Roy Exum
The militia, by definition, is “a military force, especially one raised from the civilian population, to supplement a regular army in an emergency.” If you haven’t noticed, our beloved United States has a desperate emergency right now. So does the rest of the civilized world, and scores of thinkers, burdened by the fact the United States is averaging just about one mass shooting every day, wants to call out our nation’s militia. That’s you and me.
The San Bernardino shooting on Wednesday was the 354th mass-shooting incident in our country this year.
A husband-wife terrorist team killed 14 and injured 21 before fleeing and being killed by police. “America’s Sheriff,” Joe Arpaio, is joining other law enforcement officials in saying it “is the duty” of people with concealed-carry permits to start carrying their weapons at all times.
Sheriff Joe cited the Planned Parenthood shooting in Colorado. “The guy’s in there for five hours and nobody had a gun to shoot him. It’s frustrating,” he bemoaned, pointing out that if just the concealed carry holders in Arizona would take their guns wherever they go, it would increase law enforcement by a quarter-million people. Nationally there are 12.8 million of us who have valid concealed-carry permits.
“You are carrying that weapon for a reason,” Arpaio said. “I don’t think you go home every night and look at the gun and never expect to use it. So if you are going to carry it, you ought to take action to save yourself and save the people around you.”
After seeing this stunning phenomena unfold time and time again, Washington D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier added her voice on ’60 Minutes’ recently, “If you're in a position to try and take the gunman down, to take the gunman out, it's the best option for saving lives before police can get there"
Chief Lanier has issued less than 50 concealed-carry permits this year in panicky D.C. so it was interesting to hear her suddenly advise people to bear arms. “Yes … that's kind of counter intuitive to what cops always tell people, right? We always tell people, ‘don’t, you know, don't take action. Call 9-1-1. Don't intervene in the robbery.’ We've never told people, ‘Take action,’” she explained but that isn’t true any longer: “It's a different – this is a different scenario.”
She believes a potential victim’s best chance is to carry a gun. “Your options are run, hide, or fight,” she explained. “What we tell them is the fact of the matter – most active shooters kill most of the victims in 10 minutes or less, and the best police department in the country's going to be about a five-to-seven minute response.”
Not long after the D.C. chief appeared on television, a Washington Times columnist urged her readers to make a would-be shooter think before he or she plays Russian Roulette. “If citizens (start carrying) concealed-carry firearms, potential terrorists lose a key tactical advantage because they are unable to know who might be able to stop them,” wrote Gayle Trotter.
“Even where terrorists intend to select an unsecured target or to begin an attack by neutralizing armed guards or police who are on the scene,” she reasoned, “the attackers will have no way to predict who or how many private gun owners are in the crowd and ready to respond with deadly self-defense.”
Ralph Bristol, a huge advocate of “the right to bear arms” (Second Amendment) also believes concealed-care permit holders have “a duty” to carry at all time. “It’s not going to do any of us any good if we are not carrying a gun.
“The military is and always has been our first line of defense, and still is … But we are the third line of defense, after the military, after the police and the intelligence community. We are where the slaughter is going to take place,” he said, “if we’re not there and if we’re not armed.”
The head of the Fraternal Order of Police has asked NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to allow retired and off-duty law enforcement officials to bring weapons to the stadiums, where they are currently banned. He wrote, “Well-attended venues and areas are being deliberately targeted by the radical killers who do not intend or expect to survive the assault," the letter read, “Law enforcement, even when working actively with highly trained and skilled security professionals, cannot be certain that all threats will be detected and neutralized.”
As frightening as it well may be to walk into crowds of people with a loaded pistol secured at your side, the only thing worse than having to use a gun is not having one to use. These are troubling times filled with troubled people.
The other day somebody asked Pro Hall-of-Famer Deion Sanders about gun control. “(Guns aren’t) “picking up themselves and pulling triggers on (their) own. I think people are doing that. It says more about people than it says about guns. I’m not an advocate of ignorance or violence whatsoever, but we really need to look at people.”
The zaniest quote of the week came from California Senator Barbara Boxer (D) who, the very day after the San Bernardino tragedy, offered this gem on gun control. “Sensible gun laws work … we’ve proven it in California,” Boxer told a gathering of stunned reporters. (Federal agents announced about the same time the guns used to kill14 and wound 21 others were purchased legally in the state.)
“Neon Deion” is right. We need to study people, starting with a female senator from California.
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California guns laws are, indeed, severe. To purchase a handgun, you must prove you are a resident of the state, obtain a handgun safety certificate, demonstrate safe handling, purchase a firearm safety device, select a state-approved handgun, pass a background check, and wait for 10 days before the purchase can be made.
As a matter of fact, one sibling can’t give a weapon to a brother or sister – much less anyone else -- without going through a licensed gun dealer and obtaining a “private party transfer” permit. It requires a background check and a ten-day waiting period.
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The New York Times published its first page-one editorial since 1920 on Saturday calling for greater gun control but with 80,000,000 guns in the United States, that is going to be a stretch.
Many gun advocates agree assault rifle and automatic weapon sales should be curbed but the fact of the matter is “bad guns” can be purchased within an hour in Chattanooga, cash only, no waiting period. This is another fact: When guns are outlawed, outlaws will have guns. Liberals refuse to believe this but common sense dictates its validity.
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Presidential candidate Chris Christie had a strong opinion on about the Times’ page-one editorial: “It's typical liberal claptrap from the New York Times," Christie told "Face the Nation" host John Dickerson in an interview set to air Sunday. "The fact is that what we need to be focused on here are two issues: taking criminals who commit crimes with handguns and putting them in jail. And we have to work on our mental health system in this country to give doctors and caregivers greater latitude to involuntarily commit folks who have mental health issues and who don't want to take their medication and help themselves."
The New Jersey Governor also said, “Remember, the president (Obama) and the secretary (Clinton), before they even knew what was going on here, ran out on the first moments after this attack and said this was a gun control issue," Christie said. "I don't know what gun control laws, John, are going to stop terrorists from attacking us. But this is the typical liberal approach to things...They wanted to try to turn this awful tragedy into an excuse to have greater gun control."
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Presidential candidate Ted Cruz gave us his solution on mass shootings yesterday. "You don't stop bad guys by taking away our guns, you stop bad guys by using our guns."
Cruz claimed California’s strict gun laws make it tough for “the good guys” to be armed but said, in Tennessee, following the terrorist attack, armed citizens stood outside recruiting stations to make sure violence did not reoccur. That stops a would-be shooter, he claimed.
"You know California has among the strictest gun control laws in the country. The Brady Center gives five states an A- for being the very toughest in taking away the constitutional rights of its citizens," Cruz said. "And yet what do all the Democrats say? 'These great gun control laws — we need more of them.'"
royexum@aol.com