What We Can Learn From The Left's Outcry Over The Shooting Of Congresswoman Giffords

By Lawrence J. Joyce
Editor-In-Chief, WebToday
January 11, 2011

The Left has done us a favor … again! This time, in two ways: 1.) by saying that the shooting of Congresswoman Giffords illustrates (supposedly) the need for more gun control laws; and, 2.) by saying that the shooting is to be blamed on the Right. If anything illustrates just exactly where the Leftists are coming from, this is it.

First of all, picture this: 97% of the people who are at an event like the town-hall style meeting where Giffords was shot show up for the event without a gun. Only 3% are armed. This is because of the cultural norms of that society, and the gunman knows it. Now, by contrast, picture this: 97% of the people who are at such an event show up armed, and only 3% are unarmed. And the gunman knows it.

Under which of those two sets of circumstances is the shooting more likely to take place?

Duhhhhhh …

Crazy people may be willing to die for their cause. But they do not wish to die if they think they will not at least be able to accomplish that which they set out to do. And this is particularly the case with the type of guy who shot Giffords, because he wasn’t suicidal. He tried to run away, but was caught.

In Israel the police encourage private citizens to walk around armed, particularly if they go into an area where there might be trouble. A few years ago a Palestinian terrorist went into a crowded market place frequented mostly by Jews. He was gunned down after he got the first few shots off, and the event, unlike the shooting in Tucson, did not make world news. That’s because he got cut short right after the first few rounds were fired.

Notice, please, that there were no repeat attempts of this by the Palestinian terrorists. In fact, that may be why they have resorted to suicide bombers.

Now back to Tucson. Do you wonder why I mentioned only 3% of the people being armed, and 97% being unarmed? Well, I have an Arizona permit to carry a concealed weapon, and I know that only about 3 percent of those eligible to have one do in fact apply for one. (The law has been changed recently to eliminate the permit requirement, but I doubt that that has resulted in many more people carrying concealed than was the case under the old law.) And anyone who lives in Arizona knows that only a tiny fraction of private citizens are carrying. Imagine what would be the case, however, if 97% of Arizonans carried, and only 3% did not. Do you think that the gunman (I won’t bother to glorify him by mentioning his name) still would have had the same tendency to commit murder as he did on that day?

You might recall that Florida once had a spate of shootings of foreign visitors by armed robbers. As far as anyone can tell, the reason for that is that the robbers knew for a fact that the foreign visitors would be unarmed. These shootings came right in the wake of Florida becoming only one of two states at the time (Oregon being the other one) which required law enforcement authorities to issue a permit to carry a concealed weapon to anyone who passed a background check and who could demonstrate basic shooting skills. In fact, in Florida during that time, all crime generally remained the same, but crimes against persons (e.g., armed robbery) went down, whereas crimes against property (e.g., auto theft) went up. The crooks didn’t go away. But they sure changed their tactics and strategy.

We don’t need more “gun control” laws. We need more willingness by individual, private citizens to accept responsibility for their own safety, and that of their community, and to carry a gun to provide for that safety. And the fact that the Left today should scream the exact opposite of that, in the face of both logic and experience, does us all the favor of showing us just exactly where they are coming from.

Next, the Leftists are screaming that this shooting was caused by right-wing rhetoric. Three points in particular should be covered regarding that one:

A.) Do they even think for a moment what they are doing to the First Amendment?

B.) Have we actually gotten to the point where the Left will be willing to admit responsibility for the murders of the Unabomber because of the influence which Al Gore and his friends had on him with what they said and wrote?

C.) Are we seriously supposed to believe that the guy who shot Giffords was a member of the Tea Party because he believes that the government is trying to control people through mind control and by controlling grammar, as he said on his web site? And are we seriously supposed to believe that this guy is a member of the hard-core Religious Right when he says, “I refuse to believe in God,” as he did in fact likewise say on his web site?

Well, apparently, the Left thinks that the answer to these questions is yes. So much, then, for logic. But let us not lament. The Leftists have done us a great big favor. They have allowed us to show the world what they are made of without our even having to lift a finger or utter a word.

The author, Lawrence J. Joyce, is a pharmacist and an attorney, and a dual graduate of the University of Arizona, in Tucson. He may be reached at [email protected]

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