VIOLENT CRIMINALS – NOT “GUN VIOLENCE”
“Gun Violence epidemic” is a falsehood. However, “Gun-Free Zones” is an epidemic. Violence is not perpetrated by firearms. If I want to shoot a gun, I must pull the trigger. Violent criminals will find any means to conduct their violence. Sometimes, violent criminals use knives, vehicles, rocks, and hammers even, and sometimes they use guns. Would anyone argue that the driver in Waukesha, WI who mowed people down at the Christmas parade in 2021 was not a violent criminal?
The problem is the violent criminals – not the guns. As Dave Funk, IFC President mentioned in a recent IFC blog, frequent knife attacks are occurring in Asia and parts of the UK with increasing frequency where they have outlawed guns: “…in the United Kingdom, over 37,000 knife attacks had happened in 2021, including many with multiple victims.” The point is that if a violent criminal wants to commit violence, she or he will use any means to accomplish that.
Consider this: There are over 400 million firearms in the United States and more than 330 million people in this country. Obviously, not everyone owns a firearm and those who do often own several. Collectors own lots. These firearms did not accumulate overnight. Although there was a spike in firearms sales during the 2020 riots, during COVID, and whenever a Democrat President is elected, most firearms have been in our country for years and years.
Good Guys With Guns
Why all these guns? These guns are used for hunting, in competitive shooting events, and for self- and home defense. They are owned by ordinary, law-abiding citizens who value life and do not use them except for those purposes. Those folks, people like me, sincerely hope that we never have to use our firearms against another human being. But because we do value life, we train to prepare for that situation, to provide defense for ourselves and our loved ones – or even total strangers.
Pick up any NRA publication, or another trade magazine, and you will find countless stories of violent criminals being STOPPED by a “good guy (or gal) with a gun”. Sometimes it is not even necessary for the good guy to draw their firearm to effectively defuse a volatile situation; sometimes displaying a firearm is all that is needed to prevent violence. However, in some situations, when danger is imminent, it IS necessary to fire the weapon to STOP a threat. If you are ever in such a situation, you will be eternally grateful for the presence of a good guy with a gun. Just ask the folks who survived the Sutherland Springs Church shooting.
Mass Shootings & Their Relation To “Gun-Free Zones”
Police investigate means, motive, and opportunity, to determine the criminality of a person’s action. So what makes a violent criminal act on their intentions? Let’s focus on mass shooting events. If we set aside gang warfare, for the time being (where status, rank, protection of turf or trade, and lifestyle are the driving factors), why di other murders or attempted murders happen? What are the common denominators in these types of crimes?
Most mass shooters do not know their victims and do not specifically select their targets. Their motivation is to kill as many as possible, before dying. They are staking their sick claim to fame on the lives of those who happen to be in the chosen location. They want notoriety. That is their motive. What about opportunity? They seek out soft targets, specifically “Gun-Free Zones” where they can do mayhem with no resistance. More than 90% of all mass shootings occur in Gun-Free Zones. Malls, schools, many places of business, and movie theaters. All “Gun-Free Zones”.
Let’s take away that opportunity. Harden our targets where groups of people are at risk. Eliminate Gun-Free Zones.
Join Iowa Firearms Coalition – Good guys with guns
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