“In the aftermath of last month’s rampage killing at a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin, some members of the religion are considering arming themselves in order to defend against future attacks,” businessinsider.com reports. No way! C’mon. Really? “I think that being able to legally obtain and carry a gun is the best thing any Sikh can do, especially after 9/11 where there have been over 800 documented cases of harassment and violence against us,” Sim J. Singh told foxnews.com. As opposed to hundreds of thousands of cases of harassment and violence against Jews, African-Americans, OFWGs, Asians, gays and other Americans who aren’t Sikhs? Anyway, gopher it. But why is Fox News searching the country for pro-gun control Sikhs? Check this . . .
Still, some Sikhs support stricter gun laws in the hope that it will prevent dangerous people from getting guns. Sim J. Singh and Rajwinder Singh both said that reliable background checks and some limits on firepower seemed reasonable. Others went further.
“A gun can harm somebody. I never even think about owning a gun,” said Maninder Arora, a practicing Sikh in Hartford, Conn., who owns a Liberty Tax Services franchise.
“I know the gun lobby is strong. But at least they should put restrictions on the size of the gun, or the quantity of guns. My cousins — they have 3 or 4 guns, which is not right,” he added, saying that he would rather put his faith in the legal system.
“We have a system where cops can arrive anywhere in a few minutes. In the [Wisconsin shooting] situation, the officer was there in about four minutes.”
Gurdev Singh Mann, the president of a Sikh temple in Renton, Wash., agreed about gun laws.
“Gun laws should be more strict. When giving guns to people, it’s better if we check with a judge, look at their behavior and everything,” he said.
Not to put too fine a point on it: why should we care about a few of pro-gun control Sikhs in Connecticut and Washington state when the real story is about Sikhs in Wisconsin who WENT THROUGH HELL and decided that they DON’T WANT TO GO THERE AGAIN?
Needless to say, Fox ends with a pro-gun statement, grammatical errors and all. From the Gunshine State (Florida), ‘natch.
Sim Singh, however, said that he personally carries a gun because he cannot rely on police arriving soon enough.
“Sometimes the police are not able to arrive in time,” Sim Singh said.
“I do not believe stronger gun control is the right solution, as it ends up hurting the law-abiding citizens from having the option to defend themselves with guns when necessary.”
How about ending with a quote from a Sikh who saw the end result of civilian disarmament up close and personal? Note to Fox: balanced doesn’t always mean fair.