Airing Now - John L. Howell’s “Gun Control”
Gun Control
Quick!! Somebody call Johnny Sutton!! There are at least two guns in Colorado that need to be prosecuted!!
In light of recent events in Colorado Churches and other religious establishments I agree that we need to look very carefully at our current gun laws and make some drastic changes. We cannot have all of these evil guns running loose in the streets now, or can we? I have always been a staunch defender of the Second Amendment. And with the events of the last week from coast to coast I believe that we really need to revamp our definition of gun control. I started my rantings on the keyboard because of this very issue, the situation was not all that different from what we see going on in Colorado, the guns were used in a school of higher learning instead of a house of a Higher Power.
The most recent culprit was Matthew Murray. He walked into a Colorado Mission and shot a few people before going to a Mega-Church while worship services were going on with a crowd estimated at over 6,000 people, sounds to me like a target rich environment for any bad guy. I mean it is a Church, who would expect to find anyone armed at a place of worship? I for one did not expect to hear this story with the ending that it ended up with.
What is the biggest difference between Virginia Tech this past spring, the mall in Nebraska, and a church in Colorado? I would have to say that the largest difference is the mindset of those that frequent these establishments. Who do usually find attending a liberal university? One where diversity is put high above all else? A liberal kid. Who do you expect to find at a busy shopping mall in the middle of the day? Mothers, children, and old people of all political persuasions. Who do you expect to find in a church? I would put my money on people that tend to be of a conservative political persuasion. You should find the type of people that, although they put their trust in the local law enforcement officers and God, know that police cannot be everywhere to protect them, and are not afraid of a person that is trained in the use of a fire arm.
I remember reading accounts of a student that had a weapon in his car that he was allowed to carry legally everywhere except school, and it was only a violation of the rules at Virginia Tech not local ordinances. Here again, like today, the majority of the carnage was carried out on a second shooting spree in a second building, hours after the first wave of blood shed. None of the students had been properly warned, in my humble opinion, at least not to my satisfaction if I had a child attending classes there. Due to the lack of protection and preparedness, 32 lives were lost needlessly. And again like the events in Colorado there were several heroes as well, although they seem to have been forgotten quickly. You will find them and their deeds listed below.
The heroine from Colorado is Jeanne Assam who was standing watch over the worshippers because of the now connected incident earlier in the day. She was armed and trained and knew when the shooting started that she was the only protector that these people had. And she did what I hope that I would do in the situation that she was placed in.
The whole point is that guns don’t kill people anymore than cars do; people are responsible in both cases. In all three of the incidents mentioned guns were used to kill people, but that does not make guns the enemy as they are nothing more than inanimate objects with no will of their own. It is those behind the guns, with their fingers on the triggers that kill people. So what good does it do to take guns away from people like Ms Assam? No good at all from where I am sitting.
Get ready to hear more and more over the course of the coming weeks about how we need to get a better handle on guns. Look forward to the next wave of lobbying in the name of public safety. Watch carefully at how our brave and noble politicians totally forget to mention that the vast majority of worshippers attending services at the New Life Church were saved by a “PERSON” using a gun. That is correct the gun that Ms. Assam carried did not save a single life! Ms. Assam did, God Bless her.
It is time to revisit our current gun “control” laws that are on the books. It is time to get back to the intent of our Founding Fathers handed down to “We The People” in our Constitution. And it is way past time to start licensing people to carry concealed weapons.
I have heard the same old tired argument from the gun control crowd, “If we allow people to carry concealed firearms we will end up back in the old west, with people shooting each other over petty fender benders.” I firmly believe that they are absolutely wrong, and I have at least 10 to 15 years of data to back me up.
Communities in Texas, Florida and Georgia are prime examples of my way of thinking. If I am not mistaken Texas started the concealed carry craze. The state set the requirements, issued the permits/licenses, and crime went down. We did not hear stories of the crazed lunatics in Texas shooting it out at high noon, and I am told that they used to know how to do that well. In fact we did not hear much at all on the National or Local newscasts about it. With the Mainstream Medias mantra of “If it bleeds is leads” one would think that we should have heard something, right? The fact of the matter is that Texas did not look like the old west, just another western state in which crime actually dropped dramatically in the communities that enacted the ordinances. We saw the same results in Florida when communities there followed the Texans lead. The community I like to talk about most is an affluent suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. They did not even pass concealed carry laws; they just passed a local ordinance stating that every household had to possess a firearm. Crime dropped more than 50%. Kind of tells you something doesn’t it? Especially when you couple the crime stats with the fact that gun violence went down as well.
Look to places like Baltimore, Maryland or Pasadena Texas. In one place a concealed carry law might have saved a 26 year old woman from being brutally beaten by nine 14 and 15 year olds; in the other the property of a neighbor being stolen by illegal aliens was protected by a man with a gun.
