The Patriot Post® · 'Gun Free' Zones Are Often Anything But

The Foundation

“Laws that forbid the carrying of arms … disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes.” –Cesare Beccaria

Editorial Exegesis

“Colorado is a concealed-carry state … but so was Virginia when a college campus there was racked by violence. Like the school, the theater chain was also ‘gun-free.’ In December 2007, two church members were shot to death and three others injured after a gunman opened fire outside the New Life Church in Colorado Springs as Sunday services were wrapping up. That tragedy could have been much worse, but the gunman was shot by a church security officer and was found dead when police arrived at the scene. On April 22 of this year a just-released felon went to the New Destiny Christian Church in Aurora, Colo., and killed the mother of Pastor Delano Strahan before being killed himself by a congregant carrying a gun. Unlike the tragedies at Columbine High School and the movie theatre in Aurora, there was someone at these venues willing and able to shoot back. … The similarities between Aurora and the Virginia Tech massacre are eerie and maddening. In 2006, a Virginia Tech student was disciplined for carrying a gun on campus, despite having a permit. School officials were quick to note their school was a ‘gun-free zone.’ On April 16, 2007, there was no one able to shoot back when Seung-Hui Cho shot 32 people to death on a Virginia Tech campus. … Few Americans are aware that in an October 1997 shooting spree at a Pearl, Miss., high school that left two students dead, assistant principal Joel Myrick retrieved a gun from his car and immobilized the shooter until police arrived, preventing further killings. Or, in another school shooting in January 2002 at the Appalachian School of Law in Virginia, a disgruntled former student killed Law Dean L. Anthony Sutin, associate professor Thomas Blackwell and a student. Two of the three Virginia law students who overpowered the gunman were armed, preventing further deaths. In February 2007, at a Salt Lake City mall, armed off-duty police officer Ken Hammond killed a young Muslim named Sulejman Talovic after he had killed five people, preventing an even larger massacre. Yet liberals will insist the answer to criminal violence is more ‘gun-free’ zones and the disarming of more potential victims.” –Investor’s Business Daily

Upright

“[T]he gun lobby is the majority of the American people. It’s not a lobby that’s stopping all this [gun control legislation]. The reason that the lobby is strong is because it represents overwhelming opinion in the United States. And how do we know that? The president of the United States, who had this tremendous opening if he wanted to push the issue of guns after a tragedy of this magnitude could easily have done it and he has assiduously stayed away from it because he knows it’s a losing political proposition.” –columnist Charles Krauthammer

“[T]he chain that owns the theater where the [Colorado] massacre took place has a no-weapons policy, which oddly enough did not deter the shooter any more than Colorado’s strict laws against murder did.” –Wall Street Journal columnist James Taranto

“When a radio host asked me what I thought of the massacre in Aurora, Colo., I had to ask for clarification. I said: ‘What do you mean? Who could deny it’s an unspeakable tragedy?’ What he was really asking me was to address it in a political context. The problem is that I don’t believe there was any political context to the shooting; not everything is political. But unfortunately, elements of the left seemed determined to graft political implications onto the event, irrespective of the absence of any factual basis for doing so. They seized on it both to demonize grass-roots conservatives and to pump new life into their perennial campaign against the Second Amendment.” –columnist David Limbaugh

“The news media … believe they have a higher calling than reporting news. In order to understand this, I offer this anecdote. A number of years ago, I was asked to moderate a panel of judges that included a former, very liberal, California Supreme Court justice. At one point, the justice said that his role as a judge was to fight inequality, poverty and racism. … People on the left think the way the judge did. The primary purpose of every profession, as they see it, is to increase what they call social justice. … So when [ABC’s] Brian Ross linked the Aurora mass murderer to the Tea Party, in his mind, he was doing the right thing. Is there one person in America who believes that if Ross had discovered a James Holmes in Aurora active in the ACLU, he would have reported it? … [D]efeating the right is more important than moral or factual accuracy.” –columnist Dennis Prager

Dezinformatsia

With extreme prejudice: “There’s a Jim Holmes of Aurora, Colorado, page on the Colorado Tea Party site as well, talking about him joining the Tea Party last year. Now, we don’t know if this is the same Jim Holmes. But it’s Jim Holmes of Aurora, Colorado.” –ABC’s Brian Ross, jumping to conclusions (He later apologized, though not to the innocent man that he unfairly and falsely implied had committed a heinous crime.)

Be afraid. Be very afraid: “It turns out this shooter, this alleged shooter in Colorado, had no rap sheet, so he was able to buy his guns in a store legally. But even if he had a violent criminal record he still could have bought them. This morning we’re about to show you how easy it is for anyone, even criminals, to buy assault weapons.” –NBC’s Jeff Rossen

Race bait: “[If the weapons used in the Colorado shooting] had been stockpiled by a person who was more likely to look reasonably offensive – a Muslim or another minority – do you think that the red flag would have gone up sooner than with this seemingly innocent young white man, who under cover and protection of appearing normal, was out to do some heinous deeds?” –MSNBC’s Michael Eric Dyson

The BIG Lie: “Suspected Aurora Shooter Amassed Huge Arsenal Online With No Background Checks” –Huffington Post headline

The BIG Lie II: “Nationally, there have been about 60 multiple shootings in the past 18 months. A recurring theme, say gun-control activists, is the ability of the shooters to obtain high-powered weapons, such as the AR-15 assault rifle and Glock pistols used by alleged Aurora shooter James Holmes. But the powerful National Rifle Association has blocked any move for stricter gun laws, meaning that, for now, beefed-up security and greater vigilance may be the best protection against horrific attacks like the one in Aurora.” –NBC’s Michael Isikoff

