To the extent which the high rate of gun ownership in this country, about 90 guns per 100 people, acts as a crime deterrent remains a hotly-debated issue.<\/p>\n
Recently, investigative reporter Emily Miller raised this subject while debating Democratic strategist Brian Benjamin over the impact that France’s restrictive gun laws had on the recent terrorist attacks.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think, as far as French gun laws, it\u2019s basically a gun-free zone,\u201d Miller told Fox News host Anna Kooiman. \u201cAs we\u2019ve seen in the United States, gun-free zones lure evil and crazy people like terrorists there because no one fights back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, gun-free zones like France, which unfortunately even the poor police aren\u2019t carrying guns, is just very attractive to somebody who is going to go in with a gun.\u201d<\/p>\n
In other words, terrorists actively seek out soft targets in order to avoid armed resistance, thereby maximizing the lethality of their assault.<\/p>\n
Yet Benjamin countered, claiming that America’s permissive gun laws makes it easier for terrorists to obtain firearms, which puts U.S. citizens in greater danger than their European friends.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the polar opposite,\u201d Miller fired back. \u201cForeigners know we have guns\u2026 Like the guy \u2014 the camera phone at this horrible crime, this policeman in Paris was shot in the head begging for mercy. The person who was taking that video, if they had been a concealed carry owner \u2014 or like me, a gun owner \u2014 they could have shot the man, maybe put him on defense. But instead, they just watched and took a video.\u201d<\/p>\n
Benjamin said that the terrorists in France who attacked the printing offices of Charlie Hebdo had to obtain their guns on the black market whereas in the U.S. they’d be able to purchase them at a gun show.<\/p>\n
Miller acknowledged that if the terrorists had no criminal history, then they would be able to purchase a firearm in the U.S., \u201cBut the fact is, is there\u2019s a lot more people who can shoot back at them.”<\/p>\n
Miller went on to say, “In this history of this country \u2014 and you can tell me if I\u2019m wrong if you have another example \u2014 there has never been a gun control law that has reduced crime. I can\u2019t think of any gun control law that prevents terrorists. Because, you know what? If they\u2019re murderers, they don\u2019t care what the laws are already.\u201d<\/p>\n
From my perspective I don’t think that pro-gunners\u00a0have to argue that an armed society is a polite society, i.e. high levels of gun ownership deter crime and specifically terrorists. Sure, in theory, criminals and terrorists prefer soft targets. But even if all targets were “hard” do we really believe they’d stop killing innocents? Doubtful.<\/p>\n
The real point to make is that bad people will continue to do bad things, the only question is whether one would rather live in a society that protects one’s right to defend oneself or a society that goes out of its way to leave one defenseless in the face an attack from an evildoer.<\/p>\n
It’s pretty clear where we stand on that front. We’ll keep our guns and take our chances, as it’s better to have and not need than to need and not have.<\/p>\n
In any event, what are your thoughts? Do American gun laws keep terrorists in check?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cI think, as far as French gun laws, it\u2019s basically a gun-free zone,\u201d Miller told Fox News host Anna Kooiman. \u201cAs we\u2019ve seen in the United States, gun-free zones lure evil and crazy people like terrorists there because no one fights back.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":30040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,262,216],"tags":[132],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-30039","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gunsamerica-authors","8":"category-defensive-use-of-firearms","9":"category-s-h-blannelberry","10":"tag-buzz"},"yoast_head":"\n