If you ask me we need more Jeanne Assam’s and Joe Horn’s in this country.
Here is the list from Wikipedia of the heroes from Virginia Tech that saved lives that tragic day in April.
· Professor Liviu Librescu held the door of his classroom, Room 204, shut while Cho attempted to enter it. Librescu was able to prevent the shooter from entering the classroom until most of his students escaped through the windows, but he died after being shot multiple times through the door. One student in his classroom died.[28][29]
· Jocelyne Couture-Nowak tried to save the students in her French classroom, Room 211, after looking Cho in the eye in the hallway.[30] Colin Goddard, one of seven survivors in the French class,[31] told his family that Couture-Nowak ordered her students to the back of the class for their safety and made a fatal attempt to barricade the door.[32]
· Student Henry Lee was also killed while trying to help Professor Couture-Nowak barricade the door. [33]
· In Room 206, the movements of a wounded Waleed Shaalan distracted Cho from a nearby student after the shooter had returned to the room, according to a student eyewitness. Shaalan was shot a second time and died.[34]
· Also in Room 206, Partahi Mamora Halomoan Lumbantoruan may have protected fellow student Guillermo Colman by diving on top of him;[35] Colman’s various accounts make it unclear whether this act was intentional or the involuntary result of being shot. Multiple gunshots killed Lumbantoruan, but Colman was protected by Lumbantoruan’s body.[36][37][38][39]
· Student Zach Petkewicz barricaded the door of Room 205 with a large table after substitute professor Haiyan Cheng and an unidentified female student in the same class saw Cho heading toward them. Cho shot several times through the door but failed to force in. No one in that classroom was wounded or killed.[40][41][20]
· Katelyn Carney, Derek O’Dell, Trey Perkins, and Erin Sheehan barricaded the door of Room 207, the German class, after the first attack and tended to the wounded. Cho returned minutes later but O’Dell and Carney prevented him from re-entering the room. Both were injured.[42][43][44][45]
· Hearing the commotion on the floor below, Professor Kevin Granata brought 20 students from a nearby classroom into an office, where the door could be locked, on the third floor of Norris Hall. He then went downstairs to investigate and was shot by Cho. Granata died from his injuries. None of the students locked in Granata’s office were injured.[46]
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A TEXAS HERO . . .
Suzanna Gratia Hupp (born 1959) is a former Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives, who represented traditionally Democratic District 54 (Bell, Burnet, and Lampasas counties) for ten years from 1997-2007. Hupp is recognized as a leading advocate for the Second Amendment and an individual’s right to carry a concealed weapon. She was elected to her first term in 1996 but did not seek a sixth two-year term in 2006.
On Saturday, October 16, 1991, Hupp and her parents were having lunch at the Luby’s in Killeen. She had left her handgun in her car to comply with Texas state law at the time which forbade carrying a concealed weapon. When George Hennard drove his truck into the cafeteria and opened fire on the patrons, Hupp instinctively reached into her purse for her weapon, but it was in her vehicle. Her father, Al Gratia, tried to rush Hennard and was shot in the chest. As the gunman reloaded, Hupp escaped through a broken window and believed that her mother, Ursula Gratia, was behind her. Instead she watched as Hennard killed her parents and twenty-one other persons. He also wounded some twenty others. As a survivor of the Luby’s massacre, Hupp testified across the country in support of concealed-handgun laws. She said that had there been a second chance to prevent the slaughter, she would have violated the Texas law and carried the handgun inside her purse into the restaurant.
December 27th, 2007 at 12:17 amI believe in truth in advertising. All “gun free zone” signs should be replaced with “victim rich environment” signs.
December 27th, 2007 at 12:37 amHowie
Did it ever occur to you that this whole issue is a sign of Americas moral collapse.
Why has crime gone up since the 1950’s and 1960’s?
Why do people have to lock their doors every second they go out? (outside of Montana and rural out of the way places)
If everyone in America is so great in the richest country in the world why so much robbing stealing?
Why do we have more peolpe in jail than fuckin China and Iran?
Your answer; Let me guess its the “liberal government programs” Really How is the crime in France Spain and Germany? Not even close.
America has all the signs of a society ripe with economic strife and mental illness.
December 27th, 2007 at 7:16 amI’ve said before… I’ll say again. My husband and I both conceal and carry. The only place I do not have my gun with me is when I am in jury duty or paying a traffic fine… (which is, unfortunately, too often on both counts).
Paulie~ I do not see “moral collapse” as the issue. I see a society’s hunger for violence and bloodshed has brought forth an ultraviolent superego of many mentally ill and “parentless” children of today. Conceal and carry is merely a proactive response to the powerlessness of victims such as those of Columbine, VA Tech… etc. Violent crime happens… it always has, it always will. Being prepared is not immoral.
