Gun Free Zones Are Free Killing Zones

On April 11th 1942, Adolf Hitler said: "The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subject races to possess arms. History shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by so doing. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that the supply of arms to the underdogs is a sine qua non for the overthrow of any sovereignty.

And on May 15th 2001, the Dalai Lama was quoted as saying: "If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun."

The fact is - guns save innocent lives; this fact is usually censored by the left-wing media. The purpose of the second amendment was to prevent a corrupt federal government from threatening an entire country; with an armed society, the federal government cannot dictate policy. With guns we are citizens, without them we are defenseless sheep. I fully support reasonable gun control laws but I do not support those who, out of ignorance or fear, would try to take away the right to conceal and carry from law abiding citizens.

A Free Republic poster named VRWCmember put it best, "The problem isn't the availability of weapons but rather the unavailability of a means of self-defense. Liberals prefer to mandate that psychotic mass murderers enjoy a safe work environment for the commission of their crimes."

There's a reason that unstable people choose gun free zones in which to inflict their carnage - easy targets and less chances of a confrontation with an equal. Gun control, quite simply, should be wielded by the person that has a gun in their hand, and not by the government.

Keep in mind that no law can keep people safe. Strict gun control laws do not deter criminals who will always have them and use them against innocent people. Who wants only the government and criminals to have access to guns?

Good people who are well-armed are the counter to well-armed bad people and we cannot count on the police who are normally notified after a crime has been committed.

Suppose you're in a public setting and some lunatic starts shooting; would you rather be next to the "conceal and carry" good guy than be targeted as the defenseless lame duck? If you want to combat violence (whether foreign or domestic) purchase a gun, learn how to use it safely, control it, and carry it with you. In studies involving criminals, the majority admitted that armed citizens dissuaded them from targeting them as victims. One statistic mentions that Americans use firearms to defend themselves from criminals over 760,000 times a year.

Recently I watched a news program about the Dartmouth murders; a father was interviewed and mentioned that the teenaged killers admittedly first targeted him and his young son but were frightened away by the fact that the father carried a gun. That man's life and that of his young son were spared simply because the father was armed.

There are countless examples of regular armed citizens who have either defended themselves or prevented a crime from happening to them simply because they were armed.

Statistics show that Washington D.C. enacted a virtual ban on handguns in 1976. Between that year and 1991, Washington D.C.'s homicide rate rose 200%, while the U.S. rate rose 12%. In a Fatal Accident graph total, deaths by firearms ranks at the bottom: 1.5% but raises to 2.7% when attributed to deaths of children 14 and under. One has to worry more about car accidents, which ranked number one, than of accidental gun deaths.

While not everyone should have access to guns, people should be encouraged to learn defensive tactics and many others should learn basic firearm safety. Crimes and massacres can be stopped if well-armed and well-trained people are vigilant in defending themselves and others.