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Owning a Gun in CaliforniaIf you'd like to sign up for our weekly newsletter, click here.
Because of the complexity of this issue, we're breaking this down into two parts. The first part will cover the WHY, the second part will cover the HOW.
Random Acts of Violence
Our society has a love/hate relationship with guns. So many of us have been led to believe that guns are evil. They're not: Guns are a tool. It is the individual using the gun that is good or evil.
In response to horrific acts committed by deranged people, our legislators pass "feel good" laws - such as establishing "gun free zones" - which restrict the ability of law-abiding citizens to provide for their own self-defense. These do nothing to actually increase our safety.
Don't think so? Then answer these questions: Who won't have a means of self-defense in a gun-free zone? Answer: A law abiding citizen. Who WILL have a weapon? Answer: A mentally unstable person bent on killing as many people as possible. They choose gun-free zones because they know there will be little chance of resistance.
Do you think that a sign on a wall declaring a place to be a gun-free zone will cause a criminal to suddenly obey the law?
Consider this: When was the last time you heard of a crazed person shooting up a police station? Sounds ridiculous, right? I can't recall any such incidents. Everyone in that station has a means of self-defense and the criminals know it.
Look at the recent Fort Hood Army Base massacre: Amazingly, military bases are largely full of unarmed soldiers. It took civilian police officers to stop the assailant - a soldier who knew his fellow soldiers were unarmed - after he had already killed 13 and wounded more than 30 people.
In any of the recent mass shootings (Columbine, Virginia Tech, Fort Hood), how many fewer dead or injured would there have been had there been just one trained and armed civilian on-site? Just one teacher, one professor or one employee.
The long and short of it: You are at a distinct disadvantage - in a legal sense - to a common criminal. You follow the laws; They don't.
Disasters and Social Unrest
As we are witnessing now in Haiti, when law-and-order break down on a large scale, you are on your own. Rampant looting, murder, rape and assault have become the norm.
And this doesn't just happen in third-world countries. The exact same thing happened in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina and in Los Angeles in 1992.
Those LA riots lasted 6 days and resulted in 53 deaths plus thousands of injuries. Federal and California National Guard troops did not arrive in the second largest city in the United States until Day 3. "Copy Cat" riots spread to over a dozen US cities.
Just this past December, a group of 75 disgruntled students fire-bombed the house of the Chancellor of the University of California. In the middle of Berkeley!
Spontaneous violence can and does happen. To dismiss this out-of-hand is fool-hearty at best.
You, and no one else, are responsible for your personal safety. Not the police, not the National Guard, not your next door neighbor. You are responsible.
How you choose to meet that responsibility is your call.
Next Issue: Owning A Gun In CA - Part 2 - The Process
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Copyright 2009 Bison Risk Management Associates. All rights reserved. You are encouraged to repost this information so long as it is credited to Bison Risk Management Associates. www.BisonRMA.com
2 comments:
Doesn't matter to me what laws the hivists pass. I'm keeping my guns.
John, some interesting stuff. Please don't wear out your welcome by using this site as an advertising medium. I'm OK with an overview and a link. No more dissertations.
Hermit, indeed. We all have different plans (hopefully) for ensuring we can exercise our right to bear arms, even if the laws were to say it's no longer legal.
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