BELLEVUE, WA – Declaring that so-called “gun-free zones are shooting galleries for maniacs,” the Second Amendment Foundation today is calling for an end to such designations by launching an advertising campaign aimed at print and online publications.
“Without a self-defense option,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb, “we are all at greater risk.”
The campaign has a simple message: “You’re a sitting duck in a gun-free zone.” The ad may be seen here.
Gottlieb referred to a report from the Crime Prevention Research Center that 98 percent of mass public shootings since 1950 occurred in places where citizens are prohibited from having firearms. He noted that in Europe, “every mass public shooting has occurred in a gun-free zone.”
He pointed to mass shootings at schools, shopping malls, movie theaters and churches as prime examples where “gun-free zone” designations did not prevent tragedies, but may actually have enabled crazed killers by making it impossible for the victims to fight back.
“Whether you’re talking about a high school in Florida, a theater in Colorado or a mall in Nebraska,” Gottlieb observed, “the common denominator has been that they all prohibited firearms on the premises. Of course, in every case, that ban had zero effect on the shooters who took innocent lives. There are numerous other examples where the gun-free mindset has been worse than a failure, and history has provided us the grim casualty counts to prove it.
“The evidence shows that gun-free zones are not the answer,” he stated. “Indeed, they provide an added danger because they prevent legally armed citizens from defending themselves and others, while creating the mere illusion of safety.
“For more than two decades,” Gottlieb said, “the U.S. has perpetuated a false sense of security with gun-free zones. It’s time to end this dangerous folly. Nobody wants to be a sitting duck in a maniac’s shooting gallery.”
The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 650,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control.