GRIZ BEAR COMMENTS More gun control won't stop heinous crimes

The shooting in Arizona earlier this month was a terrible tragedy, and words cannot express my sympathy toward the victims and their families or my anger and outrage that a deranged man would take it into his hands to cut short so many lives and do such harm to so many others.

Yet, a sad side effect of such tragedies is how quickly so many in high political offices are willing to use these crimes as an excuse to advance their personal agendas against the rights guaranteed under the Second Amendment of the U.S.Constitution. Even before the dead were laid to rest, some were calling for tougher gun laws which would have done nothing to prevent the criminal acts which took place in Tucson on Jan. 8.

If you think about some of the suggested legislation, what good would it have done? Would a law banning the carrying of firearms within a thousand feet of a federal official have kept the deranged killer from carrying his weapon to within feet of his victims? If he cared nothing about laws against assault, battery and murder, why would he be dissuaded by a gun law?

And, if one is really willing to consider the truth, laws banning guns from certain buildings and places have done little to stop those bent on committing more serious crimes from carrying guns into schools, federal buildings, churches and other places where the carrying of firearms is prohibited. The only thing such laws do is make the law-abiding defenseless before the criminals who have no respect for the law anyway.

I've said it in a previous column and will repeat it here. If I were a criminal, intent on robbery or, worse yet, mass murder - and I'm not, even though I support gun rights - what better place to choose to carry out a crime than a place where the law abiding cannot carry weapons?And though the signs posted in some business windows may protect property owners from legal liabilities, they do nothing to stop crime and may even serve as an invitation for criminals to carry out their crimes there.

Some have proposed banning the manufacture or sale of high-capacity magazines like the one used in the Arizona shooting. While I, personally, was never a fan of the extended magazines - not even for law enforcement - I can't see the benefit of banning them. When at police academy, I was taught to reload in a matter of a couple of seconds and be shooting again. That means by the time bystanders noticed and could react, a shooter with any experience could be reloaded and back in action. The thoughts of those who would banthe extended magazines is that a shooter's most vulnerable time is during reloading. That may prove true some of the time, but it’s no guarantee. The more frequent jams and failures of extended magazines could also be used as an argument in favor of allowing them - it takes longer to drop a magazine and clear a jam than to just drop an empty magazine and reload.

Of course, there are those who wish we could just ban civilian ownership of guns altogether. But how well would that work? Drug laws haven't stopped the influx and manufacture of illegal drugs and narcotics. Prohibition didn't stop the manufacture and sale of liquor. It is as the slogan says, “If they make guns illegal, only criminals will have guns.” And there would likely be a lot more criminals!

I cannot help but think, “Perhaps if one or two legally-armed private citizens were in the crowd at Tucson, they might have been able to end the shooting spree more quickly and save lives - it could have almost certainly made a difference in other shootings such as the one at Virginia Tech.”

One known concealedcarry permit holder in Tucson heard the shots from a nearby store but arrived only after the shooter had already been subdued. Had someone in the crowd been legally armed, there would have, at least, been no need to wait until the shooter needed to reload to stop his heinous crimes.

Randy Moll is the managing editor of the Westside Eagle Observer. He may be reached by e-mail at rmoll@nwaonline .com.

Opinion, Pages 6 on 01/26/2011