In the past few weeks there have been two local events that should give anyone pause regardless of their feelings about firearms. Whether the concern is for the United States Constitution or just plain common sense, the idea that anyone should trust a criminal armed with a gun makes no sense.

The first event was this Metro Pulse Editorial. Boiled down to it’s essence it opines that Knox County Commissioner Greg “Lumpy” Lambert endangered his life by drawing his Kel-Tec .380 pistol to defend himself from 19 year old Kane Stackhouse. The Metro Pulse Editorial had several inflammatory statements such as, “In the process, he has shown himself to be a danger to himself and others” and “First he put himself at risk by drawing his weapon when he says he saw a gun come out of the young man’s pocket.”

So what is the message the Metro Pulse is sending? They are saying that Mr. Lambert should have trusted the criminal. Kane Stackhouse is not your typical 19 year old. Unknown to Mr. Lambert at the time he was looking down the barrel of Mr. Stackhouse’s .25 caliber Beretta, it has now been alleged that Stackhouse murdered David Lindsey in a Walgreens parking lot 10 hours earlier with the same gun he was pointing at Mr. Lambert. Stackhouse has been charged by the Knox County Grand Jury for the crime of murder.

The second local event happened Sunday morning on the “Inside Tennessee” political talk show on WBIR. You can see a clip from the program below. Panelist and local Knoxville attorney Don Bosch made a statement to Lumpy Lambert that defies common sense. Bosch said to Mr. Lambert, “You increased your chances many fold over of being shot by pulling that gun.” So what is attorney Don Bosch saying? He is saying trust the criminal.

There were six shootings in the same 24 hour period with two fatalities. The only firearm event that had a good outcome was the one where an armed citizen protected himself. The idea that armed citizens present a hazard to other citizens has not be proven, in fact in areas where carry permits are allowed violent crime has decreased.

The timing of this “Trust the criminal” mantra is curious. It comes at a time when Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam needs all the help he can get. More charitable people may believe that Mayor Haslam just did not read the fine print on Michael Bloomberg’s Anti-gun movement before he signed on. Mayor Haslam’s slow response to explain the situation causes doubt. 120 Mayors across American have joined Bloomberg. Currently only one Mayor in Tennessee has signed on.

Some people might ask why would anyone be concerned about illegal guns? The logic is only criminals use illegal guns so getting illegal guns off the street makes perfect sense doesn’t it? No, it doesn’t. The hidden trap door of this movement is incrementalism. In the beginning it is more and tougher gun registration laws. Then as time goes on it may be a limit to the number of guns a citizen may possess. Then perhaps an urban ban on handguns. At some point it will be pointed out that most illegal guns come from home burglaries. As the tortured logic unravels then the end game will become clear. The only way to insure there are no illegal guns is to make sure there are no guns period.

What is an illegal gun? Depends on who you ask. If Mr. Bloomberg has his way will the definition expand to include all guns?

Here is my advice, don’t trust the criminal and don’t trust the billionaire Mayor of New York who wishes to disarm law abiding citizens.

Longer version of the “Inside Tennessee Interview:

Posted in uncategorized on November 28th, 2006 by #9 | RSS 2.0 |