“I can’t believe that if that classroom in Oregon had had concealed weapons holders in there that it would have necessarily saved anyone.” That’s UT music professor Martha Hilley speaking at a forum of Texas educators opposing the imminent arrival of campus carry. She’s not lying. If Professor Hilley believed an armed defender could have limited the slaughter at Umpqua Community College, her opposition to campus carry would make no sense whatsoever. Equipped as they are with actual common sense . . .
millions of Americans can imagine the advantages of armed self-defense in the face of summary execution. They know that a gun – not gun control – was the order of the day when Chris Mercer opened fire. Which is why politico.com writer and fellow UT professor Matt Valentine penned The Myth of the Good Guy With the Gun.
It’s an intuitive and appealing idea—that a good guy with a gun will stop a bad guy with a gun. We can imagine it. We see it in movies. At least 80 million Americans have gone into the gun store, laid money on the counter, and purchased that fantasy. And yet it rarely plays out as envisioned. Is it because there aren’t enough guns? Is it because the guns aren’t allowed where they are needed? Or is there something else wrong with our aspirations to heroism?
What’s wrong with aspiring to heroism? There is but one alternative: passively accepting victimhood. When Fox News asked Ben Carson how we would’ve responded to Harper-Mercer’s attack, Carson said, “Not only would I probably not cooperate with him, I would not just stand there and let him shoot me. I would say, ‘Hey guys, everybody attack him. He may shoot me but he can’t get us all.’”
The Campaign to Stop Gun Violence had this to say about that:
In the wake of recent mass shootings, pro-gun activists and legislators are increasingly blaming victims for their own murders. This rhetoric is cowardly and beyond the pale. It is also hypocritical, as pro-gun advocates like Dr. Carson are the first to lecture others about focusing on the actions of criminals when it comes to gun violence.
The comment purposefully mischaracterizes the very essence of the pro-gun position: the person who pulls the trigger is responsible for the result. Not the gun or “easy access to guns.” It also ignores both anecdotal and statistical evidence that Americans use firearms for self-defense and to prevent mass murder. To point this out isn’t victim-blaming or cowardly. It’s inspirational.
The CSGV doesn’t care about the facts, really. They’re too busy condemning Carson for the ultimate sin in a world where political correctness is all: perceived insensitivity. And doing their best to “inspire” Americans to become armed self-defense deniers.
In this they are not alone. rawstory.org‘s article Combat veterans shoot down NRA ‘fantasy world’ of ‘good guys with guns’ treads the same path. Ditto thenation.com‘s Combat Vets Destroy the NRA’s Heroic Gunslinger Fantasy. Notice the insertion of the NRA into the “argument” that “a good guy with a gun” can’t take out a “bad guy with a gun” (despite the fact they do).
But wait! There’s more! Post-Umpqua gun control media mavens have all trained their big guns on the NRA – almost as if it was a coordinated attack. Here’s a sampling of the unprecedented assault on the nation’s oldest civil rights organization.
Salon: People Die Because of this Man
Mother Jones: The NRA Is Losing Its Grip on Power
thinkprogress.org: 5 Indefensible Tweets From The NRA Since The Oregon Gun Massacre
nytimes.com: Who the N.R.A. Really Speaks For
deadline.com: How NRA Second Amendment Paranoia, Money, Cowed Pols Make Next Massacre Inevitable
eurweb.com: Earl Ofari Hutchinson’s Explosive Expose on How the NRA Terrorizes Congress
huffingtonpost.com: Harry Reid: Republicans Are ‘Acting As Puppets For The NRA’
marketwatch,com: The NRA’s profit soars as deaths from gun massacres mount
washingtonpost.com: Get the NRA to license bullet sales, and you’ll reduce gun violence
newyorker.com: Republicans and Gun Control: A Sad Mantra
And dozens more. Not to mention presidential aspirant Hillary Clinton’s recent pronouncement proclaiming that the NRA as the same as “the Iranians and Communists.” And the President’s thinly-veiled NRA slam during his statement immediately after the Umpqua shooting.
I reckon the Umpqua killing set the civilian disarmament industrial complex into high dudgeon because they can’t get anything done politically. Not now, with Republicans controlling both the Senate and the House. After the failure of the post-Newtown Manchin-Toomey universal background check bill. With Americans supporting gun rights like never before.
I fully expect the antis’ saber-rattling rhetoric to die-down in the weeks ahead. That said, we have a lame duck President who might see executive action on gun control as a way to change the conversation from his many foreign policy “successes.” As always, keep your powder dry.