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44


L. Neil Smith's
THE LIBERTARIAN ENTERPRISE
Number 44, April 21, 1999

Another Slaughter Because of the Gun Grabbers

by Duncan Long

         Once again the liberal gun-grabbers' rules have brought slaughter in one of our nation's schools. No doubt we'll hear all sorts of half-witted theories over the next few days. The usual suspects will be trotted out in front of the cameras to explain why kids do these horrible acts.
         What you won't hear on the mainstream press stories is the fact that these things didn't happen back when schools had shooting teams and kids carried folding knives of all sorts to school. In fact I'd be willing to bet that the first mass killings at our schools started at about the same time Congress was busy passing laws that made it illegal to have a gun within 100 yards of a school.
         Coincidence?
         No.
         Then what happened? Weren't schools supposed to be SAFER once the liberals transformed them into "gun free zones" where not even a squirt gun or a beat-up air rifle was allowed to be brought to school?
         Obviously the plan didn't work. Today's massacre proves our educational institutions are more dangerous now than they were 40 years ago. And they've become more dangerous in the same way that the areas around airports became more dangerous once tourists were forced to disarm to board a plane. And they've become more dangerous just like Post Offices did after our federal government forced workers to disarm and took the postal revolvers out of the drawers in the front counter.
         See a pattern emerging here?
         But why do fewer guns in an institution translate into more danger?
         The answer has to do with the psychology of criminals and killers. These people are weak and sick. The last thing they want is a fair fight. They pick on the defenseless whenever they find them. And criminals, because they break the law by nature, aren't going to be bothered by the fact that a place has been declared a gun-free zone if there's no one there to enforce the rules.
         Today we saw what happens.
         In the school where this tragedy occurred, there was probably a big sign at the front of the school that proclaimed it a "Gun-Free Zone." This proud display that can be found at the front door of many schools (at least that's how it is in Kansas which neighbors Colorado) is the equivalent of putting up a sign in your front yard that says: No one in here has a gun.
         If a criminal has to choose between breaking into a place where someone might be armed or a place where he knows everyone is disarmed, which will he choose 100 percent of the time? Duh?
         So our schools are now easy marks for a would-be killer, thanks to the gun grabbers who passed the laws that have left our schools defenseless. Whether a criminal wants to do harm, he now knows that our federal government has disarmed everyone inside including the principal and teachers. Little Johnny Psychopath knows he can walk into the place and "own" it if he has a gun.
         If the news media and liberals who are wringing their hands really wanted to end this type of slaughter tomorrow, they could. Instead of harping for more gun control laws (they will, just you wait) all they would need to do would be to pass a law that gives concealed carry permits to the teachers and principles. Just the knowledge that even one teacher at a school might be armed would be the deterrent we don't have now.
         And one or two would-be killers quietly aced out of sight of the TV cameras by a teacher (followed by almost no coverage by the anti-gun press) would bring a quick end to things. The people doing this are cowards.
         Have some doubts?
         Well, in fact this type of thing has happened before.
         Remember the car jackings in Florida a few years back?
         The liberals called for more gun control; fortunately Floridians demanded concealed carry and got it. Car jackings have dropped -- along with most other violent crime -- after a few criminals got a lead-filled surprise, or even just decided they had better things to do after a few long seconds of staring down a gun barrel pointed their way.
         Ditto for rapes and armed assaults. States with concealed carry have seen their crime rates in these areas drop like a rock. And states (like Kansas) where legal concealed carry laws have been withheld from citizens have seen crime rates remain stable or climb during the same period. (The message if you're a criminal, is to head for a state where the legislators are making your job safer for you.) Criminals are fearful of being shot before they can carry out a crime. Concealed carry translates into few crimes. Guns in the hands of honest people actually save lives since not too many criminals are ever shot and even fewer honest people are maimed and killed.
         I also remember in the 60s when airplane hijacking was the rage (airport security having disarmed everyone then -- sort of like the Postal System did more recently). Back then the federal government solved the problem with firearms. Armed marshals with concealed guns rode in planes that were thought to be potential hijacking targets; snipers were stationed at key airports. It wasn't long before these people had shot a few hijackers. And with the downings of just a handful of these criminals by armed marshals or snipers, there was a quick end to the nightly news reports of hijackings.
         When was the last time an American plane was hijacked?
         I can't tell you either, off-hand. Not without looking it up.
         Of course arming teachers would be abhorrent to the NEA (which is now bearing the fruit of its years of anti-gun work to get guns and knives removed from schools so the innocent will be defenseless). And liberal politicians, who are always quick to say that this is why we have the police would protest. But what they don't want you to notice is that four SWAT teams didn't do any good today in Colorado. Nor did the FBI personnel that were on the scene.
         What they don't want you to realize is that government often doesn't get there in time to do much more than ID the bodies after the shooting is over. (I'll leave it to your imagination why these groups would want us to sacrifice our children in order to keep an anti-gun agenda in place. It is interesting to note that an armed population is a danger to would-be tyrants. That's why the more corrupt the politician, the more he'll cry for gun control -- just listen to Bill Clinton and those who've been busy taking in illegal contributions the last few years whine about how we need more gun control during the next few days.)
         Yes, now we'll have a hue and cry for fewer guns. Our leaders and mainstream press won't be suggesting we arm our school officials.
         And the killings will go on and on.
         Until -- if and when -- the public demands that legally carried firearms come back to our schools.


See 1st Encounters, an online gallery of artwork that will amuse, amaze, and sometimes terrify: http://www.kansas.net/~duncan/Artpage/


         I was not going to write about Littleton, CO yesterday when the plea came--what could I say that the likes of El Neil and Vic Milan could not? But then it became personal--my kids were on the internet this morning at 6 am frantically trying to find out if their friends, Amanda and Chandiss were still alive. My children need ammunition to fight the insanity. My children need to know that even in the gun-grabber state of IL where we live, I will not be the one to put a trigger lock on my gun which might prevent me from defending them in need. My children need to keep alive the hope that someday they will be going to a place where they are safe when they walk out the door for school.
         There is insanity afoot in this country. We live in a place where Janet Reno can kill children at Waco, Texas because their parents are suspected of illegal activity with guns. We live in a place from which Bill Clinton can send our people to kill others who are not even subject to his laws in far-off Kosovo because the political climate is ripe for such a thing. I personally live in a state where a Russian priest is being investigated by his superiors for giving the invocation at a rally in favor of concealed handgun carry. The rally was held in protest against Richard Dailey suing suburban gun shops--not in his jurisdiction-- and gun manufacturers for the crime in his city which he is unable to control with his anti-gun laws. I live in a state where legislation is being proposed to make trigger locks mandatory in households with guns, where the gun grabbers are saying, but that is not enough, it has to be a felony offense to fail to lock up a gun!
         My son commented before leaving for his very gun-free school this morning that should a gunman walk into this unarmed location, he might indeed kill many paralyzed students and teachers who are unable to even think in the presence of a gun, let alone defend themselves--unless just one happened to be armed--think of the choice, said Brandon: "Maybe two dead if just one adult had been properly armed, versus the mass slaughter of 15, 20, 25, whatever". He began to count up the death tolls on his fingers--right hand for the armed teacher's school, left for the unarmed teacher's school. "Lessee....one (on the right).....onetwothreefourfivesixseven (on the left)...two (on the right)......eightnineteneleventwelve........(on the left). They count funny, Mom."
         My kids know how to shoot. And they might now be missing two friends who don't.

         "Kira"


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