(SevenMaps / Shutterstock photo)
May 19, 2022
By Mark Chesnut
When a gunman opened fire in a supermarket in a predominately black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, we all knew it would be just a matter of time before gun-ban advocates predictably used the horrible disaster to push their agenda.
But the lesson learned shouldn’t be that the state needs more gun control. In fact, fewer gun control laws would do more to protect citizens, since violent criminals don’t obey the current laws on the books.
“New York politicians want tougher gun laws in a state that already has some of the toughest laws in the country,” Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA), said in a news release. “Yet those laws did not prevent what happened Saturday, and never will. New York’s current gun control laws make it difficult to impossible for law-abiding citizens of all races to obtain carry permits. Apparently, the shooter staked out this particular market, because he knew there would be no resistance to what is a despicable hate crime.
“To suggest stricter anti-gun-rights laws are the answer to such an evil act is absurd. Instead of making it possible and affordable for average citizens to obtain carry permits for personal protection, New York authorities have stubbornly maintained a permit system that reeks of political favoritism, demagoguery and elitism. It is no wonder this system is now facing a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that we hope will overturn the current law.”
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As most readers likely know, on Saturday an 18-year-old admitted white supremacist shot and killed 10 people, injuring three more, at a Tops supermarket, even live-streaming the event on Twitch. The suspect was actually known to authorities, having been investigated by the Buffalo Police Department for making threats at his high school last year. Reportedly, he was given a mental health evaluation and released a few days later.
Of course, anytime a horrific shooting occurs, those on the anti-gun side of the Second Amendment debate immediately begin calling for tougher gun control laws. Indeed, current restrictions already include security guards only being able to carry 10 rounds of ammo, and civilians are restricted to only seven rounds for self-defense.
In this case, CRKBA’s Gottlieb believes those anti-gun politicians are the ones responsible for the shooting by constantly passing laws making it harder for average citizens to protect themselves with a firearm.
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“Every citizen, regardless of ethnicity or economic condition, deserves better than they’ve gotten from lawmakers in Albany for generations,” Gottlieb stated. “The victims in Buffalo had no chance at all. It is deplorable that the only idea from Gov. Kathy Hochul is to ask for even more restrictions on New York gun owners, and to suggest more gun control on a national scale. That’s not a plan, it’s the perpetuation of an already failed strategy disguised as a plan, and anyone with an ounce of common sense knows it.
“Now Joe Biden has rushed to Buffalo to tell people ‘we can keep assault weapons off the street.’ The suspect passed a background check and the rifle was purchased legally, but it was altered illegally after the sale. Instead of blaming guns, maybe Biden can explain how all of the warning signs about this suspect were apparently ignored. The time has come for a new, and significantly different strategy.”
Of course, in President Biden’s call for an “assault weapons” ban, he falsely declared that the failed federal ban in the 1990s had “worked.” Interestingly, Biden, who isn’t good when not reading a teleprompter, also inadvertently made Gottleib’s case during his visit to Buffalo. “We have enough laws on the books to deal with what’s going on now,” Biden said following the shooting.
Newsweek reports
To avoid future incidents like the one in Buffalo, Gottlieb believes making it possible for more lawful citizens to carry firearms for self-defense instead of further restricting an already infringed right is the key to more safety in the Empire State.
“Half of the states have adopted permitless carry to make it possible for citizens like the ones murdered in Buffalo to fight back,” he said. “It never occurs to politicians such as Hochul or Biden that they have been wrong on gun rights all along. But they have been disastrously wrong, and the proof is the police tape around the Tops supermarket in Buffalo.”
Freelance writer and editor Mark Chesnut is the owner/editorial director at Red Setter Communications LLC. An avid hunter, shooter and political observer, he has been covering Second Amendment issues and politics on a near-daily basis for the past 20 years.
