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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http://www.alextimes.com/news/2009/jan/09/local-mom-takes-aim-at-gun-show-loophol/
http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2009/11/12/gun-show-loophole-has-some-weapons-smuggled-into-mexico
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=7297745
I have heard most guns purchased at gun shows are in Georgia:
http://www.americangunshows.com/GunShows/GA-GunShows.htm
Is your point that anti-gun activists don't like gun shows? I'll gladly concede the point. On your other points:
From http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=4706
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martinisnsushi - the two most important food groups!
"Hunter told deputies he had just received the gun and also had a 5 year old visiting his house so he was trying to secure the safety when the shotgun went off. Hunter was booked into the placer county jail on $25,000 bail for felony discharge of a firearm in a negligent manner."
Most shotguns have a button safety. And anyone well acquainted knows how to eject shells. He needs a course in how to handle weapons!
Remember,without the gun we would still be living in feudal era!
It really doesn't matter, sweetpea, because I've already been labed ANTI-gun, so at this point it wouldn't matter if I was presenting a viewpoint or spouting gospel.
Not one of my posts have have said anything negative about law-abiding citizens having guns, yet my words have been twisted to make it sound that way.
I'm against gun crime. Period. Why aren't there harsher sentences for it?
Not one of my posts have have said anything negative about law-abiding citizens having guns, yet my words have been twisted to make it sound that way.
You wrote:
I'm not against guns, I'm against idiots and criminals owning guns. Unfortunately, gun advocates aren't.
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martinisnsushi - the two most important food groups!
"Putting aside the fact that gun ownership is a constitutionally guaranteed right"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
The Second Amendment (Amendment II) to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights that protects a right to keep and bear arms. The Second Amendment was adopted on December 15, 1791, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights. The American Bar Association has noted that there is more disagreement and less understanding about this right than of any other current issue regarding the Constitution.
For almost a century after the ratification of the Bill of Rights, the intended meaning and application of the Second Amendment drew less interest than it does in modern times. Notable U.S. Supreme Court interpretations of the Second Amendment include those in United States v. Cruikshank (1875), Presser v. Illinois (1886), Miller v. Texas (1894), Robertson v. Baldwin (1897), United States v. Miller (1939) and District of Columbia v. Heller (2008).
Since this amendment was written in the late 1700's guns were needed to protect homes against Indian attacks, to shoot wild game for food....today, we have police and other official departments to protect our homes, and a trip to the local supermarket will provide all the meat necessary for food. I am not saying homes do not get invaded, or that people can't hunt for recreation...but really, this was created when times were much, much different.
"This is a topic that, like abortion, seems to have no middle ground or balance, therefore it's kind of useless even discussing it."
Yes, but isn't it great we do get to express our opinions, unlike other countries, without the threat of death or imprisonment! No matter what we may dislike about our government or our country, we are free to discuss this or any other subject. God Bless America!
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