Political Pistachio: Obama Pushes Gun Control After Charleston

Saturday, June 20, 2015

Obama Pushes Gun Control After Charleston

By Douglas V. Gibbs

After Dylann Roof killed nine people at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, President Barack Obama made a statement regarding the incident, pushing gun control, as I predicted. I did not predict, however, how stupid the comment from the President would truly be.

President Obama said, "Once again, innocent people were killed in part because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no trouble getting their hands on a gun. … We as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries."

Yes, we get it, you think that punishing law-abiding citizens with stricter gun laws will somehow stop the bad guys from killing people. It's like punishing good drivers because of all of the drunk drivers on the road. But, Mr. President, do you really wish to remind us of how stupid you can really be (or how stupid you think we are) with a statement like that?

Besides, the 2nd Amendment is there for more than protecting our property or hunting. The 2nd Amendment was specifically written to protect us from you. The arming of the populace for the purpose of having a militia that is in good order is the law of the land so that if the central government tries to take away all of our other rights, we can stop you. My right to keep and bear arms exists so that I may protect my liberty from the likes of you.

In Australia the gun laws are very strict, yet terrorists had no problems getting their hands on guns for a take-over of a cafe in Sydney.

In France, the Charlie Hebdo shooting that killed 12 people happened just last January.

Since Charleston, the following has become a headline:

At least three killed in Austria after man drives into crowd before 'stabbing passers-by' in Graz

Among the three people killed in this latest attack in Austria is a seven year old boy. More than 30 pedestrians were injured. Authorities said that 10 people were seriously injured and taken to the hospital for their injuries, and one patient was in a critical condition on Saturday afternoon. Witnesses recounted how the man drove his vehicle into the crowd apparently at random, sending people crashing into the windscreen and rolling over the bonnet. Police said that after the car was stopped, the driver jumped out and attacked passers-by with a knife before he could be subdued and arrested.

Gateway Pundit, drawing from the Associated Press, to put across a point regarding mass killings in other countries, listed the following worst "mass killings" over the last decade in advanced countries:

July 22, 2011: Confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik kills 77 in Norway in twin attacks: a bombing in downtown Oslo and a shooting massacre at a youth camp outside the capital. The self-styled anti-Muslim militant admitted both attacks.

April 30, 2009: Farda Gadyrov, 29, enters the prestigious Azerbaijan State Oil Academy in the capital, Baku, armed with an automatic pistol and clips. He kills 12 people before killing himself as police close in.

Sept. 23, 2008: Matti Saari, 22, walks into a vocational college in Kauhajoki, Finland, and opens fire, killing 10 people and burning their bodies with firebombs before shooting himself fatally in the head.

Nov. 7, 2007: After revealing plans for his attack in YouTube postings, 18-year-old Pekka-Eric Auvinen fires kills eight people at his high school in Tuusula, Finland.

January 7, 2015: Islamists murdered 12 people in Paris during the Charlie Hebdo attacks.

April 26, 2002: Robert Steinhaeuser, 19, who had been expelled from school in Erfurt, Germany, kills 13 teachers, two former classmates and policeman, before committing suicide.

April 28, 1996: Martin Bryant, 29, bursts into cafeteria in seaside resort of Port Arthur in Tasmania, Australia, shooting 20 people to death. Driving away, he kills 15 others. He was captured and imprisoned.

March 13, 1996: Thomas Hamilton, 43, kills 16 kindergarten children and their teacher in elementary school in Dunblane, Scotland, and then kills himself.

Dec. 6, 1989: Marc Lepine, 25, bursts into Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique college, shooting at women he encounters, killing nine and then himself.

Aug. 19, 1987: Michael Ryan, 27, kills 16 people in small market town of Hungerford, England, and then shoots himself dead.

In Britain and Australia, after they banned guns and guns were confiscated, home invasions went up, and incidence of violent crime increased (as did instances of armed robbery). The criminal element becomes more vicious when they don't have to wonder whether or not their victim might be armed, and because they are criminals, they will find a way to get armed, even in a society where being armed is illegal. They become less selective when the threat of getting shot at decreases to near zero, and they become more vicious in their attacks for they fear no retaliation.

One might also note that all of the mass killings in the United States that Obama is remembering and referring to happened either in gun-free zones, or at locations where guns were not expected to be (like a church).

A year ago at a Murrieta City Council meeting the discussion regarding whether we should change the ordinance to allow an indoor firing range into the city, was in play. A woman that spoke on the dais before I, said, "We can't allow a shooting range in our city, it will attract people with guns, and we don't want that kind of criminal element in our city."

This is what many of these people believe. When I talk about teaching my grandson to shoot in the near future, people act like it's child abuse. In reality, it's the opposite. If the young man is familiar with guns, and has been taught how to properly respect firearms, the likelihood of him being another statistic of a child shooting himself, or someone else, playing with a gun, goes way down.

As for the woman at the city council meeting, we have to remember that the criminal element is populated by humans that don't want to die. So, the last place they are going to rob is a place where they think the residents are armed. If Murrieta has an indoor firing range, not only does that show the citizenry is largely armed, but they are practicing to be a better shot. I guarantee you, that's the last place the criminal element wants to be.

As for guns in a public place, I still remember the quote by a restaurant owner in Louisiana earlier this year that encourages gun owners to visit his place of business for a meal while packing, and he'll give them a discount. "Safest restaurant in Louisiana." The restaurant calls itself the home of God, gumbo and guns.

The restaurant's lunch business has jumped 25 percent. Kevin Cox, the owner, has also added a dinner menu and hired four more employees. He said his customers are helping him send a larger message: other stores that have banned guns, like Target, are making themselves targets.

"You make a gun-free zone, that's where bad people with guns are going to go -- dumbest thing I've ever heard," Cox said. "So I'm trying to prove that this is the right route to go. Somebody gets robbed every day, not me."
This gentleman at a city council meeting in the video below, I think, said it best: