BELLEVUE, WA – Once again, anti-gun laws in California have created defenseless victims out of innocent, and unarmed, citizens as a man armed only with a knife was able to attack a Greyhound bus driver, causing the bus to crash and two passengers to die.
Joe Waldron, executive director of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA), said Monday’s attack in San Joaquin, Calif. is an outrage that could be prevented, or at least deterred, by an armed citizenry. He said this crime is reminiscent of last year’s deadly knife attack on a bus in Tennesse, in which six people, including the perpetrator, were killed.
“Anti-self defense laws that disarm law-abiding citizens simply create opportunities for thugs, lunatics and terrorists,” Waldron stated. “If Californians enjoyed the same right-to-carry protections as citizens in 32 other states, and if there were no regulations barring them from traveling armed, this kind of crime could be prevented.
“Whether it’s a slasher on a bus, a crazed gunman on a New York commuter train, or a terrorist in an airplane, the presence of a firearm in the hands of someone who knows how to use it could prevent a tragedy and preserve innocent lives,” he added.
Waldron noted that at least two terrorist attacks in Israel have been prevented by armed citizens in recent months. A would-be suicide bomber was shot dead at an Israeli supermarket by a woman shopper. A gunman shooting at a bus was shot by an armed citizen. Recently, the Israeli government announced it would issue 60,000 more gun permits, allowing more citizens to carry firearms.
“No matter what they officially call it, a knife attack on a bus in America is as much an act of terrorism as blowing up a bus is in Tel Aviv,” Waldron said. “We hear lots of talk about homeland security, but in the final analysis, we’ve had homeland security since the Bill of Rights was adopted. It’s called the Second Amendment.
“The individual right to keep and bear arms that the Second Amendment affirms,” he continued, “is just as important now as it was two hundred years ago. In Israel, they understand the importance of armed citizens to the common defense. In Louisiana recently, Gov, Mike Foster advised women in Baton Rouge to consider arming themselves against a serial killer. Why can’t they realize in California what they realize in Israel and Louisiana?”