BELLEVUE, WA – On Wednesday, when America marks the April 16 anniversary of the Virginia Tech tragedy, the anti-gun-rights lobby will stage so-called “Lie-Ins†for the purpose of “lyin’ to the American public about how to prevent such crimes,†the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.
Seung Hui Cho murdered 32 students and teachers who could not defend themselves because Virginia Tech and hundreds of other college and university campuses are “gun-free zones†where law-abiding students and faculty have been legislatively or administratively disarmed and deliberately left defenseless.
“Gun control fanatics will use this event to lobby for gun show legislation, waiting periods and whatever else they think the public wants to hear,†said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, “when in fact, Virginia Tech is the text book example of how stringent gun laws utterly fail to prevent such shootings, and exacerbate them by making it impossible for the victims to fight back and defend themselves.
“Gun grabbers suggest that closing a mythical ‘gun show loophole’ will prevent such crimes,†he noted, “but Cho didn’t purchase his guns at a gun show. He bought both pistols at gunshops, after passing background checks and waiting the mandatory 30 days between purchases. Steven Kazmierczak, the Northern Illinois University shooter, bought all of his guns at one gun shop. He passed background checks and had a required Firearms Owners Identification Card. These killers obeyed every applicable law – laws pushed by the gun ban lobby – yet they now tell us that these laws weren’t enough. Their laws failed. Their entire philosophy has been a monumental failure. It is time for America to turn its back on this dangerously deceptive ideology.
“The real tragedy,†said Gottlieb, co-author of America Fights Back: Armed Self-Defense in a Violent Age, “is that some people believe the fairy tale that gun-free zones and restrictive gun laws will keep them safe when past events prove otherwise. Anti-gunners tell America that more gun laws, in a nation where citizens already are drowning in local, state and federal gun laws, will somehow discourage determined, suicidal killers.
“Ultimately,†he concluded, “these people think the Second Amendment is a ‘loophole.’ They exploit tragedies like Virginia Tech to push for unilateral victim disarmament. Yes, we should remember Virginia Tech, and take sensible steps to prevent such crimes in the future. We must make it possible for people to fight back.â€