This is a good example of why I advocate much stricter gun laws in this country. A reporter is pursuing a story. A man suddenly confronts her and, whether to threaten her or bolster his own courage, gets a gun from his car and approaches her.
As far as I’m concerned, incidents like this negate the gun lobby’s contention that licensed gun owners have been carefully screened and trained to handle guns responsibly. Licensed or not, this guy was not behaving responsibly. He was not using his gun in self-defense or in defense of others, but simply to intimidate someone. And there are thousands of Americans just like him.
In another recent incident, in Florida, self-appointed neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman shot and killed unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin. Had Zimmerman not been carrying a gun, Martin would be alive today. Another example of someone who might have been carrying a gun legally but in a moment of fear, rage, or impulse, used it irresponsibly.
Cherry picking? Two isolated, atypical incidents? I contend they are no more isolated than those cases cited by the gun lobby where an armed citizen pulls a gun, stops a robbery or shoots a crazed gunman, and saves the day.
There’s no way to predict if or when an individual will become angry, scared, drunk, high, or simply impulsive and in an unthinking moment, reach for the nearest way to make a point. When that way is a gun, tragedies can and do result. Licenses are just pieces of paper, not guarantees against human emotion. Impulse and emotion are transient; death is very, very permanent.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: When the problem is too many guns in our society, the solution is not more guns.
_________
Related posts on Pied Type
And elsewhere
- Mayors Against Illegal Guns ….Free pass for gun-toting vigilantes ? (point4counterpoint.wordpress.com)
- Saturday Night Video – Rachel Maddow and Bob Herbert Discuss Trayvon Martin (polentical.com)
- Travyvon Martin, Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” Law, and Gun Laws (reason.com)
- No hidden, loaded gun permits for violent offenders by Mayors Against Illegal Guns (socialactions.net)
- The Folly of the Carry Laws- When Will America Learn? (themoderatevoice.com)