Here's an email I sent to the guys at Nightline: Do I expect them to listen? NO, but I feel better for having said it.
"In the wake of yesterday's shooting in Fort Worth, many people are going to be calling for more gun control, but I wonder: What purpose will it serve? It isn't the gun's fault those people were killed, it's Mr. Ashebrook's. But, we are blaming the guns, rather than the man. We consistently take responsibility AWAY from the perpetrators of crime, and blame a simple tool instead.
I have to ask, if there had been a citizen carrying a lawfully concealed handgun in that church, would the madness have gotten as far as it did? It wouldn't have if I'd been there. (I lawfully carry a concealed handgun). BTW, it IS lawful to carry concealed in a church building, provided there is no lawfully posted sign to the contrary.
Had there been a TOTAL ban on ALL guns, Mr. Ashebrook would have found another method with which to commit his carnage (remember, he DID have a pipe bomb: Shall we also ban sales of pipes because of this?). Men bent on crime will ALWAYS find a way to commit crime. This is the nature of the world we live in, unfortunately, and always has been.
More gun control laws will NOT prevent criminals from getting weapons. On the contrary, it will only serve to keep firearms out of the hands of law-abiding citizens, who might actually have a chance to save some lives in a case like this (or perhaps even prevent a situation like this all together)!
Criminals by definition BREAK THE LAW. If guns are banned, the bad guys will get them off the street, as many already do. Want to keep guns off the street? Banning guns is NOT the answer: This would simply serve to create a illicit black market, with even more thugs! (Think back to Prohibition days and the current "war" on drugs).
Do I actually expect anyone to listen to me, or others who think like me? Unfortunately not. The people who propose banning of weapons, (or even simply stricter gun laws), are closed minded individuals who have already made up their minds- reason and logic are irrelevant to them. "
TTFN...
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"First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin, then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shalt be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch
towards thou foe, who being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it." The Book of Armaments CH 2, vs.9-21