Copy Cats

[AlertsList at FirearmsCoalition.org (Firearms Coalition)]

   There was another tragedy at a school yesterday.  It might have been 
preventable.  It might have been stoppable.  An armed citizen might have 
ended the killing.  But not in Illinois.  The Illinois government 
doesn't trust its citizens with guns. 

   After the tragedy at Virginia Tech I wrote the attached piece.  It 
makes some good points, but there was a major flaw in it.  As mentioned 
in the article, one of the primary motivators for this kind of senseless 
crime is the public recognition that the murderers receive.  They post 
pictures and videos on FaceBook and MySpace that they know will be 
plastered on the evening news and they write nonsensical diatribes about 
the unfairness and depravity in the world as if they are some sort of 
messiah or avenging angel.  The truth is that they are just demented 
cowards seeking attention.  The flaw in the attached article was that I 
mentioned the names of some of the murderers.  

   The media figured out long ago that it's a bad idea to show streakers 
and unruly fans at football and baseball games.  When some idiot runs 
out onto the field in his birthday suit the cameras cut away and the 
announcers just comment that there's an idiot screwing up the game.  
They never publicize the moron's name or discuss his actions because 
they know that the publicity will just encourage some other moron to 
play copy-cat.  For some reason they can't maintain that kind of 
standard when mass murder is involved.  They seek out the murderer's 
family and friends, they publish their rants and photo's and they give 
the bastards exactly what they want -- fame.

   I'm just a little-bitty corner of the media; a small voice crying out 
in the wilderness, but I will never again name a murderer or play a role 
in keeping his memory alive.  I hope that others in the media will grow 
a conscience and do likewise.  I don't expect it, but I will continue to 
hope.

   You can help by supporting our work, reposting this and our other 
writings widely on the internet and at gun clubs and shops, and by 
supporting Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC) at 
www.ConcealedCampus.org.  They are organizing another of their "Empty 
Holster" protests for the week of April 21 through 25.  Students around 
the country will strap on empty holsters that week as a visible protest 
against being denied the right to defend themselves.  SCCC is looking 
for students and student groups on campuses nationwide to participate in 
the protest and for gunowners to help out by spreading the word, 
donating or loaning holsters, and of course helping to pay for the whole 
thing.

   My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and families of this 
selfish, cowardly monster.  My actions and writings will continue to 
focus on restoring the basic human right of self-defense in an effort to 
give future victims a fighting chance.  These tragedies can be prevented 
and stopped.  It's time to end imaginary "Gun Free Zones" and stop 
disarming victims.

   Yours for the Second Amendment,

      Jeff Knox
   The Firearms Coalition


  *Ending Massacres for Good*

   By Jeff Knox

   (Manassas, VA, April 17, 2007)  Thirty two students and faculty 
members of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University were 
brutally murdered on April 16.  The story attracted massive media 
attention all over the world.  Not the worst school massacre in U.S. 
history, but the most deadly school shooting (the worst used bombs not 
guns).  In the aftermath, a serious concern is that history says such 
highly publicized criminal acts generate copycat crimes; the greater the 
media coverage, the more copycats -- and they may take years to act.  
Every parent of college students in the United States, and every 
student, needs to be thinking about that fact and devising action plans. 

   No gun control law, no campus alert system, no increased police 
presence, buddy-system walking plan, or emergency call-box can stop a 
killer committed to the idea of immortalizing himself through murder.  
The only gun law which might have mitigated the carnage at Virginia Tech 
was a law rejected at the urging of school administrators in the past 
two sessions of the Virginia Legislature:  a law forbidding state 
colleges and universities to prohibit lawful firearms possession on 
their campuses.

   If concealed weapons permit holders were not prohibited from bringing 
their guns onto the campus, would one or more of them likely have been 
in a position to abbreviate this latest tragedy?  That's hard to say, 
but there can be no argument that the school's policy of disarmament 
guaranteed that there would be virtually no chance of any of the victims 
mounting an armed response.

   The previous "worst shooting in U.S. history" was almost stopped by a 
young woman who happened to be in Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas 
having lunch with her parents when XXXXXXX drove his truck through the 
front window and began methodically executing people.

   Suzanna Gratia (now Suzanna Hupp), had been convinced to carry a gun 
by a prosecutor friend and she had done so without incident for quite 
some time, but had recently begun to worry about the legal ramifications 
of being caught with the weapon.  Texas did not have any provision for 
legal concealed carry of firearms at that time and Suzanna was worried 
about losing her chiropractic license.  She had left the gun in her 
glove box rather than carrying it in her purse.

   When the shooting started, Suzie instinctively reached for her purse 
before realizing that it would do her no good.  In the next few minutes, 
23 people were murdered, including both of Suzie's parents, and many 
more were wounded.  Throughout the ordeal, no matter how desperately she 
wanted it, Suzanna Gratia was unable to psychically transport the .38 
S&W Chief's Special from her locked glove box back into her purse where 
it could do her and the others in the restaurant some good.

   Another friend, Jacquie Miller, had her gun with her in spite of 
Kentucky law forbidding it.  Unfortunately, retrieving her gun took just 
a second too long.  XXXXXXX shot her just as her hand wrapped around the 
butt of her Charter Arms revolver.

   Both of these women suffered greatly and both went on to champion the 
cause of legal concealed carry laws.  Both of their attackers took their 
own lives after snuffing out the lives of many others.  Both of these 
women knew that they could have dramatically abbreviated these deadly 
sprees.  As Suzanna likes to say, having a gun might not prevent an 
attack, but it certainly will make one end quicker.

   Unfortunately, from a PR standpoint, shooting sprees that are cut 
short by armed citizens don't break any death-toll records and therefore 
don't receive much media attention.  In 1997, after XXXXXXX had stabbed 
his mother to death and shot and killed his ex-girlfriend as well as 
wounding several other students in Pearl, Mississippi, Assistant 
Principal Joel Myrick used a .45 Auto to apprehend XXXXXXX and hold him 
for police.  XXXXXXX still had a lot of ammo and police suspect he was 
on his way to another school to continue his rampage.  Joel Myrick, and 
the illegal gun he had retrieved from his car, cut those plans short.

   As students and parents take a closer look at college security and 
think about the inevitable copycat attacks that will occur over the next 
year or two, personal security must be carefully considered.  A firearm 
and training should be a part of that consideration. 

   Carrying a gun is like wearing a seatbelt.  You don't wear a seatbelt 
because you expect or hope to get into a car wreck.  You wear it because 
you never know what might happen and wearing it could save your life.

  * **Permission to reprint or post this article in its entirety is 
hereby granted provided this credit is included.  To Receive the 
Firearms Coalition's bi-monthly newsletter, The Hard Corps Report, send 
a contribution to The Firearms Coalition, PO Box 3313, Manassas, VA  
20108 or visit FirearmsCoalition.org and ShotgunNews.com  ?Copyright 
2007-2008 Neal Knox Associates*

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