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THE KILLING ZONE...WHEREVER GUNS ARE PROHIBITED
The Federal Observer ^ | May 20, 2002 | William A. Shields

Posted on 05/20/2002 12:05:59 PM PDT by tarawa

THE KILLING ZONE... WHEREVER GUNS ARE PROHIBITED By William A. Shields - Ether Zone

Gun control laws kill people.

I came to this conclusion a long time ago. It was an easy deduction to reach. I simply observed the related events, applied reason and logic, especially with consideration to human nature, and the outcome was a lead pipe cinch.

Consider: A person or persons, bent on exercising power and deadly force on others, brings a gun or other weapon(s) to a place where he or she can be reasonably certain that there will be unarmed people to victimize.

Every crime needs a crime scene, but what I find fascinating about the type of crime described above is that it's location is not all that random and can even be predicted. In fact, look around your immediate surroundings. You may be standing in the middle of a killing zone right now.

A potential perpetrator of gun violence and mass murder has a most helpful accomplice. This accomplice provides the killing zone, and ensures that there will be lots of ready, unwitting and defenseless victims ripe for the taking inside the killing zone. The accomplice is government.

A deranged maniac boards a commuter train in New York City. The unwitting passengers don't realize they are in a prime killing zone: a high-speed metal tube, from which escape is unlikely, and in which the presence of an armed, law abiding citizen is just as improbable.

Other killing zones are not hard to locate. The casual observer, or the psychotic killer can easily identify them. They exist wherever guns are prohibited, or severely restricted. Schools and airports come immediately to mind. Everyday, without thinking about it, millions of Americans are moving from one killing zone to another. In fact, many are moving from some extremely dangerous zones to moderately dangerous zones and back again. A person strapped into a seat aboard an airliner at LaGuardia airport in New York (a strict gun control city and state) is a person in a killing zone (seated aboard an airplane) inside another killing zone ( airport ) in another double killing zone (New York, New York).

All of the people killed in the 9-11 tragedy died as a result of gun control. All of the people murdered by Colin Ferguson during the Long Island Railroad massacre, also died as a result of gun control. How many times must we hear, after these horrible tragedies, the same sad and torturous lament: "If only someone was there with a gun." But you see, guns are not allowed in the killing zones. That is what makes them the killing zones.

After the Columbine incident, a liberal friend jousted with me on the subject of gun control. He said, "Willie, our kids are being KILLED in their schools! We must do something!" I replied that the answers are written in the constitution. If you must run, run toward the U.S. Constitution, not away from it.

And that is my answer to the killing zones created by the collectivists that want us all dependent on government. Embrace, protect and defend the Constitution. If you are able, apply for a concealed carry permit and by doing so, you'll put another gun in a place where it can do some good. When an armed, law-abiding citizen walks into a killing zone, he introduces a measure of safety that instantly changes the complexion of the area, even if other citizens are unaware of their newly acquired safety, or their previous position of jeopardy.

Don't subsidize airline cowardice. The airlines, (and the federal government) by prohibiting guns have made themselves responsible for the safety of the individuals who choose to participate in their transportation service industry. The problem is, they are not getting the job done, and in fact, have failed miserably. This makes the risks inherent in flying far too overwhelming to tolerate. I propose a boycott of the entire industry.

If Tom Ridge were serious about homeland security he would urge the repeal of all gun control laws and encourage all able citizens to carry and carry responsibly.

Let's all work toward ending this culture of death forced on us by the government. Let's change the killing zones into the freedom zones and living zones that were envisioned by the framers of the U.S. Constitution.

About the Author William A. Shields is a contributor to the American Reformation Project. William A. Shields is the Chairman of the Delaware Reform Party. He is a former U.S. Marine with 19 years experience as an air traffic controller. He is the former President of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, EWR Local. He is a new columnist for Ether Zone.

Published in the May 20, 2002 issue of Ether Zone. Copyright (c) 1997 - 2002 Ether Zone.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government
KEYWORDS: 2ndamendment; banglist; hoplophobes; rkba
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1 posted on 05/20/2002 12:06:00 PM PDT by tarawa
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To: basil
ping
2 posted on 05/20/2002 12:06:24 PM PDT by tarawa
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To: da_toolman;jdogbearhunter;stalkingelk
Ping
3 posted on 05/20/2002 12:11:39 PM PDT by phasma proeliator
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To: tarawa; Sirgawain
Ping

BANG!

4 posted on 05/20/2002 12:16:25 PM PDT by DCBryan1
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To: bang_list
Bang!
5 posted on 05/20/2002 12:18:04 PM PDT by Shooter 2.5
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To: tarawa
The areas with the most gun control are also the same areas that have the poorest performing schools, the highest pollution, the greratest number of union workers (dems), the most amount of welfare recipients and generally the greater amount of social ills. These areas are the same blue sectors that we saw in the red v. blue 2000 election maps.

THESE ARE THE SAME AREAS THAT ARE CONTROLLED BY DEMOCRATS!

