Forum: Gun laws threaten our right to protect ourselves
Published 1:30 am Sunday, April 9, 2023
By Bill Young / Herald Forum
Tragically, many Americans have little or no knowledge about handguns; and may have many misconceptions about what a valuable self-defense tool a gun can be for law abiding citizens. It should be noted that the average response time nationally for the police is 11 minutes, and a violent crime is committed every 25 seconds in America.
It is estimated that 2.5 million violent crimes are prevented each year in our country by law-abiding gun owners. In the vast majority of crimes, the police will not be protecting you and it will be incumbent upon you to have a survival plan.
As a cohort, concealed pistol license holders are the most law-abiding citizens in our nation, even more so than law enforcement officials. Less than 1 percent of all handguns in America will be involved in a crime. Moreover, less than 1 percent of lawful gun owners will ever commit a crime with a firearm.
The statistics above demonstrate that the government does not have the ability to protect us, and it is our inalienable right to be able to defend ourselves. These rights are also enshrined within our Constitution and are non-negotiable.
The lack of law enforcement is particularly problematic in the state of Washington, as we are among the lowest ranked in the U.S. for police officers per capita. It would only seem logical that before our state legislators, governor and state attorney general start attempting to abrogate our constitutional rights to own a gun, they have an obligation to ensure we have the law enforcement officers that we need to protect citizens.
Many state legislators that are proponents of the spate of gun bills that are being considered are also adherents to equity in everything from women’s sports to education to employment. However, these gun bills do not promote equity for the single mother who makes minimum wage and is the victim of domestic violence. Many of these measures will be cost prohibitive for women with economic struggles, and places an undue burden on the victim in having access to protection in a timely manner. These very laws could potentially cost a woman her life when she needs to protect herself from a violent abuser.
Many other states that have attempted to enact stringent anti-gun restrictions have been blocked by state and federal courts. The U.S. Supreme Court has been very clear on our Second Amendment rights and these proposed laws will be litigated and eventually overturned. This will frivolously waste the money of state taxpayers.
Many within the news media would have you believe that mass killings are the norm; however, this is a fallacy because it is an absolute anomaly that lawful gun owners use their firearm for a mass shooting. Suicide comprises 60 percent of gun deaths and the vast majority of the other shootings are committed by criminals in gang-related crimes within larger cities.
The reality is that with a population of 335 million people and up to 400 million guns within America, we statistically have very few mass killings. The real problems within America are drugs and mental illness. Don’t be under the illusion that criminals will adhere to any new laws surrounding firearms. While one mass shooting is completely horrific and an absolute tragedy, they are not the norm statistically given our population and the number of existing guns within America.
I would implore each state legislator to do ten minutes of research regarding a recent Redmond stalking case in which a female podcast host and her husband were killed by a deranged stalker. The no-contact order was not worth the paper that it was written on. If this innocent couple had had a gun, there is a very good chance they would still be alive.
Many of the leaders who are espousing the virtues of these proposed gun bills are the same government officials, including include Gov. Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who have allowed our streets and communities to descend into chaos with crime, drugs, homelessness on the streets and tent encampments next to schools.
I would challenge our state lawmakers to fix the issues surrounding a lack of police officers and a broken mental health system before abrogating my constitutional rights by imposing restrictions on our gun rights. Before you infringe upon our rights, please hire and train enough police officers to combat the rampant crime. When seconds count, the police are still minutes away.
Bill Young spent 20 years as a first responder working for the public school system and city of Seattle as a school safety officer and has held his concealed pistol license for 27 years. He lives in Lake Stevens.
