Zoned for Disaster

If you hadn't figured it out already, I carry a firearm everyday. It goes as follows: Watch, cell phone wallets, keys, knife, gun. These things offer consistency and security to my day-to-day life. So you can image I was a little perturbed today as I went about my errands, I had to disarm myself twice. Once at the local college, as I was attempting to register for classes. The other at the IRS building downtown. Both of these places fall under what is called "gun-free zones." Don't get me wrong, I semi-understand why each of these establishments are banned from list of places you can carry. Traditionally schools are meant for children and, at one point in time, this was a safe place. The IRS is a federal building, so carry is off limits there as well. Actually, I don't really understand why I can't carry in the IRS building, its not like its the FBI. It was just a bunch of paper pushers who looked like they hated life. But I digress. However, these gun free zones are part of the gun problem here in America. Sounds weird, right? No guns means we are safer... Right? Wrong.

First, a little back story. Guns have not always been banned in/or around schools as some people believe. In 1990 a federal law was passed called the Gun-Free School Zones Act. This made it illegal for any individual from knowingly possessing a firearm at a place that the individual knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a "school zone." Ask your parents if they ever saw a firearm in their school. I bet they did. There was actually a time where firearm safety was taught in schools. So this is a relatively new type of restriction on firearms. Now I want you to take a minute and think about were a lot of these active shooter (aka mass shootings) scenarios happen. Schools (Columbine, Va Tech, Sandy Hook, etc) are at the top of the list. So let me ask you,  do you feel it's working?

Other places are also sought after for active shooters. Recently  the Navy Yard shooting, which as you know, is federal property. Public places like malls and movie theaters have also seen active shooters incidents. What's the common theme? Path of least resistance. These places allow for the largest amount of carnage with the least amount of interference. With that in mind, did you know that in the 2012 Clackamas Mall shooting, a concealed carry weapons holder drew his weapon against the shooter which forced him to retreat and commit suicide? So in these zones, where law abiding citizens aren't allowed to carry firearms, who is going to be there to defend against the people who don't care about those laws and are hell bent on destruction? Go ahead, I'll wait...

Now, don't take this as me saying I think every man, woman and child should be armed and every teacher should be strapped. I am not. But I do think that gun free zones are part of the problem. I think licensed, law abiding CCW holders should be allowed to carry into schools and the like. I also think schools should also have armed security and/or police officers. Imagine how many lives could have been saved if someone inside of Sandy Hook Elementary had been trained and carrying a firearm. Wayne LaPierre once said "“The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” I really believe guns DO save lives.

What we need now ladies and gentlemen, is more good guys with guns.