GunSAFE
"Gun control" turns schools into
"defenseless zones"
[This is an op-ed article by Atty. Ralph D. Sherman, Gunsafe chairman. It
was published 4/30/99 in the Hartford Courant.]
The 18-year-old murderers in Littleton, Colo., were neither stupid nor
hasty. They planned and prepared for their massacre with care. And they
knew their targets would be utterly helpless - thanks to “gun control” laws.
Colorado laws make it a crime to bring a firearm onto school grounds.
The same is true in Connecticut, even for a law-abiding adult who has
passed a background check, taken a safety course, and obtained a gun
permit from the police.
So any monster who chooses to ignore the laws and commit murder at
random knows he will find no opposition on school grounds, until police
arrive.
The “gun control” crowd likes to refer to schools as “safe zones.” In
reality, they’re “defenseless zones.” The “gun control” crowd has made
sure no responsible adult civilian could defend the innocents at Columbine
High School in Littleton.
Would the result have been different in Colorado if a teacher or school
administrator had access to a gun? That was the case in October 1997 in
Pearl, Miss. There, an alienated 16-year-old used a rifle to murder two
students and wound seven others. Before he could inflict further harm,
however, he was stopped - by the assistant principal, armed with his own
small handgun. No shots were fired by the assistant principal; the murderer
surrendered when confronted by the armed adult.
In April 1998 in Edinboro, Pa., a 14-year-old brought a gun to a school
dance. After revealing the gun and murdering a teacher, the student was
stopped by the owner of the restaurant where the dance was held. The
restaurant owner, armed with his own shotgun, fired no shots to stop the
murderer.
Minors and convicted felons have no business possessing or carrying
firearms. That’s been federal law for decades. In reality, however, no law
will stop those who are intent on committing public mass murders for the
purpose of gaining attention. The threat of punishment does not deter
monsters who plan to use suicide to end their 15 minutes of fame.
Yet Connecticut law prohibits good people - parents, teachers, school
administrators - from carrying a handgun on school grounds, even with a
gun permit, even with the gun so discreetly concealed that no one knows
it’s there.
Counseling for troubled students is an excellent idea. So is parenting
instead of letting TV raise your children. But these are long-term solutions
that do nothing to enable innocent people to defend themselves in a
life-or-death emergency. If another wicked child somewhere is now
planning the next school massacre, the long-term solutions may not stop
him.
John Lott, a professor at the University of Chicago School of Law, has
shown in his recent book (More Guns, Less Crime) that criminals are
deterred by the general presence of firearms that are carried concealed by
lawful permit-holders. In a paper published on the Web just this month, he
shows that even those who might commit public mass murders are
deterred, because they recognize that they might be stopped before they can
accomplish their terrible mission.
Nationwide, civilians use firearms lawfully for self defense 2.5 million
times per year, according to studies by Gary Kleck, a criminologist who
first investigated the subject because he favored banning guns. Eighty
percent of these “defensive gun uses” involve handguns.
In Connecticut, about 140,000 adults possess handgun permits. Many
permit-holders discreetly carry a handgun every work day, to protect
themselves when they carry their restaurant receipts to the bank, or when
they have to install utility wiring in a bad neighborhood. At their place of
business, they think of the gun as another safety device, like a fire
extinguisher. They don’t expect to face a fire, but they have taken steps to
protect themselves.
If Connecticut schools had no fire extinguishers, parents would think
twice before sending children to school. Can you imagine a law that
actually banned fire extinguishers on school grounds?
It would make no more sense than our current prohibition against
law-abiding adults with gun permits carrying a practical self-defense tool
on school grounds. The time to repeal that prohibition is now.
Send mail to webmaster@gunsafe.org with questions or comments about this web site.
http://www.gunsafe.org/
[This message has been edited by ernest2 (edited December 07, 1999).]
"Gun control" turns schools into
"defenseless zones"
[This is an op-ed article by Atty. Ralph D. Sherman, Gunsafe chairman. It
was published 4/30/99 in the Hartford Courant.]
The 18-year-old murderers in Littleton, Colo., were neither stupid nor
hasty. They planned and prepared for their massacre with care. And they
knew their targets would be utterly helpless - thanks to “gun control” laws.
Colorado laws make it a crime to bring a firearm onto school grounds.
The same is true in Connecticut, even for a law-abiding adult who has
passed a background check, taken a safety course, and obtained a gun
permit from the police.
So any monster who chooses to ignore the laws and commit murder at
random knows he will find no opposition on school grounds, until police
arrive.
The “gun control” crowd likes to refer to schools as “safe zones.” In
reality, they’re “defenseless zones.” The “gun control” crowd has made
sure no responsible adult civilian could defend the innocents at Columbine
High School in Littleton.
Would the result have been different in Colorado if a teacher or school
administrator had access to a gun? That was the case in October 1997 in
Pearl, Miss. There, an alienated 16-year-old used a rifle to murder two
students and wound seven others. Before he could inflict further harm,
however, he was stopped - by the assistant principal, armed with his own
small handgun. No shots were fired by the assistant principal; the murderer
surrendered when confronted by the armed adult.
In April 1998 in Edinboro, Pa., a 14-year-old brought a gun to a school
dance. After revealing the gun and murdering a teacher, the student was
stopped by the owner of the restaurant where the dance was held. The
restaurant owner, armed with his own shotgun, fired no shots to stop the
murderer.
Minors and convicted felons have no business possessing or carrying
firearms. That’s been federal law for decades. In reality, however, no law
will stop those who are intent on committing public mass murders for the
purpose of gaining attention. The threat of punishment does not deter
monsters who plan to use suicide to end their 15 minutes of fame.
Yet Connecticut law prohibits good people - parents, teachers, school
administrators - from carrying a handgun on school grounds, even with a
gun permit, even with the gun so discreetly concealed that no one knows
it’s there.
Counseling for troubled students is an excellent idea. So is parenting
instead of letting TV raise your children. But these are long-term solutions
that do nothing to enable innocent people to defend themselves in a
life-or-death emergency. If another wicked child somewhere is now
planning the next school massacre, the long-term solutions may not stop
him.
John Lott, a professor at the University of Chicago School of Law, has
shown in his recent book (More Guns, Less Crime) that criminals are
deterred by the general presence of firearms that are carried concealed by
lawful permit-holders. In a paper published on the Web just this month, he
shows that even those who might commit public mass murders are
deterred, because they recognize that they might be stopped before they can
accomplish their terrible mission.
Nationwide, civilians use firearms lawfully for self defense 2.5 million
times per year, according to studies by Gary Kleck, a criminologist who
first investigated the subject because he favored banning guns. Eighty
percent of these “defensive gun uses” involve handguns.
In Connecticut, about 140,000 adults possess handgun permits. Many
permit-holders discreetly carry a handgun every work day, to protect
themselves when they carry their restaurant receipts to the bank, or when
they have to install utility wiring in a bad neighborhood. At their place of
business, they think of the gun as another safety device, like a fire
extinguisher. They don’t expect to face a fire, but they have taken steps to
protect themselves.
If Connecticut schools had no fire extinguishers, parents would think
twice before sending children to school. Can you imagine a law that
actually banned fire extinguishers on school grounds?
It would make no more sense than our current prohibition against
law-abiding adults with gun permits carrying a practical self-defense tool
on school grounds. The time to repeal that prohibition is now.
Send mail to webmaster@gunsafe.org with questions or comments about this web site.
http://www.gunsafe.org/
[This message has been edited by ernest2 (edited December 07, 1999).]