to defend the innocent.

 

It is time to eliminate 'gun-free zones' and other restrictive laws, and restore the right of the citizens to protect their lives, loved ones, and property.

 

 

1) http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/14/15901085-villager-slashes-22-kids-with-knife-at-elementary-school-gates-in-china?lite

2) http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/14/15901085-villager-slashes-22-kids-with-knife-at-elementary-school-gates-in-china?lite

3) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1440764.stm

4) http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/13/world/europe/norway-massacre-report/index.html

5) http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/11/germany-school-shooting-winnenden-albertville

6) http://www.mrctv.org/videos/media-blackout-oregon-mall-shooting-stopped-licensed-gun-carrier

7) http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2012/12/mass-killings-stopped-by-armed-citizens.html

8) http://www.wral.com/news/state/nccapitol/story/11204311/

9) http://www.handgunsmag.com/2012/06/20/2011-fbi-violent-crime-stats-gun-ownership-upcrime-rates-drop/

10) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JajLlxEiXxg

[m16ty]

That's a good read. One of the best written articles I've seen on the subject.

[jb980]

I totally agree. Gun free zones are just breeding grounds for mass murders. I would like to see my daughter's teachers be able to legally go armed while at school. It would make me feel better knowing that if something like this happened at her school someone might be in the possession to stop it before a lot of kids got hurt. Not to mention it would almost certainly prevent it in the first place.