6 posted on 05/20/2002 12:19:48 PM PDT by umgud
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To: umgud
Code Red!
7 posted on 05/20/2002 12:20:38 PM PDT by LurkedLongEnough
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To: tarawa
I seem to recall that a man by the name of Goetz shot some perpetrators of a crime on the New York subway several years ago. He was the one who went to jail.
8 posted on 05/20/2002 12:25:47 PM PDT by enotheisen
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To: tarawa
I have to agree up to a point. However, having every yahoo onboard a commercial flight packing a pistol is a bit un-nerving. Should one gun misfire, everyone onboard dies. I have no problem with arming the pilots (in fact, am a strong proponent of that), and have no problem with guns in an airport. But, I would like to see guns collected upon boarding the aircraft (exept for the airline crew).
9 posted on 05/20/2002 12:32:45 PM PDT by Hodar
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To: tarawa
Obviously, guns are prohibited in Afghanistan!
10 posted on 05/20/2002 12:34:54 PM PDT by verity
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To: tarawa
"All of the people killed in the 9-11 tragedy died as a result of gun control."

Fantastic line. And absolutely, tragically true.

Our response? Eliminate anything that could possibly be a weapon on an airplane.

I'm surprised we haven't required passengers' feet be shackled. After all, that would prevent someone from busting the cabin door open. So what if it would also prevent a Todd Beamer from charging a hijacker? The logic fits everything else we've done.
11 posted on 05/20/2002 12:39:36 PM PDT by RightOnTheLeftCoast
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To: Hodar
"Should one gun misfire, everyone onboard dies."

Absolutely false. It made for a wonderful scene in "Goldfinger", but that's not what happens. Please don't perpetuate that nonsense.
12 posted on 05/20/2002 12:41:35 PM PDT by RightOnTheLeftCoast
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To: enotheisen
Bernie Goetz didnt go to jail. He was aquited.
13 posted on 05/20/2002 12:46:21 PM PDT by Phantom Lord
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To: Hodar
Should one gun misfire, everyone onboard dies.

You may recall a Aloha Airlines jet that lost a 9 foot section of fuselage roof and one flight attendant, that landed safely. If ripping out an apartment-room-sized chunk of siding doesn't bring a plane down, then it's pretty absurd to claim that a 9 mm hole will.

Here's a photo to jog your memory:

14 posted on 05/20/2002 12:54:53 PM PDT by coloradan
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To: Phantom Lord
Here's the story on Bernie Goetz:

"Goetz, who did not testify during the trial, was acquitted of attempted murder charges. He was convicted on a weapons charge and served 8-1/2 months in jail."

15 posted on 05/20/2002 12:58:06 PM PDT by toddst
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To: Hodar
I don't mean to sound like I'm slamming you, but, you don't understand how firearms would work on an airliner. A reasonable restriction would be on the ammo type. "Frangible" ammo would not pierce an airliner's fusilage. But even if non-frangible ammo were allowed on a plane, a single bullet hole would not endanger the aircraft. You are also failing to see the "big picture". Little bullet holes cause less damage to a plane than large buildings do.
16 posted on 05/20/2002 1:19:28 PM PDT by Redcloak
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To: Redcloak
OK .. I'll concede that the airliner will survive ... but you still have the Billy-Bob idiots who play with their guns. I mean, sitting in a chair for hours gets boring. Now, he has 30 some people sitting directly in front of him, so when the idiot (and we all know the world is full of idiots who should never, ever be allowed to purchase a firearm, for their own safety) finally discharge a weapon, how many people will be hurt? In an aircraft, you can't get away from an idiot, there's no where to hide. I still say that arming the flight crew is a good idea ... I just want to draw the line at allowing every passenger (unless we can screen the inept out) to pack is a bit much. Off duty officers and military personell would be able to pack, but I would prefer to see the 'Billy-Bobs' check their weapons at the door.
17 posted on 05/20/2002 1:35:20 PM PDT by Hodar
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To: Hodar
I trust "Billy-Bob" with a gun far more than I do "Achmed" with a box cutter.
18 posted on 05/20/2002 1:38:55 PM PDT by Redcloak
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To: tarawa
Good find. Mr. Shields is right on the mark.

I have been saying since September 11, 2001 that "For the want of 19 bullets and four handguns, over 3,000 people died."

I am not fond of saying it, but it is true.

There is no question in my mind that if the same rules were in effect today with respect to airline travel that were in effect in the immediate post-World War II and Korean War era, this tragedy would never have happened.

In those days (prior to roughly 1963 or so), people could legally carry concealed weapons on airplanes, and there were no hijackings. The hijackings began after the passengers were disarmed (when the "security checks" were implemented). BTW, a lot of airline pilots carried handguns in their "Jepp chart" cases in those days, too.

Consider the history of citizen disarmament: Each society in history which has been disarmed by its own government has experienced increasing violence and crime, or genocide, often both.

Why should we expect America in the 21st Century to be any different?

BTW, the Second Amendment is the only CCW any of us needs -- and all it does is reaffirm a God given right.

19 posted on 05/20/2002 2:07:52 PM PDT by Taxman
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To: Hodar
Should one gun misfire, everyone onboard dies.

Please explain your thoughts on this.

20 posted on 05/20/2002 2:15:41 PM PDT by Eagle Eye
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