PA Bill Number: HB2311
Title: Establishing the School Mental Health Screening Grant and Development Program.
Description: Establishing the School Mental Health Screening Grant and Development Program. ...
Last Action: Laid on the table
Last Action Date: Sep 23, 2024
More gun laws wouldn't have prevented Orlando club shooting - here's why :: 06/14/2016
Orlando: once again we have another horrific tragedy.
Kim Stolfer (PennLive file)
Once again the public consciousness is shocked by the outrageous acts of a deranged, terrorist wannabe, killer.
Within minutes and hours of the tragedy, with victims still reeling from the consequences, Americans are, once again, bombarded by poorly informed self-styled experts and unscrupulous politicians.
All of them, it seems, are seeking to manipulate this tragedy to advance their own prejudiced failed political agendas.
So now all of the political actors, from the president on down to our own Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., are coming out of the woodwork and offering up simplistic solutions for this violence as being more gun control.
Really?
Sadly, most Americans are completely unaware of the depth and breadth of laws that now restrict the access, possession, and carrying of firearms.
The term "easy access to firearms" is a sick joke played out in the editorial pages across this nation meant to deceive the public into thinking that more laws will do anything to stop heinous criminals like the Orlando shooter.
First let's examine the killer in Orlando; he possessed a Florida Class G firearm license which was very rigorous and intensive to acquire and required proofs of identity, citizenship/legal residency and fingerprints. He completed an additional 28 hours of instruction focusing on legal statutes governing the permit and responsibilities therein (12 hours); operational safety and firearm operation (8 hours); and an 8 hour firearms shooting qualification exam, on a shooting range, requiring 96-rounds.
The killer's criminal background was reviewed, again pursuant to the application, and submitted to a 'separate' medical evaluation that certified he had no conditions that "would preclude him from performing duties in an armed capacity."
The Orlando murderer 'cleared' multiple background checks, medical examination, registration and dozens of hours of mandated training and was investigated TWICE extensively by the FBI.
This is all part of the gun control wish list and yet it ALL failed.
At this point, hopefully, you're asking yourself "if gun-control isn't the answer then what is?"
Florida laws prohibit anyone from possessing a firearm where alcohol is sold. What that means is that every customer and employee in that bar was disarmed by Florida state law from choosing whether or not they wanted a firearm for self-defense.
So many laws "seem designed to protect us from ourselves." They're written by politicians and misguided activists who don't seem to think that people are capable of acting intelligently in their own defense.
These laws take away law abiding citizens ability to be secure and, sadly, security in these environments has proven inadequate, time and time again. 96.2% of all mass attacks occur in gun free zones.
What has not received much attention is a virtually identical situation that occurred on May 29 in Houston Texas.
A 25-year-old US Army veteran, who served 4 combat tours in Afghanistan, opened fire indiscriminately using an identical firearm as the Orlando killer.
It must be pointed out that this perpetrator was a trained United States military veteran! The difference between Houston and Orlando is that in the Houston incident a law-abiding citizen, with a concealed carry firearm, engaged the shooter and was able to limit the carnage to two dead instead of 49 as was the case in Orlando.
The Houston citizen who engaged the killer was shot three times but the police credit him with saving lives and giving the police time to respond to terminate the criminal act.
As is the case in many mainstream media outlets, this heroic story received very little notice across the country.
Arguably, Americans are more confused, divided, frustrated, and uncertain about how to effectively deal with horrific situations such as Orlando.
We must face some hard truths, which echo the sentiments of many counter-terrorism experts that no matter how bad you want this to go away, it's only going to get worse.
It will only cease when people stand up and return fire and end the effectiveness of these attacks.
Prepare to defend your life. It's no one else's responsibility. And there is no guarantee that anyone will arrive in time to save you.
Kim Stolfer is president of Firearms Owners Against Crime. He writes from Allegheny County.
http://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2016/06/more_gun_laws_wouldnt_have_pre.html#incart_river_home
