The forgotten virtue of firearms
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| Wed, 01-06-2010 - 4:41pm |
EDITORIAL: The forgotten virtue of firearms
guns save lives
During Christmas week, a registered sex offender with a conviction for attempted murder used a gun to take three hostages at a Wytheville, Va., post office. Not too surprisingly, the national media gave the crime extensive news coverage. Such sensationalism leaves a distorted image about what happens with guns every day in the United States. When guns work to stop crime, there's not nearly as much drama to sensationalize and, as a result, that much less coverage.
In Oklahoma City the previous week, an armed citizen singlehandedly stopped an attack that surely would have resulted in a multiple-victim public shooting. The media gave the event scant attention. The scene went down when a Marine, who was on leave and came home for the holidays, started firing in an apartment parking lot. Before anyone was harmed, another man aimed his permitted concealed handgun at the attacker and ordered him to put down his weapon. The shooter dropped his gun and ran into his father's apartment, barricading himself in. Three-and-a-half hours later, the man surrendered to the police.
A Marine with a gun who wanted to cause harm would surely be able to maim or kill a lot of people. Those dead bodies would have attracted exhaustive coverage. Of course, corpses are newsworthy in our sensational culture, but when an armed citizen stops an attack, the heroism rates barely a blip on the national radar screen. In this case, a search found just one television news story on the incident, and it left out the identity of the man who saved the day. In our confused times, murderers, it seems, are more interesting than heroes.
An important detail that is neglected in news coverage is that all the multiple-victim public shootings in America - crimes in which more than three people were killed - happened where legal concealed handguns are banned. The Wytheville post office is such a gun-free zone, not to mention that the felon who committed the crime was banned from possessing a firearm anywhere. The Oklahoma City attack was stopped because the man who stopped it could carry a concealed handgun.
Often what's true and what makes good TV are two different things. But either way, news standards don't give people any idea about the costs and benefits of people owning guns. Police are extremely important in stopping crimes, but police understand that they almost always arrive on the scene after a crime has occurred. Heroic actions of citizens who stop attacks deserve a lot more attention.
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martinisnsushi - living the good life since 1963

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In Texas, at least
I live in a high crime area of the country.
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martinisnsushi - living the good life since 1963
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martinisnsushi - the two most important food groups!
At least 3 dead, 5 wounded in St. Louis shooting
Simply wishing violent crime won't
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martinisnsushi - the two most important food groups!
About 25 years ago, my brother and his wife were in a restaurant/bar. Some guy came in the door, grabbed a young woman that happened to be walking by. Shoved the gun in her mouth and dared anyone to even think about doing anything. He told the bartender if he reached for the gun under the bar the girl would "eat lead". They gave him everything they had. The guy took the girl outside and he jumped in his car. They never found him. This all happened in less than 5 minutes. He did leave the girl there.
I have a relative that use to swear his kids knew all about guns. Would never touch his guns. That they were locked up and safe. A friend of his dared him to put it to the test. So the relative came running in the house, screaming at his 6 and 8 year old kids to get the gun. There was a rabid raccoon in the yard. Not only did they bring him the gun, but they also brought him the ammo. He got rid of his guns. We just had a young boy kill his best friend. They were goofing off and the gun went off. Family: " I just can't believe this happened. XXX has been around guns all his life." A 15 year old dead and a 14 year old will have to live with this for the rest of his life.
Yep...aside from the now 6 slain police officers in our area since Halloween...from just
The crime in their eyes is not being a victim.
Yes, incidents like this are so "virtuous." Especially with a 5 yo in the house and neighbors nearby.
http://www.knco.com/Local/726441-Shotgun-Discharges-Into-Neighbors-Apartment.html
A man who was sitting in his Loomis apartment Monday Night was startled to hear a loud explosion as he watched parts of his plasma TV go flying through his living room. Dena Erwin from the Placer County Sheriff's office says the man dropped to the floor and called 9-1-1.
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