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Gun control and saving Captain Phillips (Part 2)
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In Part 1, we examined the basic truths that the government cannot and will not be responsible for anybody’s safety. Then exactly how can one best provide for their own protection?
Truth 3: Unarmed defense doesn’t work.
Reprising Admiral Gortney’s interview with National Public Radio, he stated:
"What I am pushing, what we are pushing with the shipping industry, is that they need to put security detachments on these vessels," he says. [Emphasis added]
Compare this to the policy of Maersk, owner of the ship Alabama:
"All the crew members are trained in security detail in how to deal with piracy," Maersk CEO John Reinhart told reporters. "As merchant vessels we do not carry arms. We have ways to push back, but we do not carry arms." [Emphasis added]
In a previous article, we examined how active killers prefer unarmed victims. There is no reason to assume that active hijackers would be any different. By telegraphing that their ships are victim disarmament zones, shipping companies like Maersk assure the Somalian pirates of easy targets. So it should come as no surprise that four more ships were hijacked in the last three days, with a fifth narrowly escaping capture:
In defiance of President Barack Obama's vow to halt their banditry, pirates have seized four vessels and over 75 hostages off the Horn of Africa since Sunday's dramatic rescue of an American freighter captain.
One pirate declared Wednesday they are grabbing more ships and hostages to prove they are not intimidated by Obama's pledge.
"Our latest hijackings are meant to show that no one can deter us from protecting our waters from the enemy because we believe in dying for our land," Omar Dahir Idle told The Associated Press by telephone from the Somali port of Harardhere.
Despite our government’s warning, the pirates continue to act with impunity because they know:
· The government cannot protect the ships, and
· The ships cannot protect themselves.
Maersk’s idea of “security details” sounds like play-acting. What Admiral Gortney is talking about is crews that are armed and tactically trained, much like concealed carry, as all arms may not be visible from outside the ship. In America, states where law-abiding citizens carry concealed handguns have a 31.1% lower violent crime rate and a 38.5% lower murder rate than states that require victims to go outside unarmed.* When criminals don’t know who’s armed, they hesitate to attack.
Truth 4: Men with guns saved Captain Phillips.
It took only three remarkable shots — one each by snipers firing from a distance at dusk, using night-vision scopes, the officials said. Within minutes, rescuers slid down ropes from the Bainbridge, climbed aboard the lifeboat and found the three pirates dead. They then untied Captain Phillips, ending the contretemps at sea that had riveted much of the world’s attention.
Granted, few civilians are trained to the level of a Navy SEAL, but there are plenty of opportunities to acquire training in small arms and tactical shooting skills. One need only Google “tactical shooting” to return pages of results for training academies and courses.
Shipping companies require their crews to sail the high seas unarmed, leaving them vulnerable to criminals who can buy any weapon they desire on the international black market. These same companies celebrate when government agents with superior firepower save their men and property. The main question here: Is it fair to ask the American people to pay for the Navy to be ocean police, when these for-profit corporations could and should protect their own employees and investments?
References
Violent crime data compiled from FBI data. Email request for Excel spreadsheet.
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For in-depth analysis of the issues discussed here, read Howard’s book Four Hundred Years of Gun Control: Why Isn’t It Working?, which deconstructs the gun control agenda and motivates more people to support our civil right of self-defense.
Check out other Gun Rights Examiners:
- Atlanta: Mainstream media misleads on the gun permit issue
- Austin: Gun control and saving Captain Phillips (Part 1)
- Boston: The Educated Patriot: The REAL Boston Tea Party
- Charlotte: Myths of armed self-defense: ‘If I only had’…the truth
- Cleveland: Summit County backs off on employee gun ban proposal
- DC: Breaking News: Federal civil rights lawsuit filed against West Milwaukee
- Denver: Why we can't close the "gun show loophole"
- Los Angeles: Is the Anti-gun personality backing down or being brought down?
- Milwaukee: Vote today for Constitutional justice- Vote Koschnick
- Minneapolis: A Cowboy's Easter
- National: Why does Homeland Security's gun smuggling report mislead law enforcement?
- Seattle: ABC’s anti-gun bias revealed in 20/20 anti-gun hit piece
- St. Louis: Missouri making progress toward legal, armed self-defense on campus
- Wisconsin: New judge in town
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