Tuesday, December 18, 2012

THE ANSWER TO THE MASS MURDERS IN AMERICA

The country mourns the unthinkable tragedy that happened to the children and staff of a quiet little school in the Northeast. The funerals are presently taking place with undersized caskets. The pain in the hearts of Americans is indescribable, but nowhere near what is felt by those close to the victims and survivors.
Every aspect of the shooter's life, his family, his online history and his medical past will be examined in great detail. Why? Because we want to know the answer to one question. Why?
With the yellow tape still around the crime scene, the expected cries for more gun control and restrictions are loud and strong. This is the natural and predictable response to such a scene as we all just watched; albeit, from afar. From the White House to the halls of Congress to the media to the main streets of America, the voices are being raised in unison for more laws restricting access to guns.
It only makes sense that if there were fewer guns, there would be less gun violence. There are numbers going around (whether accurate or not) claiming Americans have 300,000,000 privately held guns. That is about one per person in the country. The anti-gun crowd cannot understand why so many want to own guns and especially guns that have been tagged as "assault rifles".
Make no mistake, there will be a very strong push for more laws limiting the ability to purchase guns and ammunition. With the fresh heartache on all of our minds, it will be more difficult for conservative politicians to stand up and speak out against more control of guns. So, expect some form of ban to be passed. Remember the motto of some on the Left, "Don't let a good crisis go to waste."
However, as someone has said, "Facts are a stubborn thing." If an honest evaluation were conducted about recent mass murders, you would find some interesting issues. Most happen in "gun free" zones such as schools or areas that have been posted with "No Guns" allowed signs (the Colorado theater). It appears that as a gunman plans, he chooses a location where he can expect that the population will be gun-free. In other words, he hand picks a place where the targets will most likely be defenseless. He then carries out the dastardly deed, killing one innocent victim after another until one thing happens. For the most part, these situations end while the shooter is still in possession of many more rounds of ammo and there are still many more potential victims. The shooting stops when someone else shows up with their own gun and puts a stop to the shooting. This is usually when the first of the police are able to arrive and enter the building, but only after several minutes of travel time and entry time and finding the shooter time. All the while, more of the unarmed are being slaughtered.
In an attempt to protect the public, the Left has instituted zones which are gun-free but only for the law abiding citizens. These are prime locations for the deranged shooter with a pack load of guns and ammo.
The "answer" to this carnage is not more restrictions on the law abiding citizen's rights to be armed and able to protect themselves and others; but less restrictions. If school staff were allowed to have concealed weapons with them, on campus; when something like the most recent shooting starts, the first responder would not be miles away, but steps away. The first guy to arrive on the scene, with a gun of his own, to have an opportunity to stop a shooter would be someone just down the hall. This is how to save lives, by saving minutes before another first responder can get there. The answer is for more of the good guys among us to be armed and able to deal with horrific situations. We cannot afford the time needed for the police to respond from across town.