A New Yorker's view of gun control

[Subdeacon Joe]

A New Yorker's view of gun control

 

 

By Tom Purcell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Published: Saturday, August 31, 2013, 9:00 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Updated:

Sunday,

September 1, 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During my last visit to New York City, I stumbled into an unexpected discussion about its restrictive gun polices.

The discussion occurred after I ducked into a coffee shop. The place was empty except for three transit employees.

“I don't know why the kid shot me,” said one of the men. “But I got myself some protection now.”

Curious, I introduced myself and asked the fellow about his story.

“One day three years ago,” he said, “I'm sitting in my Brooklyn neighborhood in my 2008 Lincoln, eating a sandwich.

“This kid comes up to the passenger side

and tells me how nice my car is. A lot of people compliment my ride, so

I think nothing of it.

“But then he tells me to give him the keys. I think he's kidding, so I laugh. He pulls out a gun — a 9-mm handgun, I think.

“I tell the kid I don't want no trouble.

I open the door to start getting out. But then I make a big mistake.

When he reaches through the window to grab my keys, I grab the keys

before he can get them.

“He says, ‘I'm gonna pop you, man!' I look into his eyes and they're black as death. Then BOOM!

“The next thing I know, I wake hooked up

to all kind of wires in the hospital and the doctor is telling me how

lucky I am. The bullet hit me in the right shoulder and passed out the

left armpit — just missing my heart.

“That was three years ago, but I'm OK now. I guess it wasn't my time to go.”

I was spellbound by his story and the

matter-of-fact way he told it, but his story grew more fascinating when

he told me how he now is breaking the law to protect himself and his

family.

“In New York,” he said, “the gun laws

are so strict, the majority of people who have them are the criminals.

Maybe if you're a small-business owner or have some other valid reason

for protecting yourself, you might get a permit to carry. But if you're a

regular guy like me, forget about it.

“But I live on the Brooklyn-Queens

border, and in that part of town there's only one way to protect

yourself — you got to let the punks know you're packing heat.

“So I bought myself a street gun that I

carry with me everywhere. Lots of the decent people in my neighborhood

are carrying illegal guns. It's the only thing we can do.”

The fellow knew what he was talking about.

A Cato Institute study found that 60

percent of criminals would not attack if they knew a potential victim

were carrying a gun.

In New York City, though, it's the

criminals, not the innocent civilians, who are often armed. Of the

estimated 400,000 illegal guns that flood the city, most are in the

hands of the criminals.

Thus, if you can't get a permit to carry

— which is difficult to do in New York — and you choose to arm yourself

for personal protection, you become a criminal.

“What if you use an illegal weapon to

shoot someone who tries to shoot you or steal your car?” I asked the

transit worker. “Won't you face charges yourself?”

“Maybe so,” he said, “but at least I'll be around to do the explaining.”

Tom Purcell, a freelance writer, lives in Library. Visit him on the web at TomPurcell.com. E-mail him at: Tom@TomPurcell.com

Pretty much outlines the uselessness of "gun control."

[Virgil Ray Hality, SASS# 37355]

That fella right there, who armed himself, is to be admired.

[Waimea]

Pretty much what Bernie Goetz did in NY in 1984.

 

 

Waimea