BELLEVUE, WA – The deadly mass stabbing this morning in Washington state’s Pierce County underscores what the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms has been stressing for years; evil intent in the hearts of violent perpetrators, not the lawful ownership of firearms, is at the core of the state’s crime problem.
Published reports say four people were fatally stabbed before a Pierce County sheriff’s deputy arrived and fatally shot the suspect, described as a 32-year-old man, apparently acting in violation of a protection order.
“All the gun control laws enacted over the past few years in Washington state did not prevent this horrible crime,” noted CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “Thank heavens an armed deputy arrived to put a stop to this rampage before even more people might have been injured. Once again, a good guy with a gun stopped a bad guy with an evil heart.”
Details are still emerging in the case, but it underscores the importance of being able to act in self-defense without even a moment’s notice, and having the right tool for the job, CCRKBA noted. However, in Washington, anti-gunners have been eroding the right to keep and bear arms, which is protected by both the state and federal constitutions. Instead, they have pushed through a 10-day waiting period to buy any kind of firearm, a so-called “enhanced background check,” and waiting to take effect next year, a permit-to-purchase scheme with an expensive training requirement, which will almost certainly be challenged in court.
“Evergreen State gun prohibitionists have been gaslighting the public for too long,” Gottlieb observed, “but what happened Tuesday morning should put an end to that nonsense. Guns are not the problem, violent people are. Whether they misuse a firearm, knife, crowbar, automobiles, or some other weapon, the actions of these evil people should never be used to justify restricting the rights of law-abiding citizens.
“The fact this rampage occurred is an outrage,” he concluded, “but it reinforces what we’ve been saying all along. Passing restrictive gun laws will not prevent violent crime, and thinking otherwise is fatally flawed. The suspect in this case didn’t use a gun, he used a knife, and now four people are dead. Today’s silence from the gun control crowd is deafening.”