Every time some psychopath starts killing people, the same words and phrases get tossed around in an attempt to wrap our brains around such a senseless tragedy. “Senseless tragedy” is a perfect example of this. “Disturbing images” is another. When firearms are used, the phrase “gun control” is thrown into the mix.
I’m a strong proponent of gun control -- that is, controlling your weapon well. Use both hands and don’t forget the safety, people.
Last week, twelve people died and dozens more were injured in a Colorado movie theatre when James Holmes opened fire at the Dark Night midnight premiere. One thing could have prevented many of those fatalities and injuries: If someone had been carrying a concealed weapon, they could’ve taken the gunman down at the beginning of his rampage.
It’s funny how being shot at in the middle of breaking the law tends to encourage criminals to, you know, STOP BREAKING THE LAW. Samuel Williams knows that, as he stopped two punks from carrying out an armed robbery of an Internet café in Florida last week. Williams, who has a concealed carry permit, shot the robbers before they ran out the door. They were later found in a nearby hospital being treated for gunshot wounds.
Last spring, some nut job started stabbing people at a Salt Lake City grocery store. A citizen with a gun was able to stop Stabby McStabberson before he could harm more than two victims.
Tracy Bridges, Todd Ross, and Ted Besen kept Peter Odighizuwa from murdering more than three people at Appalachian School of Law in 2002 when he opened fire on campus. The classmates grabbed their guns out of their cars and were able to subdue Odighizuwa until law enforcement could arrive.
Guns don’t kill people -- people kill people. Banning guns only ensures that responsible, law-abiding citizens won’t be packing heat, because guess what? Criminals don’t follow the rules. That’s what makes them criminals.
Look what happened in London. In 1997, the city banned private ownership of handguns. In the two years that followed, the use of handguns in crimes rose by 40 percent. Reason magazine points out that the ban “has left law-abiding citizens at the mercy of criminals who are confident that their victims have neither the means nor the legal right to resist them.”
A year ago this month, a Norwegian evildoer shot and killed over 80 people in Oslo. Norway has some of the strictest gun control laws in the world, by the way. It’s almost like banning guns doesn’t only not work, but in fact harms private citizens by giving deranged crackpots confidence and bravado that they won’t be stopped.
The United States has seen a decrease in the rates of violent crime involving firearms. Interesting that that has happened during the same time that gun sales and applications for concealed carry permits have increased dramatically.
Guns don’t kill people. Bad guys kill people. Let the good guys keep their guns.
This post is part of a weekly conversation with our Moms Matter 2012 political bloggers. To see the original question and what the other writers have to say, see Where Do You Stand on the Gun Control Debate?
Image via kcdsTM/Flickr
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Comments 60
Look, stuff happens when and where you don’t think it’ll happen. My recommendation to you, the good citizen, is to get equipped with a gun. Get proficient with it. Make it like a cell phone: an additional appendage to your body. And then pray that you’ll never have to use it. However, should you be out and about and some James Holmes wannabe shows up carting an arsenal and quoting Kafka as he shoots kids … you’ll be ready. Simply find cover if you can, draw your weapon, take a fine bead, and double tap the center mass of the murderous jackass. Should he or she have a bulletproof vest on, pull your sight picture up to the perp’s noggin and shoot him or her in the head; it’ll explode like a watermelon. You’ll feel bad for a nanosecond. But then the cops and families will show up and thank you for putting Jack the Ripper down.
Also for those of you saying he couldnt have been stopped with a bulletproof vest, that is actually inaccurate. Even if you did hit him in the chest with the vest on, the force of the bullet would still be enough to knock the wind out of him and debillitate him for a moment. The vests protect you from penetration from a bullet, but cannot stop the force of one.
Or you know, like several people mentioned, he could have been shot in the face.
This was a horrible tragedy, but banning guns and so called 'assault rifles' will not stop mass murderers. This happens all over the world and even in the past decade in Europe with the toughest gun laws in the world (excluding Switzerland) such as Norway, Finland, England, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and even down in Australia (the university shooting in 02 even though all guns are banned for everyone). Look it up. Plus, it was the shot guns he had which caused the most damage and most injuries. His assault rifle (the AR) jammed because he had no idea what he was doing which is a good thing.
I sincerely doubt that even if anyone had a concealed weapon they would have been able to take that guy down. It was dark, he threw tear gas to impede vision and everyone would have been running every which way. If anyone would have fired, they would have injured people as well.
I also don't think that because criminals will just get their weapon through illegal means that we shouldn't have stricter gun control laws. If that's the case, why do we have laws in this country if somewhere someone is breaking them?
I do think that citizens should be able to own some guns but I find it completely negligent and irresponsible that assault riffles should be available to the public on the basis of if criminals really want them they'll find a way. I for one am all for making it harder for them to get it.
@Woodentorn, why not? We have several 'assault rifles.' They are very versatile rifles for sport. Every single one of our 'normal' guns can assault people, so I never understood the hate against them and as I stated above, the shotguns are what he mainly used. The amount of ammo a gun can hold doesn't matter. They can very quickly be reloaded. Even I can do it quickly and I'm not even trying. The assault weapon ban put on by Clinton did absolutely nothing. When it expired, crime actually went down. Gun sales are the highest ever and violent crime is actually decreasing.
If someone had been carrying a concealed weapon, they could’ve taken the gunman down at the beginning of his rampage.
You know that they could barely see because of the gas right?
The rate of death from firearms in the United States is eight times higher than that in its economic counterparts in other parts of the world.
Kellermann AL and Waeckerle JF. Preventing Firearm Injuries. Ann Emerg Med July 1998; 32:77-79.
Pinstripes (and others who agree with her, since she says she's leaving), it looks like you're saying that our Forefathers - George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, et al - had the foresight to see that the government they were laying down could become corrupt, so they put in checks and balances. They had the foresight to understand that, in the future, world and societal circumstances would change and evolve, so they allowed for amendments to the Constitution, so it would keep up with changing times.
But they could NOT see far enough into the future to accept that, like other technology of their time, weapons would change? You really think that they figured that single-shot, muzzle-load muskets would be the ONLY weapon ever available, and that wars would always be fought with them?
No, I can't read minds, but I can recognize the brilliance of those men who founded our country, and extrapolate, based on their writings and actions, that, while they might be horrified at the thought of military-style weapons, they would likely agree that citizens should keep them....
...to defend themselves against a tyrannical government - which was their greatest fear, which was what they fought against, and which was WHY this country was founded in the first place.