"Wisdom too often never comes, and so one ought not to reject it merely because it comes late." - US Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter
In the last decade of the last century, when the gun control lobby's grip on this nation's social consciousness was at its peak, anti-gun politicians were able to convince President George H. W. Bush to sign the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 into law on November 29, 1990. Under the guise of the politically-correct concept of protecting this nation's children from the terrible reality of gun violence, the gun control lobby was able to convince the Legislative branch of our federal government that enacting such a law would be taking a step in the right direction against violent crime, particularly in a school setting. However, when the US Supreme Court found this law to be an unconstitutional exercise of Congressional authority under the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution in United States v. Lopez, the gun control lobby simply regrouped and then sidestepped a few details of the case and forced this same unconstitutional law down the American people's throats through the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1995, signed by President Bill Clinton into law.
Fortunately, the reality today is that the gun control lobby has seen itself descend into a state of greatly diminished relevance in modern American politics. However, the remnants of anti-gun thinking from a bygone age still linger in certain areas of the country. For instance, in California, State Senator Ted Lieu, has just introduced SB 661, a bill that would extend current Gun Free School Zone laws from the federal standard of 1,000 feet to a State standard of 1,500 feet. If SB 661 passes into law, not only would it be unconstitutional but it would also place the lives of common, law-abiding Californians at greater risk when faced with violent criminals.
Unlike violent criminals, common, law-abiding citizens take great pains to not break the law. Take, for instance, members of California's growing Open Carry Movement, where armed, law-abiding citizens take the federal Gun Free School Zone laws into careful consideration when planning to carry an openly-holstered handgun while conducting their day-to-day business in a public setting.
Meanwhile, violent criminals have clearly demonstrated no such respect for the law. With the federal Gun Free School Zone laws firmly in place for nearly five years, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold clearly didn't give those laws any consideration before they walked onto their high school campus in Columbine, Colorado on April 20, 1999 and proceeded to murder 12 of their schoolmates and one teacher in cold blood and wounding 21 others before taking their own lives in a tragedy that has been dubbed natiowide as the Columbine Massacre.
Or, here in California, where violent criminals perpetrate one shooting or armed robbery after another within Gun Free School Zones with sickening regularity. Take, for instance, the shooting of a Valley High School basketball star, Cedric Wilson, in Sacramento on November 30, 2010.
Or, on October 8, 2010, when a violent criminal opened fire and wounded two children in Carlsbad, California at Kelly Elementary School. It was only because of the quick thinking of common, law-abiding citizen, Carlos Partida, who hit the shooter with his truck, that more children were not shot or possibly killed that day.
Or, on January 19, 2011, when a Bell High School student was shot near a hamburger stand in Los Angeles about a half block from campus.
Or, when three shotgun-wielding armed robbers approached two men near the Stonestown Galleria Mall in San Francisco and robbed them on December 8, 2010, clearly within the Gun Free School Zone of Mercy High School.
Or, when an armed robbery occurred near the corner of Oak Grove Rd. and Treat Blvd. in Concord on January 8, 2011, clearly within the Gun Free School Zone of Ygnacio Valley High School.
Or, when a man was shot at a San Jose McDonalds during the lunch hour rush near Monroe Middle School and Del Mar High School on March 16, 2011.
Or, when a woman was carjacked and shot on San Juan Avenue in Los Angeles on November 12, 2010, clearly within the Gun Free School Zone of San Gabriel Avenue Elementary School.
Or, when a gunman walked into Avanti Jewelers in Hermosa Beach on August 4, 2010 and tied up an employee and made off with merchandise and cash, no more than 300 feet away from Pier Avenue Junior High School.
Or, when two violent criminals with a shotgun and a pistol robbed a Subway sandwich shop in Dana Plaza in Concord on October 18, 2010, clearly within the Gun Free School Zone of Nueva Vista High School.
