BELLEVUE, WA – Tuesday’s tragic school shooting in Graz, Austria not only refutes long standing arguments by the U.S. gun prohibition lobby that such crimes only happen in this country, but also destroys other contentions made by American anti-gunners, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said.
The attack, at the BORG Dreierschützengasse high school, claimed at least nine lives, and the alleged killer apparently took his own life, according to published reports. Details about the shooting, revealed by the BBC, place traditional gun control arguments in serious doubt, said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb.
“What we have ascertained from various reports,” Gottlieb stated, “is that the alleged shooter used two legally-obtained firearms, and gun ownership in Austria requires registration. Purchases involve a three-day waiting period, and handguns may be purchased only by people over age 21 who hold firearms licenses.
“This tells us that the gun prohibition lobby is absolutely wrong when it argues that waiting periods and gun registration will prevent such tragedies,” the veteran gun rights advocate observed. “The 21-year-old suspect reportedly used a handgun and a shotgun, and he had a firearms license, so the notion that a licensing requirement will deter such attacks is also now thoroughly debunked.”
A report from the BBC also explained that in Austria, anyone wanting to own a firearm must first provide a reason for the purchase, which can be “sports shooting or self-defense.” Gottlieb noted that in the U.S., with its Second Amendment protection of the right to keep and bear arms, citizens do not need to provide a reason for exercising a constitutionally protected right, especially after the 2022 Supreme Court Bruen ruling.
“What we do know,” Gottlieb said, “is that restrictions on gun ownership in Austria did not prevent this attack, and that calling for such restrictions on gun ownership in America as a means of stopping tragedies here amounts to a promise gun grabbers have no intention of keeping, and know they cannot guarantee. What they do know, but will never acknowledge, is that their efforts are designed to discourage gun ownership, with the ultimate goal of eliminating it altogether.”