Dear Conservative,
I could have written this last week, but out of respect for the victims and their families, I wanted to refrain from politicizing the tragedy at Fort Hood. While many gun control groups have yet to learn this type of restraint, I thought it would be best to allow the dust to settle.
On April 2, 2014, the Fort Hood military base experienced its second shooting in 5 years. While the 2009 shooting committed by Major Nidal Hassan is easily classified as an act of terrorism (Obama continues to label it “work place violence”), there is no evidence to suggest that the most recent shooting is terroristic in nature. No, it appears that Ivan Lopez went on his shooting spree, killing three and wounding sixteen, all because his superiors denied his request for leave.
Gun control proponents are already chomping at the bit to reintroduce some of their most heinous gun control bills. The day after the shooting, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and others called for the reintroduction of the universal background check bill that failed to muster enough votes a year ago. Once again, rather than target the people actually committing the crimes, those in Congress will choose a dragnet strategy that will inevitably punish you for the crimes of others.
Gun control advocates are blaming the gun store that sold Lopez the gun, highlighting that it is the same gun store that served Nidal Hassan before his shooting spree. They are blaming the fact that Lopez was able to buy a gun while being evaluated for a mental illness, claiming that simply seeking treatment should be enough to disqualify someone from owning a firearm. They are using this as an excuse to push for the complete disarmament of all veterans showing signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
The gun control advocates are blaming everyone and everything for the recent shooting at Fort Hood, except for the fact that Fort Hood is, for all intents and purposes, a gun free zone!
Now, I know what you’re thinking: How can a military base possibly be a gun free zone? Obviously there are firearms on a military base, but the vast majority of soldiers on base are not allowed to carry one.
You can thank Bill Clinton for that! In 1993, Clinton decreed that military personnel were prohibited from carrying firearms for personal protection unless a “specific threat against [Army] personnel [exists] in that region.”
The sad fact is that because of this “gun free zone” regulation, a gunman would face more return fire if they tried to rob a Texas Wal-Mart than they would if they assaulted a military base… Think about that for a second… There is something seriously wrong if our military bases provide less armed resistance than shopping centers…
Our military men and women, the best trained fighting force in the world, are essentially sitting ducks because while we trusted them with firearms abroad, we have chosen to disarm them stateside.
It is a sad day in America when our military bases are forced to call 911 when they come under attack! But that is how the Democrats want it, not just on military bases but throughout America.
The fact remains that it is impossible to defend against all attacks. No matter how many checkpoints you have in place or how many guards are on duty, criminals and terrorists will always find a way to sneak a weapon in and do harm with it. Only the law abiding citizens obey “gun free zone” signs. Gunmen look at these signs and only see fish in a barrel. There is a reason that nearly every mass shooting takes place in an area where guns are prohibited: assailants want to kill as many as possible without fear of resistance.
Not everyone in Congress is blind to this simple cause-and-effect relationship. Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) has introduced H.R. 3199, the Safe Military Bases Act. “Only the most out-of-touch radical would try to disarm soldiers. It’s time to repeal this deadly anti-gun law before it creates another killing,” Stockman explains, “This is the third shooting on a military base in five years and it’s because our trained soldiers aren’t allowed to carry defensive weapons. Anti-gun activists have turned our military bases into soft targets for killers.”
Our men and women in uniform are not allowed to speak out about this heinous gun free zone regulation. If they did, they would be reprimanded and punished. Unless Congress acts and allows our military personnel to use their training to actually protect themselves, we will see more tragedies like this in the future.
The data clearly shows that when citizens are allowed to legally carry guns for self-defense, the crime rate plummets. Just this year, Illinois has started allowing trained citizens to carry concealed weapons in public. This law has been in effect for only three months, yet in this short timeframe, Chicago experienced the lowest quarterly murder rate since 1958.
Let that sink in… It took just three months of concealed carry in Illinois to turn the tide against 56 years of violent crime enabled by Democrat policies. It doesn’t take a statistician to see that there is a strong correlation between allowing defensive carry and a lowering crime rate.
The fact that our military men and women are prohibited from defending themselves should outrage you!
The fact that these soldiers are forced to call 911 when a shooter opens fire should outrage you!
And the fact that when the dust settles, the idiots in Congress still continue to target YOU instead of the criminals that commit these crimes should outrage you!
Only you can ensure that the men and women who defend our freedom are allowed to also defend themselves! Only you can ensure that Congress passes H.R. 3199 The Safe Military Bases Act!
This bill was introduced last September and it has sat in committee ever since. If Congress would have done its job and allowed our soldiers to protect themselves, then last week’s Fort Hood shooting might have been averted.
Every day that Congress refuses to vote on this bill is another day that our military men and women are left as sitting ducks. How many more shootings must happen before Congress realizes that the solution to this senseless killing is allowing soldiers to defend themselves?
Sincerely,
Joe Otto
Conservative Daily
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