“What actually stops an evil
psychopath is what we saw on Sunday—a good guy with a gun.”
– Jordan Stein, spokesman, Gun Owners of America
Would
the massacre have happened if the congregation of the First
Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas had clung as tightly to
guns as their Bibles? On Sunday, in a bizarre echo of Sayfullo
Saipov's Halloween
rampage in New York, suspect Devin Patrick Kelley, 26, brought
death into a house of worship. Like some villain straight out of the
slasher flick “Scream,” he was outfitted in black body armor and
a skull mask. Within
this sacred space, this Grim Reaper killed 26 innocents and
wounded 20. Thirty miles east of San Antonio, in the worst mass
shooting in Texas history: about 4% of the town's population
(reported as 683) were slain.
Since time immemorial, that's what
civilized people call acts
of evil. Ultimately, Mr. Kelley's true problem was his homicidal
impulses—expressed as externalized rage. Therefore, holding
responsible the inanimate object, that was his tool of choice, is
a simplistic response. So too is blaming the law that criminals
habitually disregard as somehow “insufficient”. In that vein is
the imperfect background check that inadvertently allowed Mr. Kelley
access to the firearm he utilized (read: The Air Force failed to
provide the
FBI with the shooter's criminal history). And despite this
unfortunate bureaucratic
blunder, where does individual accountability factor into this
latest bloodbath?
In reality, almost anything physically
imposing can be used as a weapon. For example, just last week in New
York a
zealot screaming “Allahu akbar” misappropriated a rental
truck killing 8 and injuring 12. Likewise, at a white
nationalist rally in Charlottesville, South Carolina on August
12, a third unhinged miscreant, James Alex Fields Jr., killed local
protester Heather Heyer, 32, and injured 19 others with his Dodge
Challenger. If guns are truly the systemic “problem” here—as
gun control advocates repeatedly parrot—why does Chicago
persist as an annual killing field despite the strictest gun laws in
the nation? And why aren't these same critics ignoring the
unfettered freedom to buy cars, and rent trucks? After all, don't
all of the above potentially serve an evildoer's murderous
design?
As the 18th century philosophical
father of modern conservatism, Edmund Burke famously remarked, “The
only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing.” To that end, a good Samaritan interceded on Sunday in
Sutherland Springs. That small town hero gaining national attention
is Stephen Willeford, 55. Synchonistically, he's a former National
Rifle Association instructor who confronted the attacker, wounding
him twice (in his Velcro covered side despite
protective plating). As light dispels darkness, Mr. Willeford
repealed villainy despite his fear, and the inherent danger. As he
told local affiliate 40/29 News in Fort Smith-Fayetteville:
“I think my God, my Lord protected me
and gave me the skills to do what needed to be done, and I just wish
I could have gotten there faster.”
In this regard, mere mortals beg to
differ. This faithful
defender got to the scene so quickly he arrived barefoot.
Alerted by his daughter of the sounds of a firearm discharging, Mr.
Willeford removed his own rifle from its safe, loaded a magazine, and
ran across the street to the church. Standing behind a pickup truck
for cover, he exchanged gunfire with the escaping interloper. He
even shot through the open driver's side window of Mr. Kelley's
fleeing Ford Expedition SUV. At a stop sign, Mr. Willeford then
flagged down a 27-year-old motorist, Johnnie Langendorff, and a
high-speed highway chase ensued. En route the younger man called
911. Eventually, their pickup caught up to the gunman's SUV.
Apparently, the assailant started driving erratically. He pulled
over to the side, seeming to slow down, then accelerated again until
he hit a road sign, lost control and flipped his truck which landed
in a ditch. Mr. Langendorff pulled over, and ducked down.
Meanwhile, his heroic companion exited the vehicle, planting his
rifle on top of the pickup's hood. Keeping a look out, Mr. Willeford
yelled for his adversary to get out of his truck, but all remained
still. When law enforcement arrived on the scene, they confirmed
that Devin Kelley had committed suicide by shooting himself in the
head.
Separated by time, specific
circumstances and geography is the fact that guns in legal and
responsible hands actually preserve life. This is also true of
another hero, New York police officer Ryan Nash, who subdued Islamic
terrorist Sayfullo Saipov; and Charlottesville police who
subsequently apprehended suspect James Fields. Indeed, the loss of
life is a terrible tragedy—particularly in situations initiated by
the radicalized. For resolution, what demands society's focus is the
discounted evildoer himself, not the distraction of his method.
Philosophically to blame a criminal's firearm is equivalent to
condemning the car or the truck rather than its driver. It's a false
premise that misses the crux of the issue. Such intentional naivety
actually endangers the public. These days, in diverse gathering
places like First Baptist Church or Sandy
Hook Elementary School, what's become more unsafe than a gun-free
zone?
Twitter: @DavidHunterblog
http://patriotpost.us/commentators/446
http://www.americanthinker.com/author/david_l_hunter/
http://canadafreepress.com/members/74987/DavidLHunter/976
No comments:
Post a Comment