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The threat to the lives and property of average citizens posed by ongoing threats from terrorists and terrorist groups demonstrates that people need guns for protection against these threats.
Interestingly, the fifth anniversary of the 9-11 attacks on our country by airline-grabbing islamist suicide bombers occurs in just several weeks, September 11, 2006. When reflecting thoughtfully on those attacks, there is at least one among several considerations that comes to mind. If even one American passenger was carrying a loaded handgun aboard one of the aircraft, the attack on at least that one plane could well have turned out much differently than it did. Ditto if there was such an armed citizen on the other aircraft.
Our narrow-minded, politically correct public policies, however, prevent officials from even speculating, at least in public, about the possibility of such a change in attitude. “Citizens, law-abiding citizens carrying guns, let alone loaded guns, on airplanes? How absurd! How ridiculous! How insane!”
How myopic!
So myopic, in fact, that social, political, media, business, professional and ecclesiastic elitists refuse to recognize a salient fact. Scholarly studies demonstrate quite conclusively that guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens correlate with significant declines in the rates of violent criminal activity. As the title of one of these published studies proclaims: “More Guns – Less Crime.”
So tragically myopic, really, that it still is almost impossible for airline pilots to carry handguns in the cockpit for self-defense and the defense of crew, passengers, aircraft and even citizens on the ground from hate-filled attacking terrorists. Even though Congress has passed and President George W. Bush more than once has signed legislation to enable at least qualified pilots who volunteer for participation in an armed pilots program, it’s just not happening. That’s because top officials in the Department of Transportation and the Transportation Security Administration have created so many roadblocks to pilot participation that only a small fraction of those who could participate actually do.
The government and industry powers that be regarding airline safety apparently rather would rely exclusively on spending more and more American taxpayer money to create elaborate electronic detection systems and inconvenience seriously law-abiding airline passengers. “Yeah! Spend millions of dollars on equipment and make granny bend down, take off her shoes, open up her make-up case, and take off her hat. But don’t let her carry her several hundred-dollar .38 snub nose revolver in her purse so she can stop a terrorist dead in his or her tracks if necessary! No, no, we’re too civilized for that!”
Too stupid!
We’re facing an international terrorist threat. Even our most knowledgeable intelligence officials acknowledge that terrorists can be expected to attempt a 9-11 style attack or an even worse one, and that government agencies cannot guarantee they can protect the country from such an attack. We, the people, can be the not-so-secret weapons on our own soil in what is looking more and more like a terrorist guerrilla world war against our culture and us.
That not so secret weapon is an armed citizenry. Instead of trying to restrict its use, truly wise elitists, that is, leaders not consumed by politically correct stupidity, would unleash it!
A former associate editor of The American Rifleman, official monthly journal of the National Rifle Association, Snyder is public affairs director of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, chairman of the St. Gabriel Possenti Society, Inc., treasurer of the Second Amendment Foundation, and public information officer of the National Association of Chiefs of Police. He is author of the book Gun Saint.