John Stossel: Guns Save Lives

This is a great article on guns:

It's all too predictable. A day after a gunman killed six people and wounded 18 others at Northern Illinois University, The New York Times criticized the U.S. Interior Department for preparing to rethink its ban on guns in national parks.

The editorial board wants "the 51 senators who like the thought of guns in the parks -- and everywhere else, it seems -- to realize that the innocence of Americans is better protected by carefully controlling guns than it is by arming everyone to the teeth."

As usual, the Times editors seem unaware of how silly their argument is. To them, the choice is between "carefully controlling guns" and "arming everyone to the teeth." But no one favors "arming everyone to the teeth" (whatever that means). Instead, gun advocates favor freedom, choice and self-responsibility. If someone wishes to be prepared to defend himself, he should be free to do so. No one has the right to deprive others of the means of effective self-defense, like a handgun.

Read it all at the link. The money quote from the article:

..."If someone gets into your house, which would you rather have, a handgun or a telephone? You can call the police if you want, and they'll get there, and they'll take a picture of your dead body. But they can't get there in time to save your life. The first line of defense is you."

I heard a discussion the day after this shooting on the radio. Sorry, I can't remember who it was. One of the people said that an armed citizen might have been able to prevent, at least, some of the deaths. The other person raked them over the coals for politicizing the topic so close to the time of the shootings. I guess that all depends on which side of the topic you agree with.

It is a simple fact that an armed citizen is safer in these situations than an unarmed one.