Guns Work to Save Lives
Gun Control Does Not
Gun Control Does Not
You've no doubt heard that a crazy white supremacist walked into the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. and opened fire, killing security guard Steven Johns. However, unlike other public shootings, this one ended quickly when other security guards returned fire, downing the gunman and preventing him from shooting anyone else.
This hateful bigot intensely hated Blacks and Jews. It is unknown how many people he might have killed in the museum. Considering that the museum is generally busy with visitors, many of them Jewish and school-age children learning about the Holocaust, how many people would a Jew-hating bigot kill if he was unchallenged? How many children might have died? From past history, all we can say is "many more."
This event is similar to the 1991 Luby's Cafeteria massacre in Killeen, Texas. There, another madman entered a crowded public place (using his truck as a battering ram) and began shooting people. This was before Texas had a shall-issue CCW system in place, so the patrons inside were all unarmed. In the twelve minutes it took police to arrive, George Hennard shot 23 people to death and wounded 20 others. It's an easy guess that James Von Brunn could have exceeded that number in D.C.
It is also similar to the August 1999 shooting in a Jewish day care center in which Buford Furrow Jr. shot three children, a receptionist and a sixteen year-old counselor before leaving and killing a postal carrier because he wasn't white. In that case, Furrow told investigators he aborted his planned attack on another day care center when he saw armed security personnel. On that day, the mere presence of firearms saved lives at one day care center.
Yet, the anti-gun lobby ignores the obvious when Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign says, "It is dangerous to force more guns into places that American families expect to be gun-free and safe. It shows that having even more guns in more places is the wrong answer to America's gun violence problem."
Helmke, the Bradys and other members of the anti-gun lobby groups forget that Washington D.C. already has strict gun-control laws. Laws that forbid possessing unregistered guns, the carrying of loaded firearms in public and concealing them on your person. So, easily, the museum killer broke those laws without much concern.
There's more. Von Brunn, is a convicted felon. Thus, he broke other laws prohibiting him from possessing or buying any firearms at all. He obtained his rifle illegally, yet another violation of the so-called gun-control laws. Up to the point just before he fired, Von Brunn had violated at least five laws, probably many more by crossing state and local jurisdictions.
If we followed the advice of Paul Helmke and his ilk, the other security guards at the museum would not have firearms and would have been early casualties. The bottom line is that it was men with guns who shut down Von Brunn's terror attack on the museum.
Your comments are welcome: editor@handgunclub.com