True, most of these perps discussed had mental issues, but how about the run of the mill thug that wants my purse, my car or my body? Yep, I would shoot that mother fucker, too.
December 27th, 2007 at 11:04 amThe MSM pushes the gun control lobby as much as anyone does. As referred to above, if it bleeds it leads. The MSM wants the deaths and violence out there so they can then push the lobby ticket of more gun control, more government control, fewer individual freedoms. They are using the increase in violence over the past 40 years that has been caused by the liberal socialist agenda being enacted by the democrat party. Not until they are able to have total control over our lives will they be happy.
December 27th, 2007 at 12:03 pmgun laws,,pish just look what happened over here in the u.k.tony bliar pushes through a knee jerk policy than bans privately held handguns after two loons[the police and other authorities were warned]went on rampages,to get a shotgun licence is so difficult it would be easier to entice bin laden to hand himself in with the promise of a pork chop,now we have gangs of detached youths[i found the term “detached youth project” on the side of social services minibus taking a load of ????? to the beach for day out?] roaming the country at will with illegal small arms shooting each other at will.most of the antique/historical weapons[very important private collections]got sent too friends in the u.s and to the isle of man[little island in the irish where you can still have firearms]strict gun laws = a complete load of misguided bollocks
December 27th, 2007 at 2:58 pmPaul you are only half right. I do not think that Liberal Government Programs have caused the predicament that we are in today.
December 27th, 2007 at 7:21 pmI blame Liberal ideas. When you worry more about how a kid feels about themselves than what they have actually learned you are going to eventually end up with a population going nowhere but down.
When it comes to crime, the liberal thought process is to take into account the criminals past history. I personally do not care that the perp was beaten twice a day for 15 years, it is not an excuse to get away with whatever you want. There are others that have been in the same situation and made it through without becoming a criminal.
And yes Government programs, brought to existence by liberal people, only make the victim mindset worse. Life is not nor will it ever become fair. Class envy is a liberal politicians wet dream. If you make people believe that they have been slighted because they do not have the money to buy the same things that rich people do and that the only entity that can “Level the Playing Field” is the Government and the only politicians that are going to give them what they now feel is a right is a Democrat; the liberal politicians will continue to own the inner city victim vote.
Howie I totally agree that there is a clearly different mindset and that Liberal ideas are at the source… You are correct that Poor childhood experiences do not negate responsibility for ones actions! But I would add that Poor childhood experiences may play a role in the formation of those actions and in turn the Positive experience a child has when an adult teaches them Respect for firearms and the trust built by giving a kid the Responsibility of Gun Safety are I believe key factors in forming Young minds that don’t feel the need to shoot up a Mall for lack of Positive Parental Relationships… Liberals are too busy pointing out how guns should not be used to Realize how they should be used!
December 27th, 2007 at 9:10 pm“This year will go down in history! For the first time, a civilized nation has full gun registration! Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient, and the world will follow our lead into the future!”
Adolf Hitler 1935
December 28th, 2007 at 11:12 amJohn Howell,
I know you probably already know this, but I kept seeing Johnny Sutton’s name at the top of your post and I was reminded of Ramos and Compeon, and the importance of their case being overturned in appeal. As you noted, that asshole Sutton put them in jail on gun charges and therefore if that charge is not thrown out in appeal, it will set a dangerous precedent and ALL LAW ENFORCEMENT WILL BE AT RISK OF BEING PROSECUTED ON GUN CHARGES!
http://www.firesociety.com/article/10267/Petition–Remove-Johnny-Sutton-as-U.-S.-Attorney-for-the-Western-District-of-TX/
December 28th, 2007 at 1:19 pmJohnny M~ good points. I had a grandpa who had a loaded firearm in just about every room of his house. I learned to respect guns from respecting him. I knew they were not to be played with. Then, when I was old enough, he and my father took me out to shooting. Lawfully owned guns ever since.
Paul~ I do not believe that we need more or better gun laws. Every one of these criminals broke laws to shoot up the places they commited their crimes. The majority of criminals out there don’t buy their guns lawfully at fuggin Bass Pro, folks. They don’t buy them at gun shows either. They buy them at some crack house or out of a ghetto cruiser somewhere. Make more gun laws…. and you just make it harder for good people to get firearms for sport and/or protection. However, that is just my opinion.
December 28th, 2007 at 7:35 pmLadyAngler those are not opinions they are facts!!
Hey all tune into Tom Chandler’s radio show Saturday at 5 PM Pacific. Tommy, Leo and I all served together in 1st LAR.
December 28th, 2007 at 11:11 pmCriminals and mental cases will always find a way to do their dirty deeds. As long as evil abounds, crime will also abound.
The only gun control that should exist is a trained eye and a staedy hand. Those of us with extensive military weapons training are well qualified to conceal and carry. It is a skill and a mindset that can be taught to anyone.
