Armed Homes Are Safe Homes (includes Lott & Goldberg)
Date: Feb 12, 2005 6:29 AM
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http://www.therealitycheck.org/GuestColumnist/dpatton020705.htm
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Armed Homes Are Safe Homes

by Doug Patton

Recently, three young criminals in Omaha were looking for a
home to rob. Their criteria included an interesting
condition. Pointing to a particular target, a townhouse in
the northwest part of town, one person told them, ?That
house has no guns.?

And since Nebraska has no concealed carry law, they could be
fairly certain that none of the residents would have one on
their person, either.

Shortly before noon last November 11, the three punks (all
of whom did have guns, of course) broke into the townhouse,
demanded money and order residents to the floor. During a
struggle in the hallway, all three intruders fired their
guns, killing Trevor Lee, a 23-year-old aspiring stock
market analyst.

The only person arrested in the case so far, 20-year-old
Ryan Poe, has said that he and his buddies went to the
townhouse with the intention of committing a robbery, and
fired their weapons at a man who fought back. Apparently,
Trevor Lee was that brave man. Brave, but unarmed.

Dr. John Lott, Jr., an economist and resident scholar at
the American Enterprise Institute, is perhaps the foremost
expert on the utter failure of gun control. In his two
comprehensive books, ?More Guns, Less Crime? and ?The Bias
Against Guns, Why Almost Everything You?ve Heard About Gun
Control Is Wrong,? Lott explodes the myths liberals love to
perpetuate about guns.

Citing survey data and news reports, Lott argues that the
fear of armed victims deters criminals. This is one of the
strongest arguments in favor of concealed carry laws: the
bad guys never know who?s armed and who isn?t. Apparently,
Ryan Poe and his punk friends were concerned enough to
inquire as to whether the residents of the townhouse they
intended to rob might be able to shoot back.

Lott also writes that guns are used in self-defense or to
ward off criminal threats more than two million times each
year, and that right-to-carry laws lower crime and help
prevent terrorist attacks and so-called ?rampage? shootings.

And radical as it may sound, Lott points to hard statistics
showing that even well-intended laws meant to keep guns away
from children do more harm than good. Lott cites cases
where children as young as 11 have used guns to thwart
criminal activity.

In his best-selling book, ?Arrogance,? retired veteran CBS
reporter Bernard Goldberg, provides an eye-opening example
of the media bias involved in the gun control issue.
Goldberg points to a shooting three years ago at the
Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, Virginia. A
42-year-old student from Nigeria went on a killing spree
with a handgun. Before he was subdued by other students, he
had killed the school?s dean, a professor and a fellow
student.

What was totally left out of the story when it was reported
by virtually every news outlet in the country was the fact
that the students who subdued him did so with guns of their
own, which they had retrieved from their cars. As Goldberg
points out, this was an inconvenient fact that did not fit
the agenda of those who want to perpetuate the myth that
guns are inherently dangerous and gun control is the
solution.

John Lott is correct about guns and about gun control.
Contrary to the hysteria put forth by the Left, including
the so-called mainstream national media, it is absolutely
true that more guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens
equals less violent crime. The tragedy in Omaha is a
perfect example. If Trevor Lee had been in possession of a
firearm when he courageously tried to fight back, one or
more of the criminals involved, rather than an innocent
victim, might be in an early grave. Or perhaps the
confrontation would have ended with the criminals being
apprehended, which is what frequently happens when a
law-abiding citizen is in possession of a firearm at the
time of an attack.

Either way, Trevor Lee would be alive and society would be
safer.

Doug Patton is a freelance columnist who has served as a
speechwriter, policy advisor and communications director for
federal, state and local candidates, elected officials and
public policy organizations. His weekly columns are
published in newspapers across the country and on selected
Internet websites.