Stay Armed With Facts And Firearms

by Colonel Dan

 

The Cowboy Chronicle

March 2003

 

“… invade a home and invite a bullet.”  ~ Charlie Condon ~

Remember The Million Mom March that wasn’t—wasn’t a million, wasn’t organized by stay-at-home moms and wasn’t a march?  What it was was an excellent example of a socialistic propaganda campaign using their familiar approach of playing on emotion rather than relying on intellect—an approach that depends totally on fear rather than fact.  

If you think these irrational attacks are behind us now because the GOP controls congress with Bush in the White House, think again.  You can bet your spurs that “gun control” will raise its ugly head again with the left-wing anti-constitution faction leading the charge. 

In the spirit of arming ourselves before the assault on our guns resumes, here are 3 hard facts to keep handy when defending your 2d Amendment rights next time you talk to any anti-gunner—or anti constitutionalist as I always call them.

Fact 1.  “…The right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”   For me, the Second Amendment Absolutist that I am, this constitutional acknowledgment of my God given right is enough to end all argument but let’s continue….

Fact 2.   Freedom up; Murder down.  I compared 3 states in terms of murder rates per 100,000 of population – New York, California and Vermont.  The comparison was made per 100,000 of population so the total population figures of the three states used wouldn’t bias the results since Vermont has by far, a much lower total population than either California or New York.   We all know that New York and California are two of the most restrictive states in the union when it comes to gun rights.  Vermont on the other hand is one of the most gun friendly states in the union—no permits required, open carry, concealed carry, it’s all OK, just be responsible for your own behavior seems to be their unique approach.  Gun control advocates always tout that unrestricted access to guns is a formula for buckets of blood in the streets, but here are the facts according to John Lott’s book, “More Guns, Less Crime”

New York ranked #2 with 13.2 murders per 100,000

California ranked #4 with 12.66 per 100,000

Vermont ranked #49 with 0.7 per 100,000

That’s a significant difference regardless of population numbers isn’t it?

Fact 3.   Guns up; violent crime down.  I next compared the violent crime rates of all 50 states per 100,000 of population in two categories.  Those two categories were, 1. states with non-discretionary rules i.e. known as “shall issue” states and 2. states forbidding concealed handguns altogether.  [Violent crime being defined as murder, rape, aggravated assault and robbery.]  Here are the facts in this comparison:

1. States allowing concealed carry:  378.8 violent crimes per 100,000

2. States forbidding concealed carry:  715.9 violent crimes per 100,000

States forbidding concealed carry had an 89% higher violent crime rate than states permitting concealed carry!

Now when these anti-constitutionalists tell you, “Anyone can lie with statistics, so you can make these numbers tell any story you like.”  Suggest to them that you really don’t need numbers at all to prove the validity of your point. All you need do is honestly answer one simple question based on common sense.  “If you were a street thug, who would you rather attack, an armed opponent or an unarmed one?”    

An interesting illustration of this particular fact can be found in my own home state of Florida.  When the law was changed to make it easier for people to carry concealed weapons, the violent crime rate went way down!  The predators were afraid! Criminals are by make up, a class of cowards who prey on the weak and avoid the strong.  When they realized that the formerly weak were now the currently strong because they could pack heat, those same cowards had to quickly reevaluate where they could find some easier pickins’—victims who would most likely have cash, but no guns! The answer; those coming off the airplanes at Miami International Airport—thus the rash of crime against our tourists you may remember reading about! 

These people were coming to Florida for a vacation, so they had cash; they had just been through airport security, so they didn’t have guns. Now that's the type of victim these predators were looking for, cash rich and gun poor—the perfect formula for increased crime and that’s exactly what we got!

The irrefutable fact is armed citizens deter crime and politicians know it.  Some even have the courage to advocate it publicly—these are the politicians that deserve our full support.  The Attorney General of South Carolina, Charlie Condon, a hero of mine, declared open season on home invaders.  Here’s what he said:

"As Chief Prosecutor of South Carolina, I am today declaring open season on home invaders. That season is year-round," Condon said. "Citizens protecting their homes who use force even deadly force will be fully safeguarded under the law of this State and subject to no arrest, charge or prosecution. In South Carolina, would-be intruders should now hear this: invade a home and invite a bullet."

Anyone care to bet what Charlie’s approach will do to the crime rate in South Carolina?

The relationship between crime rates and guns is nothing new.

"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms…disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with  greater …confidence than an armed man."   ~ Thomas Jefferson, quoting Cesare Beccaria in On Crimes and Punishment (1764) ~ 

This conclusion doesn’t require an IQ equivalent to that of Thomas Jefferson, just some common sense and the willingness to accept the facts—facts the left, including the mainstream media are scared to death the general public may start to realize some day. 

You now have the facts any intelligent, honest and sincere human needs to end the issue of gun control and crime control.  But as we all know, it won’t end there because the left is not interested in facts.  They’re interested only in the lies required to successfully disarm law abiding Americans. 

Given that gun control obviously doesn’t result in crime control, what could be another reason behind this organized movement for restricting or ultimately eliminating Americans access to guns?  Could it be people control? That would be my guess but I’m just an old cavalryman.  What do I know?  What I do know is simply this; we must always stay armed with facts as well as firearms and Fact 1 still trumps all other arguments in my opinion and that’s all I need to know. 

Just the view from my saddle…

 

 

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