Taking guns away from law-abiding citizens, doesn’t do anything but protect and embolden criminals.
Crazy people intent on homicide-by-cop or murder of the innocent should be put on notice, that the only “gun control” that they will encounter in this life, is a well-aimed bullet.
December 29th, 2007 at 8:25 amI was toying with the idea of getting a CCW permit and I kept coming back to the same old question. Why? Do I really need a piece of paper to give me the ok to defend my own life? Do I, as a citizen of this country have to wait around for some member of the government to tell me what to do? No. The 2nd amendment arms the people, not against each other, but against their government, or more broadly against the tyranny of man. Classical education is dead in America today so most know nothing of the true nature of man.
Now, that being said, I don’t carry a gun illegally, I still feel relatively safe going out in public. Of course I know where not to go and how to stay out of trouble. If the time comes when I worry about the safety of myself or the one’s I love I will arm myself. Yes I do own guns. This action is not derived from paranoia rather a sense of preparedness derived from military training and an understanding that second chances don’t often come around.
My ideology is very scary to those in power, independent or free thought. I’m not stupid; I weigh my decisions very carefully. Many of my friends have taken the CCW class; sure the class teaches you the law, but who teaches you how to think? Who teaches our society how to recognize folly from unsound action? Because ultimately that’s the point; slowly but surely we are losing our independent nature, the very nature which made this country what it used to be. Somehow, (I have an idea but won’t bore you,) a certain portion of our society believes the government will take care of them, Katrina anyone?
When the wolf is at the door and darkness descends, you will, unless you are in the military, find yourself alone. The wolf accepts no excuses, no capitulation he understands only swift, deliberate, and sure action. Regret is the bitterest poison of life, prepare.
December 29th, 2007 at 10:53 amAs Thomas Jefferson said “A government that fears an armed populace is a government to be feared.”
The highest crime rates in the US are in cities with the strictist gun laws. People that want guns will find a way to get them. Some are purchased leagally then illegally transported and used in a crime. Such as the nut on the New York Subway in the early 90’s that bought his gun in Long Beach CA. legally then illegally transported and used the gun in NYC.
As for society, IMO the concept of personal responsibilty has been greatly eroded. Liberals would have you believe that you can blame others for your problems and that if you “act out” that it is someone elses (society, government, parents, god, etc.) fault. Remember it takes a village to raise a child.
I agree that gun control is hitting what your aiming at. Look at the Swiss crime is almost non-existant, shooting is the national sport, and every home is armed. Even Israel a country constantly under attack, armed populace and a very low crime rate (other then terrorism.)
Anyone (with half a brain) that has read any of the founding fathers writings can easily understand what their intentions were for the 2nd ammendment.
What is most ironic to me is that liberals so rabidly attack the 2nd ammendment when it is the one that guarntees all the others. Of course these are the first to cry foul when disaster strikes and they are unable to protect themselves from the wolves (LA riots, Katrina, etc.)
January 12th, 2008 at 6:00 pmThe most productive ‘anti-gun’ positions in the future will not be anti-gun directly, but who should have guns.
People’s sanity will be questioned and besides who the hell is gonna defend crazy people? Google the “veteran’s disarmament act” and ask yourself where is the liberty going?
Just like with the outbreak of ADHD, psychology and its pseudoscience will begin mass diagnosing and putting people on the crazy-list. After that you’d have to prove your sanity at your own expense, fight the government to get your name removed. Those who won’t bother fighting will become criminals, and who cares about a crazy criminal even if everyone is doing it? Divide and conquer.
I remember a study where sane graduate students were submitted to a mental institution and only showed signs of schizophrenia upon entry. After they were inside, the doctors believed they were still crazy. Only the other residents thought they were faking it.
January 12th, 2008 at 11:10 pmThe anti-crazy law has already been passed and signed by GW… Seems to me it would not be hard to distinguish a crazoid like the VT shooter from the average Vet that I know.
On the other hand, the law would not catch a slickie-boy like Ted Bundy.
Seems to me that common-sense should prevail. But it doesn’t. Psuedoscience is the general order number one of the day.
The legislation could be very specific. If you have a clean record in all 50 states, no pending divorce case, no assault charges, and a clean military record (nothing crazy) then give him/her the CCW.
Of course that leaves it up to the system to define crazy.
Code Fink thinks that all military people are crazy. Dhimis think anyone that likes to hunt and fish is crazy?
But. despite all of that, the VT shooter should have been screened out by the system. I’m unsure how the guy at the gun show was unable to see that nutcase for what he was.
Seems to me, that common sense should have told the gun seller to not make a sale.
The NRA has been working on this issue for quite awhile. I think that they are the best judges of how the law against selling to crazoids should be written.
Last I heard from Wayne Lapierre was that he supported this new law.
January 13th, 2008 at 11:28 am