Gun Laws in America

Horrible News

I watched the horrific news yesterday as so many of us did. Thirty-three dead. It was the largest number of dead in any shooting of its type at any educational institution in this nation’s history. I sat in horror, just as so many did.

This should have never happened. No such tragic event of this sort should ever happen. But human nature being what it is, this and others like it do happen and will again. I know that’s hard to swallow, but it’s true!

Let’s face it -- gun control played a great role in this. The rush to ban guns from campus, including law enforcement and everyone else, partly caused thirty-three dead.

Virginia is one of the majorities of states that restrict ANY armed person on campus, including peace officers. Although there are a few differences, Iowa and Nebraska both suffer similarities in the laws dealing with weapons in school zones and on campus. Yes, that’s right, even cops are not allowed to carry on campus. What kind of crazy stuff is that?

Thirty-two died while running, hiding, pleading, crying and dying. We have seen the news and know how bad it was in part at least. Running, hiding, pleading, crying, and dying does not make for a good defense. Making people have to react that way is a crime in itself!

No one helped those at Virginia Tech during the massacre. No one came to their rescue with a weapon of their own. No one returned fire.

I understand there was a great help after it was safe by medical students and others, but where were the heroes while the gun was blazing? I know where they were. They were either off campus, because they were not allowed on grounds if they had their weapon, or else they joined the other victims because they legally and lawfully locked their weapons in the trunks of their cars.

Gun control kills. Political correctness kills too.
This is what we saw in Virginia. Thirty-three dead!

Did the gun control law that said we don’t carry our LEGAL weapons save those in Virginia? No, it did not. The only people that followed the law left their guns at home. The only violator of the law was the gunman. That is the way it always works with gun control and political correctness.

BTW, for those that still think we need waiting periods because it will stem gun violence, they need to rethink it. The piece of excrement that gunned down the other thirty-two had his gun for well over a month. Then he took the cowardly way out and killed himself! So much for tough sentencing laws!

I have already seen and heard from the gun control groups and persons that want “more gun control to make our nation safer.” I hope those that think this way grow up real quick. Only the law abiding types will follow that kind of law. The bad guys do not care what the law says. In the state I live and work in we have about 160,000 people locked up in our prison system that figure they do not have to follow the law. Duh!!!!

And if any of you want me to believe you want some of those inmates/prisoners released because you think most of them are not so bad, maybe you will be so fortunate as to have them parole next door to you and your family. I figure you will have a quick change of heart.

Making Police PC
Are you aware that very many campus police are not allowed to carry a weapon on grounds and are yet expected to enforce laws on campus, including those when the bad guy has a gun?

OK, let’s see how that works. A bad guy shows up on campus (you know, the one that was not planning on following the no gun laws) while carrying his favorite illegally obtained handgun, shotgun, or rifle. The unarmed campus police officer, or other peace officer that is not allowed to carry his weapon on the politically correct campus is then expected to do what? Maybe he will tell the bay guy he will write him a ticket? Maybe he will threaten to pull his campus library card? No, I am afraid those things don’t work.

Let me tell you how making peace officers PC works. It does not.

People cried out that police used their handguns too often. So, they used batons more. People cried out that batons were too mean, and so they were told to use tasers. Tasers are now too evil so now what, they are to say, “Please Mr. Bad Guy, try to improve your behavior?” I don’t think so. That was tried in kindergarten. It did not work.

Side Note: If the LAPD had been still allowed to use a choke hold in the early 90’s, I don’t think the Rodney King thing would have ever happened quite the way it did.

Police Role/Citizen’s Role
The role of police is to do the best they can with the tools they have to “Serve and Protect” as we are told. Most of the ones I have met want to do exactly that. But the truth is, you can not take away the tools they have and expect them to function as the police.

Here is the other thing most of the PC types do not get. The police can not possibly be every place at once. And no one would want that. We as regular citizen’s have a responsibility to protect ourselves, our families, and to some degree, those around us.

Cain, (as in the one who killed his brother Able) asked once if he was his brother's keeper. When times are right, the answer is yes.

I bought and read a book a bit back called “Dial 911 and Die.” Wow, what a wake up call that simple book was.

The general premise of the book is to give the police the tools they need to do an effective job. But, ultimately YOU must be ready, because you may be the only help available.

I am a firm believer in the Second Amendment right to bears arms. More so, I believe it is a God Given right to defend myself and those around me.

For those that want gun control, I recommend brain control instead. It costs a lot less and is more effective in the end.