Feel-good theology: “Guns provide the illusion of safety and it is an illusion. People who own guns are more likely to die from gun violence than those who do not own guns. … Trust in God means obedience to what God wants for human life; it requires that believers act together with others, including people of other faiths and humanist values, to create a society where guns are regarded as the problem, not the solution. Jesus’ teaching on this could not be clearer. … This is Jesus’ challenge to Christians: put away the guns.” –Washington Post “On Faith” contributor Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite

Newspulper Headlines:

We Blame George W. Bush: “Accused Child-Foot Licker Blames President Obama” –San Francisco Chronicle website

Shortest Books Ever Written: “Where Obama Shines” –The New York Times

Out on a Limb: “Gay, Bisexual Black Men at High Risk for HIV” –CNN.com

Yeah, Right, That’s What They’re Doing There: “Tulsa Police Seek Doughnut Shop Robber” –Associated Press

News You Can Use: “U.S. Cultural Tip: Don’t Wear a Speedo. Ever.” –Moscow Times

Bottom Story of the Day: “Obama Flouts the Rule of Law” –National Review Online

(Thanks to The Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto)

Village Idiots

See no evil: “Our economy is getting stronger. It may not be going fast enough, but by every measure our economy is getting stronger.” –former DNC Chief Howard Dean

Straw man: “[Lawmakers] have been cowed by a handful of advocates who think that the right to bear arms allows you to go out and kill people at random.” –NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Tyranny starts here: “I don’t understand why the police officers across this country don’t stand up collectively and say we’re gonna go on strike, we’re not gonna protect you unless you, the public, through your legislature, do what’s required to keep us safe.” –Bloomberg, who we doubt would go without his armed entourage

Alpha Jackass: “Because of the Aurora, Colorado, tragedy, the American Congress must review its mistaken legislation on guns. It’s doing damage to us all.” –Mexican President Felipe Calderon, continuing to blame the U.S. for his own country’s problems – 55,000 drug- and gang-related deaths during his tenure

The Demo-gogues

That’s kind of creepy: “In 2008, I tried to only make promises that I could keep, or work on keeping. And I told you then I was not a perfect man and I wouldn’t be a perfect president. But I also told you I would always tell you what I thought, I’d always tell you where I stood. And most of all, I would wake up every single day, every single day and spend every waking hour thinking about you. Fighting as hard as I knew how for you. Because I see myself in you.” –Barack Obama

Apologetics: “Just like the 20th century, the 21st is going to be another great American Century. For we are Americans, blessed with the greatest form of government ever devised by man, a democracy dedicated to freedom and committed to the ideals that still light the world. We will never apologize for our way of life; we will never waver in its defense.” –Barack Obama (Meanwhile, here’s a look at Obama’s top ten apologies for America.)

There I fixed it: “Because we’re leading around the world, people have a new attitude toward America. There’s more confidence in our leadership. We see it everywhere we go.” –Barack Obama

Pay down debt by “investing”: “I believe the only way to create an economy built to last is to strengthen the middle class. Asking the wealthy to pay a little more so we can pay down our debt in a balanced way. So that we can afford to invest in education, manufacturing, and homegrown American energy for good middle class jobs. Sometimes politics can seem very small. But the choice you face, it couldn’t be bigger.” –Barack Obama

Um, 8.2 percent unemployment: “[W]e tried our plan – and it worked.” –Barack Obama

Distractions: “When I run for president of the United States, you can hold me to that standard [of being required to release my tax returns]. … [Romney] is running for president of the United States. His party is calling on him to release his returns. It’s up to him to take the consequences of not doing it, or doing it, but not to deflect [the issue] to say, ‘Well, if he has to do it, why doesn’t everybody else have to do it?’ Because everybody else isn’t running for president of the United States, and that’s the last thing I’m going to say about it.” –House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi

Insight

“I believe in an America where the free enterprise system flourishes for all other systems to see and admire – where no businessman lacks either competition or credit – and where no monopoly, no racketeer, no government bureaucracy can put him out of business that he built up with his own initiative.” –President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)

“We have plenty of freedom in this country but not a great deal of independence.” –American journalist John W. Raper (1870-1950)

Short Cuts

“Instead of gun control, has anyone thought about making mass shootings illegal?” –humorist Frank J. Fleming

“Blaming guns for murder is like blaming forks for obesity. Someone misused a gun; therefore no one’s allowed to have one. This is what passes for logic among the left.” –radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh

“President Obama spoke to two thousand people outdoors in Virginia recently. At least twenty people fainted during his speech. They really need to hand out the food stamps at the start of the president’s speeches and not make everybody wait until the end.” –comedian Argus Hamilton

“A new poll shows that 37% of voters say they’re better off now than they were 4 years ago. The other 63% said that no, they don’t work for the government.” –Fred Thompson

“If U.S unemployment remains above 8 percent or, worse yet, ticks up from its current top-line rate of 8.2 percent it will be very difficult for the Obama campaign to blame the economic situation on Romney’s tax returns.” –political analyst Rich Galen

“Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke told a congressional committee the economic recovery is weakening. But the good news is most Americans will not be affected because they had no idea there was a recovery.” –comedian Jay Leno

Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis!
Nate Jackson for The Patriot Post Editorial Team