|
| |
GRNC Alert:
4 - 22 -07 |
Grass Roots North
Carolina
Forum for Firearms Education
P.O. Box 10684, Raleigh, NC 27605
(919) 664-8565, http://www.grnc.org
GRNC Alert Hotline: (919) 562-4137
hotline@grnc.org |
Paul Valone In Raleigh N&O
On Campus Violence
|
In today?s
edition (Apr. 22) of the Raleigh News & Observer Paul
Valone brings common sense to the debate following the
Virginia Tech massacre. It may be accessed online at:
http://www.newsobserver.com/164/story/566774.html.
The text is also reprinted below.
Of course such a breath of fresh air has to be
counter-pointed by manifesto of total illogic from
Lisa Price, executive director of the North
Carolinians Against Gun Violence Education Fund. In
Ms. Price?s piece, she serves up a good portion of
misleading propaganda followed by the current
anti-gunner wish list.
Jolly Old Gun-Free England
Of course no anti-gun screed would be complete without
how wonderful life is in Great Britain after outlawing
private gun ownership in the wake of the Dunblane,
Scotland massacre in 1996.
She is concerned about our international image,
apparently. While lamenting, ?about 290 million
firearms are in private hands? she speculates, ?Other
countries are appalled.?
Of course?as expected?she neglects to point out what
has happened in the UK since embarking on their great
gun prohibition experiment. In 1999, two years after
the ban, proportion of crimes using handguns was ten
percent higher (54%) than it had been in 1989 when it
was 44%. Things have not improved since. In fact
today?s edition of the Scotsman (http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=707&id=620712007
) reports that murders in Scotland have surged
by 29% in the past year alone. Last month the
Edinburgh News reported that gun crimes in that region
have doubled in the last four years (http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=433332007).
Anti-Freedom Wish List
Ms. Price?of course?is under the notion that high
capacity magazine bans would be effective and longs
for the renewal of the so-called ?assault weapon? ban.
?Were the federal Assault Weapons Ban, which expired
in 2004, still in effect, ammunition clips that hold
more than 10 bullets would not have been available.?
She also wants to register not only your guns, but you
as well; calling for ?licensing gun owners and
registering firearms; requiring thorough, universal
background checks for all gun purchases, including
those at gun shows; ??
Read the whole thing here:
http://www.newsobserver.com/164/story/566776.html
Paul Valone?s Column
Meet force with force: Allow
guns on campus
By F. Paul Valone, Special to The News & Observer
If your state lawmakers killed legislation to protect
students from slaughter, would you celebrate by
saying, "I'm sure the university community is
appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because
this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors
feel safe on our campus"
This 2006 hubris was courtesy of Virginia Tech
spokesman Larry Hincker. The legislation was Virginia
House Bill 1572. It would have let handgun owners with
permits for concealed guns carry those weapons on
college campuses. Harsh reality trumped Hincker's
feeling of safety when Seung-Hui Cho murdered 32 at
Virginia Tech.
When gun control advocates showcase their oft-failed
schemes as solutions, they avoid mentioning details of
three other school shootings, where armed intervention
saved lives:
* In 1997, Pearl, Miss., assistant principal Joel
Myrick stopped triple murderer Luke Woodham, using a
handgun retrieved from his car.
* In 1998, in Edinboro, Pa., the 14-year-old who
killed science teacher John Gillette at an off-campus
dance was captured by shotgun-wielding James Strand.
* And in 2002, at Virginia's own Appalachian Law
School in Grundy, student Tracy Bridges used his
pistol to detain murderer Peter Odighizuwa.
Each time, armed intervention saved lives without
additional shots being fired.
Beyond anecdotes, researchers John R. Lott and William
M. Landes, then at Yale University and the University
of Chicago, studied multiple-victim public shootings.
Examining data spanning 19 years from 1977 to 1995,
they reported that shootings in states that adopted
concealed handgun laws declined by 84 percent. Deaths
from these shootings plummeted by 90 percent, and
injuries, 82.5 percent.
Crediting the reductions to deterrence (even suicidal
maniacs avoid armed victims), Lott and Landes called
their findings "dramatic." The "only policy factor to
have a consistently significant influence on multiple
victim public shootings," the researchers said, "is
the passage of concealed handgun laws."
Like North Carolina, Virginia prohibits guns on
campuses. But policies purporting to create "gun-free"
zones actually increase victimization. "States with
the fewest gun-free zones have the greatest reductions
killings, injuries, and attacks," Lott and Landes
found.
* Indeed, of eight school rampages tracked by The New
York Times, six occurred after enactment of the 1996
federal Gun Free School Zones Act.
* "Gun prohibitionists concede that banning guns
around schools has not quite worked as intended," Lott
said, "but their response has been to call for more
regulation of guns. Yet what might appear to be the
most obvious policy may actually cost lives. When
gun-control laws are passed, it is law-abiding
citizens, not would-be criminals, who adhere to them."
After 12 years under North Carolina's concealed
handgun law, permit-holders have proven themselves
sane, sober and law-abiding. Revocations run less than
0.10 of 1 percent, most for reasons unrelated to guns.
Rather than passing new gun laws, we should examine
Virginia Tech's delayed emergency response and its
inattention to Cho's clearly disturbed behavior. We
should improve campus security. But if 32 murders say
anything, it is that police have neither the ability
nor -- as courts have ruled -- the responsibility to
protect you.
Liviu Librescu, 76, a professor and a Jewish survivor
of Russian labor camps, used his body to shield
escaping Virginia Tech students. Doubtless, the
politicians who killed HB 1572 console themselves by
saying that their malfeasance didn't quite cause his
murder.
Maybe our state legislators will display
uncharacteristic courage by allowing concealed
handguns on campuses, ensuring that heroes like
Librescu have something better than their bodies to
stop bullets.
Immediate Action Required
Contact the Raleigh News & Observer and chime in on
this issue with a letter to the editor. Let them know
that Lisa Price's views are not the majority.
You may send your letter online by going to this link:
https://miva.nando.com/contact_us/letter_editor.html
-----------------------------
You may write your federal congressman by going here:
http://www.house.gov/writerep/
|
|
You may find your representative by going here:
http://www.grnc.org/contact_reps.htm |
Support these PRO RKBA merchants who, as GRNC
sponsors, are supporting your Second Amendment rights:
 | Hyatt Coin & Gun Shop, 3332 Wilkinson Blvd.,
Charlotte, NC 28208, 704-663-5656,
www.hyattguns.com |
| Duncan Gun & Pawn, 414 Second St., North Wilkesboro,
NC 28659, 336-667-6303,
www.duncangun.com |
| Shooter's Express, 2 Caldwell Dr., Belmont, NC 28012,
800-358-GUNS,
www.shootersexpress.com |
| The Aisle Pawn Shop, 216 N. Main St., Mooresville, NC
28115, 704-663-5656
Gunner's Alley, LLC, 200 Parkthrough St., Cary, NC
27511,
www.gunnersalley.com, 919-388-1991, contact: Ed Gurearo, ed@gunnersalley.com |
|
|
Copyright © 2007 Grass Roots
North Carolina P.O. 10684, Raleigh, NC 27605
Non-commercial reproduction and
distribution is permitted so long as this statement is included. All other
uses prohibited.
|
|
Every 13
seconds
an American gun owner uses a firearm in defense against a criminal. |
|
|
Criminal Attacks
Stopped By Guns This Year: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