Now nobody can say for certain, but if it had been legal for students, employees or faculty members with permits to carry guns on the campus, is it at all possible that there might be some students alive today who didn't make it through the carnage? Do you think the actions of the Virginia General Assembly stopped the gunman from getting his guns and carrying them to the campus? Of course not. Reports are that the guns had their serial numbers scratched off. The were acquired outside of the normal channels of commerce and illegally carried to the Virginia Tech campus. The law meant nothing to the shooter. It meant something to the victims though, and perhaps that's why there wasn't one person anywhere near the shooter with a gun that might .. just might have been used for self defense.

There are those out there who think that allowing people to carry a concealed weapon on a college campus is an absurd idea. Why so? Just how is a college campus that much different than our society as a whole? Diverse people living together in common environment pursuing different goals. Where's the big difference? What is so special about a college campus that students should not be allowed to own firearms? What if some student in the dormitory had a gun? What if he heard the argument in an adjoining room and had accompanied the student advisor when he went to quell the disturbance? Could that student with a gun have stopped this carnage before it even began? We'll never know. But is there anyone out there who can say for a certainty that the day might have played out quite differently?

Some of the less educated will come forth with lines of thought like "We don't want to return to the wild, wild west." Why not? What research have you put into your clever little "wild, wild west" line? Do you know anything about the actual crime rates in the so-called wild west? Would you be surprised to learn that the crime rate in what we now refer to as the "wild wild west" was actually lower than it is in most American cities now? And why would that be? . . . Because people were armed, for one thing. People were armed, and the bad guys knew that people were armed. Tell me, . . . just what chance do you think a lone gunman would have had in those days in lining up people against a wall and then calmly picking them off one by one. No, . . . I'll tell you. Slim to none. Oh he might get off a shot or two, but by then he would be the object of some rather intensive target practice.

And let's talk about people with concealed carry permits. Do you think they're dangerous? Do you think they're just wandering around ready to pull their gun and start shooting at the slightest provocation? Again .. check the statistics. People with concealed carry permits are among the most law abiding people in the nation. Oops ... another little preconception shot to hell, so to speak.

Let me ask you another question. In fact, . . . let's set up a hypothetical situation. You're in a class full of people at a university. Let's say that there are 30 people in that room. A predator with a gun walks through the door. He shoots the professor, kills him. He then takes the remainder of the people in the room and lines them up against a wall. He then walks up to the first person and shots them in the head. Now ... let me allow you to change the scenario. We can freeze-frame this situation while you make a decision. Your decision is this: You can put a gun into the hands of one student or a professor in that room, or you can leave things exactly the way they are. What are you going to do? . . . Come on now, let's have it. Which way do you want it? . . . Do you want the predator to be the only one in the room with a gun? Or would you like to have at least the fighting chance that would result if one, maybe two of your classmates had a firearm.

Now believe it or not, there ARE people out there (we generally call them “liberals”) who would say; "Oh no, I don't want anyone else to have a gun! They might try to shoot the killer and innocent people might get caught in the crossfire!" Well you can try to find a rational basis for that argument from now until hell freezes over, and you will fail. There is no rationality in that argument. It's an argument based in mindless hysteria.

Okay, now let's couch the argument a bit differently. Let's say you are the parent of a college student. You get a call from the campus police saying that your child is being held hostage in a classroom on the campus. The hostage-taker has a gun and has already shot one student. The police tell you that they have developed a plan whereby they are going to be able to sneak a gun into the hands of one of the students in the classroom, a student known to the police to be proficient in the use of a handgun. Before the police can take this step they need the unanimous consent of the parents of the students in that class. While you're thinking it over the hostage-taker executes another student. Okay, . . . your decision. What do you say? Are you going to say "No, I don't want any of those students to be armed. I don't care how qualified they are with a gun." Or are you going to allow the gun to be passed to the student.

Now if your answer is that you would allow the gun to be passed to the student, they please explain the rational for the position that the student in question should not have been permitted to have a gun in the first place with a concealed carry permit? You may have difficulty in understanding this, but it really is rather difficult to arm these students after the fact. And insofar as the shooter is concerned ...you do understand that there is no way in hell to have prevented him to come on to that campus with guns once he made up his mind to do so, don't you?

Here's another question for you to ponder. What if the Virginia legislature had passed HB 1572 and it had been signed into law? Then the shooter would have known that there was a strong likelihood that there would be some students, professors and administrators on the campus with a gun. Is there any chance at all that this might have caused the shooter to set aside his plans for carnage? Can you say for a certainty that things would have played out as they did?

Pray for the families of those that died needlessly. They did not deserve this. Pray for America and that we get over the political correctness demon, and begin to get it right.

Hopefully I will see some of you at the range!!!

God Bless,

Dan'L