This article in Time today echos several others I’ve seen recently:
Ten Years After Columbine, It’s Easier to Bear Arms
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In the decade since, massacres perpetrated by deranged gunmen have continued – including the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre in which Cho Seung-Hui killed 32 people and wounded many others. But something odd has occurred. Whatever momentum the Columbine killings gave to gun control has long since petered out.
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But efforts like Woods’ are up against powerful headwinds – and not just because of the powerful gun lobby that often strangles gun-control laws. Americans in general have cooled significantly to the idea of restricting gun rights. A poll released last week by CNN showed that support for stricter gun laws was at an all-time low, with just 39% of respondents in favor. Eight years ago that number was 54%.
The author blathers on about how this makes no sense at all, and that people who oppose gun control are obviously confused. However, while gun control advocates like this author continue along in their willful ignorance, a growing number of people are recognizing two important facts:
1. Crazed gunmen almost always strike where the lawful population has been disarmed (schools, etc), reducing their ability to fight back;
2. When a shooting starts, seconds count. A personally carried pistol is one second away, whereas police are hundreds and hundreds of seconds away. Further even if the police show up within 300 seconds, they might sit outside with their thumbs up their butts for another 3600 seconds before moving inside.
We can talk about getting help and treatment for those who carry out these attacks, and that’s all well and good. But we must also face reality: when the shooting starts, the single best thing to do is to fight back, and the best tool for the job is a personally-carried gun.
Those of us who oppose new gun control and advocate the private carry of arms see reality. It’s the gun-control crowd that is confused.
Tags: gun ignorance, guns, media bias