A Sea Change
April 30th, 2007 by Syd
When I first heard the news of the Virginia Tech massacre, after my initial disgust and sorrow, my first thought was, “Ohmagawd, they’re going to come after the guns now. The Brady Campaign has just been handed their silver bullet.” My knee-jerk response was that it would be open season on gun rights, and anything the gun grabbers wanted they would get. The odd thing is that it’s not playing out that way. For the first time, responsible mainstream political types are beginning to openly voice questions about the “gun-free zones” and the effectiveness of gun control in general. Of course, the Brady ghouls trotted out their same shrill shopping list of gun prohibitions and pleas for money, but this time, it doesn’t seem to be working, and a new point of view is emerging which holds that perhaps, just maybe, self-defense may not be such a bad thing after all.
A potential contender for the Whitehouse, Fred Thompson said:
“When people capable of performing acts of heroism are discouraged or denied the opportunity, our society is all the poorer. And from the selfless examples of the passengers on Flight 93 on 9/11 to Virginia Tech professor Liviu Librescu, a Holocaust survivor who sacrificed himself to save his students earlier this week, we know what extraordinary acts of heroism ordinary citizens are capable of.
Many other universities have been swayed by an anti-gun, anti-self defense ideology. I respect their right to hold those views, but I challenge their decision to deny Americans the right to protect themselves on their campuses – and then proudly advertise that fact to any and all.
Whenever I’ve seen one of those “Gun-free Zone” signs, especially outside of a school filled with our youngest and most vulnerable citizens, I’ve always wondered exactly who these signs are directed at. Obviously, they don’t mean much to the sort of man who murdered 32 people just a few days ago.” Source
Texas Governor Perry said:
“I think a person ought to be able to carry their weapon with them anywhere in this state if they are licensed, and they have gone through the training… Whether they’re in church or whether they’re on a college campus or wherever they are,” Perry added. “The last time I checked, putting up a sign that says, ‘Don’t bring your gun in here,’ for someone who has ill intent on their mind, they could (not) care less.” Source
“Gun rights extremists” [like me] have been saying this at least since Columbine, but no one seemed to be listening, as if the people thought that if they could just put up enough stupid “no guns” signs and pass enough meaningless legislation that the evil in the world would go away. Gun control doesn’t work. “Gun-free zones” just create free-fire zones for bad guys. “No guns” signs only affect the people you don’t need to be afraid of in the first place. A firearm in the hands of a responsible citizen may avert a tragedy. But no one seemed to be listening.
Suddenly, it seems to me that someone is listening. Unlike times in the past, politicians are openly questioning the “gun-free zones.” Gun sales and concealed carry permit applications are up, and a more open and realistic discussion of the issue seems possible. It seems that a “sea change” has taken place in peoples’ thinking about gun control and self-defense. Of course, the rabid gun prohibitionists haven’t budged in their thinking; they’re still locked in the echo chamber of their own paranoia and Stalinist fantasies. I doubt that anything will help those folks, but in the larger population of everyday Joes and Janes, a new perspective seems to be developing, and it is a perspective that does not view the gun control dogma of the past as sacrosanct.
Scores of thoughtful essayists have published op-ed pieces (and the MSM newspapers have even carried some of them) questioning the wisdom of gun-free zones and the prohibition on self-defense in many of our public places. It is the cult of defenselessness that appears under siege today instead of the gun rights community. Would you call this an “unintended consequence?” It is certainly surprising me. Were the context different, we might call this new realization “delightful” but it is impossible for me to take delight in something that emerges from so much suffering. Instead, I will just call it a long overdue recognition of reality, and leave it at that.
Americans are practical people. We give lip service to ideals, philosophy and theory, but in the final analysis, we like what works in the real world. Forty-something years of gun control hasn’t worked. The gun prohibitionists counter that we just don’t have enough gun control yet, but the more stringent gun control in Canada and Great Britain hasn’t worked either, so this option does not appeal to any but the lunatic fringe. Canada’s stringent gun control did not prevent the attack at Dawson College in Montreal, nor did Germany’s laws prevent the attack at Emsdetten. Gun control is a failure.
I sense a sea change. Some folks are starting to get it.
Further Reading:
Signs of Intelligence by Fred Thompson
Helmke [Brady Campaign Whore] Urges Tougher Gun Laws In Wake Of Virginia Tech Shootings
Another Tragic Success for Gun-Free Zones
When mass killers meet armed resistance.
I cannot think of anything more horrifying than to be confronted with a possible catastrophe and be defenseless, wanting to quickly stop the problem and not have the means to do so because rightiouse thinking people took my tools away.
If only one gun was left in the USA it would find its way into the hands of a criminal.
What cave will these righteouse thinking people be hiding in when we are all faced with armed criminals, or worse, coming down our streets.
Fred Thompson I think you have the right idea.
It is about time! Maybe, just maybe there is some “Common Sense” in the common man! I could not understand for decades - Why people were anti-gun! It is one of those, what I call “A NO BRAINER” subject. All one has to do is look at the murder, mayhem, and home invasions (in broad daylight no less) in countries that have very strong gun laws England, Canada and Austrialia and see that it just does NOT work! If you had just one half of a brain you would have looked at Switzerland - where every one is required by LAW to own a firearm - and see that they not only have a very low crime rate. Even their enemies are smart enough not to attack them - because they are “Armed and Dangerous”! It also has been proven again and again - our citizens who are armed stop crime every day of the week. But, then you don’t see those stories in your local newspaper. Let’s really wake up to REALITY - It is EVERYONE’S responsiblity to protect THEMSELVE’S! Remember “An Armed Society, is a polite society”.
The liberal gun grabbers are always good at thinking up rules for other people’s lives. They will not post a sign on their own home that says, “This home is a gun free home,” because they realize that this will put their own family in danger. However, they are all for posting “Gun Free Zone” signs at the shopping mall or school where the other people go, because it will be all for the greater good.