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
SMH .. americans.
For those of you who see "no reason" for AR15s and the like...Squeezing off 3 rounds at a time instead of one does a hell of a lot better of a job at keeping coyotes out of the cattle. Protection of property. Or in the instance of a neighbor growing up: Keeping a cougar away from your children playing in the back yard.
Thank you "Pinstripes4"!!! Exactly!!
Thank you Pinstripes:
Conservative pundit Bill Kristol said it beautifully: "People have a right to handguns and hunting rifles. I don't think they have a right to semi-automatic, quasi-machine guns that can shoot hundred bullets at a time. And I actually think the Democrats are being foolish as they are being cowardly. I think there is more support for some moderate forms of gun control. " He's right. How do high capacity magazine such as that the shooter used (a 100 round drum) qualify as self defense? Common sense, people. Plus, Colorado allows concealed weapons and no one had any, so it's a moot point. These high capacity magazines are definitely worth further examination because they are intended to inflict mass harm, not to protect oneself and family.
Also, Holmes ordered 1,000 rounds of ammo on the internet, and no one thought anything of it. Scary.
Actually, the "slippery slope" strategy is an admitted, and well used, tactic by the gun-grabbers to produce ever increasing levels of gun control. It has resulted in a progressive imposition of over 22,000 infringements on the Second Amendment in this country.