…….to Firearms, Do as I Say, Not as I Do
> Guns: Rosie O’Donnell, who opposes handgun
> permits for others, doesn’t see problem with
> her bodyguards having them.
>
> By JOHN R. LOTT, JR.
>
> Rosie, say it’s not so! The news last week was
> surprising: Rosie O’Donnell’s bodyguards had applied
> for permits for concealed handguns. Few have declared
> their opposition to guns as strongly as O’Donnell.
> For someone who ambushed Tom Selleck on her television
> show last year on gun control, called for the abolition
> of the 2nd Amendment and emceed the so-called Million
> Mom March in Washington, the advice that O’Donnell
> has freely given others no longer seems to match what
> she thinks is best for her own family.
>
> Earlier in May on ABC-TV’s “This Week,” Rosie was
> asked if she opposed concealed handgun laws. She
> declared: “Of course, I’m against them.” She has
> claimed that “I also think you should not buy a gun
> anywhere.”
>
> O’Donnell previously has been accused of trying
> to generate attention for her flagging television
> show by attacking Selleck, despite her agreement
> with him not to discuss guns. Her credibility was
> tarnished by appearing in ads for Kmart, a major
> seller of guns.
>
> Yet the current hypocrisy is more fundamental. A
> spokeswoman for O’Donnell justifies guns for the
> talk show host’s bodyguards because of threatened
> violence. Yet how does her concern differ from
> what motivates anyone who gets a gun for
> self-defense? Why does O’Donnell give others
> advice that she doesn’t find applicable to herself?
>
> O’Donnell’s response that she still does not
> “personally own a gun” misses the whole point.
> Of course, she does not need her own gun when
> her bodyguards have their guns with them.
>
> Unfortunately, O’Donnell joins a long list of
> people who demand that others disarm even while
> they keep their own armed bodyguards. Chicago
> Mayor Richard Daley, for example, surrounds
> himself with armed guards even when he visits
> relatively low-crime areas, but he opposes
> issuing handgun licenses for people to keep a
> gun at home in even the most dangerous parts
> of the city. (Chicago has the highest murder
> rate of any large city in the U.S.)
>
> For their own safety, people should not follow
> what O’Donnell preaches, but what she does: Get
> armed protection. As she apparently believes for
> her own safety, and as the statistics bear out,
> passive behavior is simply not the wisest course
> of action. The chance of serious injury from an
> attack is 2 1/2 times greater for women offering
> no resistance than for those resisting with a
> gun. Having a gun is by far the safest course
> of action, especially for people who are
> relatively weak physically–women and the
> elderly.
>
> Concealed handgun permit holders not only protect
> themselves but often others, though this receives
> very little attention. Take the following two
> incidents occurring the same week as O’Donnell’s
> story hit the media:
>
> In Florida, a robber at a Wal-Mart store slashed
> two employees with a knife, but before he could
> cause further injuries 53-year-old Sandra Suter
> pulled out a pistol and said, “I have a concealed
> weapons permit. Either drop the knife, or I’ll
> shoot you.” After repeating her threat, the robber
> dropped his knife.
>
> In Indiana, 70-year-old George Smith stopped two
> armed robbers at a store because he had a gun. As
> one of the store clerks saw it, “I think George
> was the real hero. He saved my life.” He likely
> saved other lives as well, but probably no one
> outside of Indianapolis has heard of this story.
>
> Unfortunately, no one like Suter or Smith was
> present at Wendy’s last week in Brooklyn when
> five workers were killed. If they had been,
> and been able to prevent the attack, would that
> have gotten the same attention? Despite the focus
> in the media, people use guns defensively about
> five times more frequently than guns are used to
> commit crime.
>
> Greenwich, Conn., where O’Donnell lives, is one
> of the wealthiest and safest cities in the United
> States. Most people there can sleep well at night
> without a gun for protection. This is not true
> in many other places, particularly in poorer
> urban areas. As long as inexpensive guns have
> not been outlawed, many poor, vulnerable citizens
> will continue to rely on guns for self-protection.
>
> O’Donnell may be able to afford bodyguards and
> pride herself that she does not “personally own
> a gun.” Yet many other people have just as great
> a need for protection. Guns are the poor man’s bodyguard.