One Year After the Giffords Shooting the Pro-Gun Folks are Still Whistling in the Dark [View all]

[mikeb302000]

Mercury News published an article pointing out the sad truth that in spite of the level of preventable gun violence, we're unlikely to see stricter gun control. That may or may not be true, I happen to think we're fast approaching a saturation point, beyond which the average apathetic citizen will begin to get interested.

Realizing this possibility, many gun-rights folks continue whistling in the dark.

John Velleco, director of federal affairs for the Virginia-based Gun Owners of America, said that Congress should instead loosen existing gun-control laws to make it easier for citizens to defend themselves with firearms.

They 'miss the point'

"I think the vigils completely miss the point because they're assuming that more gun-control laws will lead to fewer crimes, but we find that the opposite is true," he said. "The more gun-control laws you have, the easier it is for criminals to commit crimes." [/1]

The reason this is nothing more than wishful thinking has been proven over and over again in the mass shootings. Take the most famous of 2011, the Giffords shooting which took place one year ago. Armed concealed carry permit holders were unable to intervene.

Since Christmas we've had a terrible spate of multiple murders. There was the roller rink shooting in Detroit, 5 people shot, the restaurant shooting in Chicago, 2 dead, 5 wounded, and perhaps the most well-known, the Texas Santa Claus shooting, to name just three.

These, and the dozens of others that have taken place over the holiday period as well as the hundreds we've suffered since Jared Loughner became a household name, all have one thing in common: no intervention on the part of an armed citizen. Yet, the pro-gun fanatics keep saying, "The more gun-control laws you have, the easier it is for criminals to commit crimes." This is what I call whistling in the dark.

Their other justification for more guns is even more foolish. Does anyone really believe the number of truly legitimate DGUs which have happened over the last year and which have resulted in the saving of life, outnumbers the death and destruction of all those shootings? I don't think so and I don't think any reasonable person can support such a position.


(cross posted at Mikeb302000)
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