| Gun Free Zones.. or.. “Unarmed Victim Zones” |
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 In the world we live in today, as gun owners we have many restrictions applied to us. There have been a number of recent successes in increasing our safety, our right to carry in more and more places. At the time of this writing, my Kentucky concealed weapons permit is good in 30 states. If all goes as planned I will be relocating to Texas soon, where I plan to obtain a Texas permit, which is still good in 24 states, a respectable number. I imagine most of you are aware of the strict nature of the background checks, and training Concealed Carriers undergo to obtain their licenses. It is an extreme rarity for a permit holder to be involved in crime, yet even with all the training and an assured clean background, there are still so many places we cannot carry.
Looking back at the events of today, in the Georgia courtroom, there was a great tragedy. A dangerous felon, obtained a handgun from his guard and Killed 3 people, wounded one more, pistolwhipped and carjacked a reporter, and is currently on the run. A retired homicide detective from NYC has offered a 10,000 dollar reward on this modern day Jesse James wannabe. Dead or Alive. Other organizations have pooled another 60,000 dollars in reward money for information leading to this fugitive’s capture. Three people, with families, an esteemed Judge, a court reporter, and a veteran Deputy have fallen, another Deputy, the lady who he took the gun from, lies in an Atlanta hospital in critical Condition.
This is the third high profile courthouse shooting in the last
6 months. In the Texas shooting earlier this year, nobody knows how many lives were saved when an armed citizen left his home, and confronted an AK-47 wielding killer with his carry handgun, and died as a result of wounds from the confrontation. My hat off to this man, If it was up to me they would set up a memorial on the courthouse steps, where he fell, of nothing more than 2 12’ diameter granite spheres. Because that’s what he had. He lost his life trying to save the lives of others. We should take his actions in example. He had “our” back. Shouldn’t we have had his?
Getting to the point of matters, Courthouses in America are generally “Unarmed Victim Zones” where nobody but Law Enforcement and Judges carry. As has been made apparent in recent months, Law Enforcement cannot bear this burden effectively. Our safety in general IS our own responsibility. There was a time, not even a day ago, when I was fine with disarming on entering the courthouse. I didn’t feel a need to carry in there because I felt safe, but situations like this tend to change ones perspective on things. I won’t break the law, but I sure will fight to try to change it. If our law enforcement officers cannot protect us, then we should have the right to.
There hasn’t been a situation yet, where an armed individual in the right place at the right time couldn’t have stopped the Bad Guy in his tracks and stopped further loss of life. Fact is though just not enough people are carrying. If there would have been 3 or 4 armed citizens on the courthouse steps in Texas, or someone with a rifle in his back seat, the situation would have ended without further bloodshed. Same token in the Georgia shooting today. ONE armed citizen in the courtroom could have been enough to stop the bloodshed. ONE armed citizen on each airplane on 9/11 could have stopped the most deadly attack on American soil in history. ONE ARMED CITIZEN is all it takes to save the lives of many. MANY armed citizens, make the odds even better.
I call out to you, ALL of you, if you don’t have a concealed weapons permit, and can get one. DO it. It might just save yours, or someone else’s life. If you can’t get one, lobby with your representatives, do whatever is in your power so that you don’t end up like the so many innocents killed every year, because they didn’t have the ability to defend themselves when they needed it most. And for goodness sake, lobby with your state officials, try to get the entire concept of “unarmed victim zones” to just go away. Criminals don’t care about the law. These laws are only in effect to aid in prosecution after the fact, after your life has been taken. I personally take no comfort in knowing the man that killed me will do 5 extra years for having a gun where he shouldn’t have. I don’t think you do either.
This coming Wednesday I will be taking a trip via Amtrak Most national ground passenger couriers have a total no-guns policy. Most notably Amtrak, and Greyhound. No guns in carry on, No guns in checked. For me to have my gun I would have to ship it to an FFL in the area where I’ll be going, and then ship it back when I come home. But if someone who didn’t care about such a policy decided to bring one along. Where would I be? According to our current laws, Apparently I’m just supposed to be a good boy and die. Take one for the team so to speak. I don’t know about you, but I’m not too big on that either.
Just some things to think about.
This will be my last post for a while so just stay tuned, I’ll be going to Texas for a few weeks, possibly longer, for my trial period working for Tripp Research, if all goes well I’ll be a permanent employee within a couple weeks. First real professional gun job.
Take it easy
-Harold Matthew Stambaugh
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Posted on Friday, March 11 @ 20:52:16 CST by gsadmin |
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Average Score: 3.66
Votes: 3
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