Lee Friday – June 29, 2017
Earlier this month, Two Florida Sheriffs urged citizens to carry guns, and to be prepared to defend themselves and others if the need arises. These Sheriffs understand that an armed, well-trained citizenry prevents the loss of innocent lives. In 2014, Detroit’s police chief shared a similar opinion (see here and here).
Liberal anti-gun enthusiasts are horrified by such advice. In their view, restrictive gun legislation is the only solution to gun violence. The fact these liberals fail to grasp is that when law-abiding citizens are legislatively disarmed, they become easy prey for bad guys who do not abide by the law. Fortunately (though unfortunately for the bad guys), many law-abiding citizens do own guns, which they use to protect themselves and others. Here are a few recent examples – though the first story involves a good citizen who was not actually in possession of a gun when the violent incident began:
April 20, 2017, Nashville, Tennessee – Three armed men entered a store through a back door, and began firing their guns. Several people were inside the store, and one of them wrestled a gun away from one of the attackers and returned fire, killing one suspect, and wounding the other two.
May 3, 2017, Clarksburg, West Virginia – A robber flees when confronted by an armed hotel clerk.
May 3, 2017, Jacksonville, Florida – A man followed a woman home and forced his way into her house. She grabbed her gun and shot him, forcing him to flee.
May 3, 2017, Houston, Texas – Three men forced their way into a home occupied by a couple and their two young children. The husband was pistol whipped, but he was soon able to retrieve his own gun. There was an exchange of gunfire and the suspects fled, one of them wounded.
May 9, 2017, Houston, Texas – Four masked men broke into a home while the family was sleeping. Two men in the family were pistol whipped. The children’s uncle, who was also a neighbour, heard the commotion. He quickly arrived on the scene with a gun and there was a shootout. The uncle killed one suspect, and wounded another.
May 18, 2017, Cypress, Texas – A man wearing only his underwear broke into a house and began attacking the family, including a Pastor and his wife. The couple’s daughter, her husband, and their three young sons were in a bedroom together. When the crazed attacker broke down the bedroom door, he was shot and killed by the husband.
June 7, 2017, Indianapolis, Indiana – A mother shot and killed a man trying to break into her apartment.
June 14, 2017, Jacksonville, Florida – A “woman shot and killed her abusive ex-boyfriend after he broke into her apartment. . . . She bought the gun after he strangled and nearly beat her to death a year ago.”
None of these incidents resulted in serious injury or loss of life to innocent people. And that’s the point. Owning a gun evens the odds for the gun owner, as illustrated by the above examples. But if guns are outlawed, outlaws will still have guns. That’s self-evident. A ten-year-old can understand this, but the liberal thinkers cannot. Or perhaps these bleeding hearts have an insatiable desire for power, an uncontrollable urge to tell other people what they can and cannot do – regardless the cost in innocent lives.
