This Week on ABC
Sunday, May 14
(This is an unedited, uncorrected transcript.)
GEORGE WILL Suzanna Hupp, October 16, 1991, Kilene, Texas. You, your
mother and father are eating in the Luby's cafeteria. What happened?
SUZANNA HUPP Well, to make a long story short, a madman came in, drove
his truck through the window and began methodically executing people. And by
the time it was over, 23 people were killed. And unfortunately, my parents
were among them. I'm angry. I was angry then. I was angry at my legislators.
WILL You were armed then?
HUPP I had a gun out in the car. At that time in the state of Texas, we
were not allowed to carry concealed, so I felt that they legislated me out
of the right to protect myself and my family.
WILL But you had it in your purse, in your car?
HUPP Yes, as did several other people who had their guns out in their
car.
WILL Since Texas passed the law permitting concealed carrying, has
there been a surge in gun purchases, particularly by women?
HUPP I know there was initially. But of course, one of the things that
we immediately saw-and we see this everywhere where concealed carry laws are
passed, the violent crime immediately goes down.
WILL Have you ever had to use your gun?
HUPP No, sir, I have not thankfully-except against a rattle snake once.
WILL I see. And so it's your contention that simply the knowledge that
you might be armed is a demonstrable deterrent.
HUPP It's a huge deterrent. It's a huge deterrent. You know,
interestingly, I'm glad you brought that up because we see these mass
shootings. Where do we see them? We see them at schools. We see them at post
offices, in businesses where guns are not allowed. They're always in these
so-called gun-free safety zones. Isn't that interesting.
WILL Are you saying that a crazed killer is calculating that?
HUPP I absolutely believe that. These people go into places-I've been
there, I lived it. They go to places where they know people can be executed
like fish in a barrel, and I can't begin to tell you how frustrating that
is.
WILLWhat do you say to people who say, look, we have road rage in this
country. People use their cars as weapons when they get angry. If you have
concealed carries, aren't you apt to turn a lot of fender benders into
shoot-outs?
HUPP Simply doesn't happen. Again, we have over 40 states where we have
concealed carry laws, and we don't see that occurring with the legally
carrying people. The legally carrying people are the safe folks. It's the
bad guys. Why aren't we concentrating on the bad guys and leave decent,
law-abiding people alone to defend themselves and their families?
WILL Your governor of Texas said the other day that he would give free
gun locks to people in Texas and would like to do that nationally. Do you
have any problem with that?
HUPP No, I it's great. I have a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old, and my
guns have gun locks on them. But do I want that legislated? No. Six years
ago, I was single and lived by myself out in the country. Why on earth
should I be required to have a trigger lock on my gun?
WILL A few moments ago, Rosie O'Donnell, speaking to Cokie Roberts,
said registration and licensing. Take them one at a time. What's wrong with
registration?
HUPP Bless her heart. Very well-intentioned, all the people here, very
well-intentioned, good-hearted people, but completely misguided. They are
products of their education. The fact is that historically every time we
license and register guns, it is a precursor to confiscation, every time.
WILL Ms. O'Donnell also said that she's David and Goliath in this
drama, is the NRA with it's millions and millions of dollars.
HUPP Well, interestingly, it's this rally that has, I understand, over
$2 million backing in corporate backing, and the evil empire NRA, I have to
ask Mr. Clinton, where do you think they get their money? They get it from
people like me who send them money and say, please, go out and help protect
my rights.
WILL The theme of this march here is basically that there's a
correlation-the more gun laws you have, the safer you'll be. You seem to be
saying the more people carrying guns, the safer we'll be. Is that a fair
picture?
HUPP No, I wouldn't say that. But what I'm saying is that when you make
more gun laws, the only people that obey them are good people. And I think
Washington, D.C. is such a perfect example of what gun laws don't do. It's
one of the most unsafe cities in the world, and gun violence is incredibly
high here, and yet you're not allowed to own a gun here. Hmm.
WILL There's a lot of worry now after Columbine and some other
shootings surrounding schools and adolescents, and you seem to say after
Columbine that you would prefer...
HUPP Oh, don't go there.
WILL Well, I'll let you clear this up. You would prefer to have
teachers armed.
HUPP No, what I have said is that in Texas I wanted to know why we're
treating our teachers like second-class citizens. We allow our plumbers, our
journalists, our reporters and our chiropractors to protect themselves at
work, and yet we won't allow our teachers to protect themselves at work. So
I have a question there. And I will tell you that I would personally feel
much safer if my child were in with a teacher who was armed, trained and
prepared. Yes, sir.
WILL You're going to send your children to a school that meets that
description?
HUPP That's something my husband and I are discussing.
WILL Thank you very much.
HUPP You're very welcome.
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Sending e-mails to Congress is almost useless.
They hardly ever get read.
Since most members of Congress are clueless;
Send hand written letters instead!!!
Second Amendment Activist's Forum
[This message has been edited by nralife (edited May 14, 2000).]
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