Many Americans suffer from a common phobia. No, it’s not the very reasonable fear we are living now, of Democrats running the country. That’s not a phobia, for its not irrational.
No, they suffer from an irrational fear of guns. Guns are not inherently scary. They are just a tool – like a screwdriver or a leaf blower. You’ve heard the saying, the right tool for the right job. You wouldn’t use a gun to blow the leaves around your yard and thus you wouldn’t use a leaf blower to defend yourself. You could try, but I’ll bet it won’t go well.
Yet over the years more and more citizens have been purposely conditioned to think guns are scary “weapons of war.” On a weekly basis, we hear of one after another proposed piece of gun-curtailing legislation coming from the left.
They’ve scared the people into agreeing that one of the solutions is the “gun free zone.” And these days there are more and more “gun free zones” than ever.
Yet economist John Lott found that, “Since at least 1950, all but two public mass shootings in America have taken place where general citizens are banned from carrying guns. In Europe, there have been no exceptions. Every mass public shooting – and there have been plenty of mass shootings in Europe – has occurred in a ‘gun free zone.'”
Bet you won’t hear that fun fact from any anti-gun lobby.
We hear that restaurants like Starbucks, Chipotle and Panera Bread and chain stores like Target have declared themselves gun free zones. Although Target dressing areas are currently closed due to the COVID scareathon, when they reopen, they will still allow men and little girls in the same dressing area – but won’t allow guns.
Ask a mother or father which is scarier – a law-abiding citizen with a gun, or a creepy old man watching their daughter undress.
Although the above stores’ policies are stupid, I agree they have a right to set them. These are private businesses and have the freedom to invoke such policies.
What bothers me is some on the right who complain about it – how they have mistakenly framed the argument. And hopefully it’s just an oversight.
Years back, Starbucks made the announcement that they were going “gun free.” At the time, Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade on “Fox and Friends” were discussing gun free zones in general and Starbucks specifically. They both agreed that in a state where open carry is legal, people should have the right to walk into a Starbucks with a gun. Shockingly, I even heard Glenn Beck say something similar. I have to believe this was a knee-jerk reaction.
Can you see what’s wrong with this argument? It leaped out at me.
Has anyone read the Constitution lately?
Has anyone read what the founders and authors of the Constitution said about guns? I was stunned when I heard, “if a state permits open carry,” from learned men and advocates of the Second Amendment.
How did they miss this – or do they just not listen to their own words? How dare the federal government or any state in the union attempt to or already successfully usurp the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution! This is clearly illegal. It’s like saying, “If a state permits free speech, it’s OK to speak out against this or that.” The very premise is absurd, and no one would stand for such usurpation or abridgment of the First Amendment.
It’s ridiculous and clearly unconstitutional to tell me I can’t “bear” my firearm. For those who are unfamiliar, to “bear” is synonymous with to “carry,” either openly or concealed. The founders made no distinction. And neither they, nor the Constitution, ever mentioned anything about licenses or permits.
Putting that rant aside, it is even more absurd to mandate military bases as “gun free zones,” where trained combat personnel may not even carry firearms.
Many blame the Clinton administration for this, but it was actually a Department of Defense directive signed in 1992 by the kinder, gentler George H.W. Bush’s secretary of defense.
Are we not the laughingstock of the world – soldiers who can’t carry guns? Oh wait, they can have a gun. Remember the 2013 D.C. Navy Yard mass shooting? One of the parents of a Marine at the D.C. barracks said that her son claimed they had weapons … wait for it … but weren’t issued ammunition.
And there’s the punchline to the sick joke that are “gun free zones.” The Marine went on to tell his parent that three people had been shot at the time and they could have prevented the rest from being killed if only for bullets.
Folks, this stuff is all common sense. More guns in the hands of the good guys (and girls) is the only deterrent for heinous acts. These types of mass killers are cowards who purposely seek soft targets like “gun free zones.”
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