Or, when two armed suspects robbed a liquor store and assaulted at least one employee at 3460 Clayton Rd. in Concord on March 22, 2011 while clearly within the Gun Free School Zone of El Monte Elementary School.
This author can continue to provide one real-life example of Gun Free School Zone violations after another ad nauseum. The point is that violent criminals clearly have no respect for the law and that no amount of legislation on any level is going to change this basic fact. Gun Free School Zones only serve to encourage those violent criminals to commit their crimes by providing them with the incentive of knowing that they will not encounter armed resistance from common, law-abiding citizens when attacking their innocent victims. What's worse is that many of these real-life news stories don't even mention the fact that these crimes took place in Gun Free School Zones so the general public is largely unaware of the scale and depth of the problem. It is only by locating the schools nearby by performing a search on Google that these Gun Free School Zone violations are revealed. And to make matters even more serious, when violent criminals are caught and arrested for perpetrating these shootings and armed robberies in Gun Free School Zones, they are very rarely charged with (much less convicted of) the felony count of violating Gun Free School Zone laws by any of our law enforcement agencies.
Contrast these news stories of armed violence in Gun Free School Zones with the real-life instances where armed, law-abiding citizens were able to make a real difference in saving lives either on school campuses or in the Gun Free School Zones associated with them. Take, for instance, asssistant principal, Joel Myrick, of Pearl High School in Mississippi. In October of 1997, Myrick heard gunshots ring out on campus and immediately ran to his vehicle (parked approximately a quarter mile off campus and thus complying with Gun Free School Zone laws), retrieved his legally-owned, CCW-permitted handgun, loaded it, and ran all the way back to campus. He then confronted the shooter, Luke Woodham, in the parking lot and held him at gunpoint until the police could arrive. Woodham had left for school that morning after having slashed his own mother's throat, carried his .30-30 lever-action hunting rifle on campus and killed two of his fellow schoolmates before being stopped by the assistant principal.
Or, look no further than the Parker Middle School dance shooting that took place on April 24, 1998, where armed, law-abiding restaurant owner, James Strand, confronted 14-year-old Andrew Wurst with a shotgun after Wurst had killed teacher, John Gillette, and wounded another teacher, Edrye Boraten, and two students, Jacob Tury and Justin Fletcher, at the 8th grade graduation dance being held at Nick's Place, the restaurant that Strand owned. Strand held Wurst at gunpoint for 11 minutes before police could arrive and prevented Wurst from murdering or wounding even more innocent victims before he could be found and stopped by the police.
Unfortunately, because of our nation's Gun Free School Zone laws, these real-life instances of armed, law-abiding citizens stopping school shootings either on campus or in the Gun Free School Zones nearby are few and far between. Common, law-abiding citizens' rights and abilities to intervene and defend themselves in schools or school zones have largely been legislated out of existence and violent criminals have benefited as a result. Now, instead of making the effort to repeal our nation's Gun Free School Zone laws, California State Senator Ted Lieu is taking the unconstitutional step of trying to give violent criminals a safer working environment by expanding these Gun Free School Zones in California from 1,000 to 1,500 feet. Any Californians who are opposed to this legislation can sign the online petition posted by Opencarry.org and Responsible Citizens of California against SB 661 (and AB 144, the Open Carry ban bill) or by sending a letter in opposition to this measure to their State legislators. In spite of the efforts of politicians like Ted Lieu, there are government officials in our nation who are actually working on behalf of the People. For instance, Chief U.S. District Court Judge Charles N. Clevert saw the lunacy of our federal Gun Free School Zone laws and recently ruled against the City of Greenfield, Wisconsin in denying their request to dismiss a lawsuit that challenged the legality of banning firearms within 1,000 feet of a school. This will be the case to watch. Depending on the final court ruling, this federal case may set a legal precedent that could positively impact every common, law-abiding citizen's right and ability to defend him or herself while traversing through the maze of this nation's Gun Free School Zones.
Comments