"National Cathedral dean challenges people of faith to take on gun lobby"
That is the Dec. 17 headline in the Washington Post in which the Very Rev. Gary Hall "appealed to worshipers to help lawmakers pass legislation that would limit access to weapons. …
"'What does it say about us as a community of human beings that we are willing to put our children, not to mention their teachers, in so much jeopardy? ... What are we, as people of faith, to do?'
"Hall called on the nation to address gun violence, urging faith communities to take the lead in pushing for effective gun-control measures, particularly access to assault weapons. He called on people across religious traditions to 'serve as a counterweight to the gun lobby.'"
The Post's story, by reporters Jeannine Hunter and Hamil R. Harris, also reported:
TRENDING: 'Art of the Deal': How Trump turns COVID issue into 'win-win'
"Another worshiper, who declined to give his name and said his wife is in law enforcement, said he vehemently opposes Hall's stance."
According to Jim Kouri, vice president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police, former police detective Mike Snopes said that gun-free zones invite killers:
"'The killer in [Newtown] came armed for bear and couldn't care less about some gun law. The school's anti-gun law prevented any adults working at the school from having access to a firearm. If the school's principal had been armed and trained, she might have saved many lives. Had several people been armed at that school, the shooter, suspect Adam Lanza, would have possibly been stopped at the front door by a [hail] of bullets,' said the former NYPD detective."
While being interviewed by Fox News, NYPD Detective John Baeza noted that the Colorado movie theater shooting occurred at a large shopping mall that was a gun-free zone.
Then, the following statements from around the nation provide further devastating contrast to the National Cathedral's dean:
- "Gun-control supporters have the blood of little children on their hands. Federal and state laws combined to ensure that no teacher, no administrator, no adult had a gun at the Newtown school where the children were murdered. This tragedy underscores the urgency of getting rid of gun bans in school zones. The only thing accomplished by gun-free zones is to ensure that mass murderers can slay more before they are finally confronted by someone with a gun." (That's from Larry Pratt, executive director of the Gun Owners of America.)
- Former Arizona Sheriff Richard Mack: "The suspect goes to the principal's office while the announcements are playing, over the PA, to the whole school. Everyone in the school hears shots being fired. Had teachers or school employees been armed, instead of fleeing and allowing the killer to walk around the facility unimpeded, the school staff could have surrounded the madman and ended the attack. … Does gun control reduce crime and thereby make us safer? Does gun control pose any risks to our safety or security? Is gun control lawful and constitutional? The answer to these questions is no!"
- In his Dec. 16 FrontPage magazine column, Daniel Greenfield wrote the following: "A gun-free zone is where everyone is a target and tries to live under the illusion that they aren't. Gun control will not really control guns, but it will give the illusion of controlling people, and even when it fails, those in authority will be able to say that they did everything that they could short of giving people the ability to defend themselves."
In a Dec. 14 column, Greenfield wrote, "America now has its second-worst mass shooting. And it, as usual, was accompanied by calls for gun control. It's no coincidence that we have had quite a few spree killings in such a short time. The lavish coverage of every shooting by the media encourages every shooter to think that he will be famous if he goes out and kills. And that is exactly what happens.
"Our shooters are creatures of the media, not the NRA. A media that turns killers into celebrities and then warns that the only way to stop more shootings is by cracking down on firearms.
"But no amount of media coverage ever stopped a man with a gun. It only encouraged him. It takes a gun to stop a man with a gun. That is the hard truth of human affairs. It is why we have a Second Amendment, it is why we have armies and police, and it is why people own guns.
"There is no going back to a time before people owned guns. There is no going back to a time when violence did not exist. There is only the reality that killers stalk the streets and that we can either defend against them or take comfort in empty outrage.
"Guns stop shootings. Not all the time and not every time, but they do. Gun control does not. Media coverage calling for gun control does not.
"Gun crime was up 35 percent in the U.K., which has harsh gun-control laws. And Europe has had plenty of its own school massacres.
"Thomas Hamilton killed 16 children in the Dunblane school massacre in 1996 using four handguns.
"In Germany, in the Winnenden school shooting in 2009, Tim Kretschmer, killed 16 people, including nine students. In the Erfurt massacre in 2002, Robert Steinhäuser killed 16 people with a handgun and a shotgun.
"In Finland, in the Jokela school shooting of 2007, Pekka-Eric Auvinen killed eight people. In the Kauhajoki school shooting, Matti Juhani Saari killed 10 people.
"The media will pretend that this sort of thing only happens in America."