Innocents take hits in gun culture

Denver Post ^ | 20 Apr 05 | Jim Spencer

[real saxophonist]

Innocents take hits in gun culture

By Jim Spencer

Denver Post Staff Writer

It would be interesting to hear violence-mongering simpletons like Ted Nugent explain to Anna Maria Moreno how guns keep you safe.

In Houston on Saturday, Nugent, a burned-out rocker and gun nut, told a cheering assembly at the National Rifle Association convention what too many of them already believe:

"Remember the Alamo! Shoot 'em!" Nugent shouted. "To show you how radical I am, I want carjackers dead. I want rapists dead. I want burglars dead. I want child molesters dead. I want the bad guys dead. No court case. No parole. No early release. I want 'em dead. Get a gun, and when they attack you, shoot 'em."

Moreno, 47, couldn't be reached for comment on this battle cry. She's still recovering from a stray bullet that landed in her neck the very day Nugent issued his NRA-sanctioned ode to killing.

Moreno ended up in serious condition at Denver Health Medical Center on Saturday. She arrived after one man pulled a gun and opened fire on another who supposedly tried to steal his motorcycle.

The alleged thief pulled his own piece and shot back, police say.

The combatants fired a total of seven shots. None hit their intended targets. Instead, a slug slammed into Moreno's neck and put the lie to Nugent's rant.

"The bad guys" aren't the only ones who end up dead or wounded when everyone is armed.

Moreno didn't try to steal anyone's motorcycle. She didn't aid or abet anyone who did. She didn't put herself in harm's way by knowingly going to a dangerous place.

The gunplay that wounded her didn't happen late at night.

It happened in broad daylight.

The Wild West shootout that left her hospitalized didn't take place at a bar, social club or some other joint where people too often check their common sense at the curb.

This violence took place at the Jumbo Car Wash. Young people frequent the car wash in warm weather, police said.

This apparently was meant to explain the gunshots heard between the soap and rinse cycles this time of year.

It's spring in America, when a young man's fancy turns to firepower.

Sounds like a lyric from Ted Nugent. He is, after all, the guy who gave us "Wango Tango" ("You got to pretend your face is a Maserati").

Trouble is, Moreno was not at the Jumbo Car Wash. She was shopping at a store across the street.

That's all she did to join the long list of innocent victims of America's guns- are-good culture.

Those people are legion across the country. But on this day, the sixth anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre, you needn't look out of state.

Like Ted Nugent, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold believed in the liberating power of firearms. They got one of the guns used in their killing spree via a legal loophole that made straw purchases of weapons easier. The NRA didn't want that loophole closed after Harris and Klebold gunned down 12 students and one teacher at Columbine.

The NRA's hands-off approach to gun regulation ensures that hundreds of millions of weapons remain in American society.

Therein lies the irony. Owning a gun for protection guarantees nothing.

Last month, a 9-year-old in Pueblo died after accidentally shooting herself with a handgun she found in her father's bedroom.

In October, a shot from a front-yard altercation at a high school party tore through a wall and killed an unarmed 17-year-old inside a home in Wheat Ridge. She'd have been just as dead if she'd held an Uzi in each hand.

The list goes on. It will grow as long as folks refuse to distinguish between Ted Nugent's fantasy and Anna Maria Moreno's fact.

In Nugent's dream, more guns mean more security. In Moreno's world, more guns mean you can't shop on Saturday afternoon.

Jim Spencer's column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at 303-820-1771 or jspencer@denverpost.com.

[RockinRight]

Yeah...the term "open a can-o-whoop-a$$" comes to mind.

[Dead Corpse]

Er... sure dumba$$, because if there were no guns there would be less people trying to steal motorcycles right?

Right?

*crickets*

Idiot, limp wristed, tofu sucking, editorialists like this should get the smack up-side the head they so desperately need.

[RockinRight]

Good question.

[Dan Cooper]

Here is a story on the shooting that led to the injury of the woman in this editorial. Both shooters fled the scene, which does not sound like someone defending themselves against attack. It sound more like criminals trying to kill each other.

Woman hit by stray bullet during car wash shootout

[dennisw]

Are you sure Miss Mark Marford didn't write this?

[Blood of Tyrants]

The combatants fired a total of seven shots. None hit their intended targets.

The liberal solution is to disarm the people who DARE to try to protect their property or family or their own lives. The real solution is to sentence the guy who accidentally shot her to pay for her medical bills and lost wages and to make him perform about 2 hours of "community service" every week for the next 5 years at the firing line of a practice range until he can hit what he is aiming at.

[dennisw]

Are you sure Miss Mark Marford didn't write this?

[Blood of Tyrants]

It would be a real live celebrity deathmatch!

[Dead Corpse]

1) Citizen being robbed - civil suit for reckless endangerment. Assault charges if he drew the weapon and his life was not in danger.

I exchanged bits of my life for my property. Defending my property is defending my life. You try and deprive me of life or property and I'll worry about what the jury says later on in regards to my filling you full of lead. Incidentally, Texas' stance on defending your property, via old cattle rustling laws, was one of my reasons for moving down here. Florida's "Make my day" law should go Nationwide. Stop coddling thieves.

[Dead Corpse]

That sounds fair. I like your idea.

[C_Conway]

No amount of firearms could have prevented the Holocaust, unless one had been used to assassinate Hitler. The Nazis were heavily armed with guns and hatred, inspired by Hitler, and the Jewish people were decentralized private citizens. The twelve million innocents never had a chance against Hitler, guns or not.

[Niteranger68]

This is such a gift! I personally don't remember asking Mr. Spencer to document his stupidity via his own pen, but I will take this windfall nonetheless.

To keep it simple, he must believe that removing guns from this story makes everything kumbaya. How about removing the CRIMINAL from the story Jim? Doesn't that make for a much better ending?

If the robbery victim had been beaten to death with a lead pipe, Mr. Spencer would not have wasted any of his time writing about it. Even if Ms. Moreno had been shot while being directly robbed herself, we would be none the wiser. I would even go so far as to say that he doesn't think the first victim even is a victim because he chose to defend himself. In Jim's world, it is irresponsible to disobey a criminal.

[Jokelahoma]

ATTENTION, CRIMINAL ELEMENT! ATTENTION!

It seems apparent that Jim Spencer's home is unprotected by firearms. The Denver Post probably has contact information for him. If you're looking for a place to rob, well...

And yes, I'm kidding about robbing the pacifist pansy. You'd likely not find anything of value anyway, unless brie and Birkenstocks are selling hot on the black market.

[nightdriver]

Jim Spencer is doing what they call "dancing in the blood."

His rant proves or solves nothing.

[tonysamm]

So the Ted Nugent and the gun culture is responsible Ms. Moreno's wound, not the thief that caused the situation. If the wound came from a policeman's gun, would Mr. Spenser feel any differently. From his vitriol, doesn't sound like it. He'd much rather have people cower and run from criminals. The only problem I have is that the responsible shooter should always know what is behind or in harms way of their bullets. Once clear - fire away and as Ted said "kill 'em"

[RogueIsland]

I bet you Blow more than just Saxophones.

You might want to check up on RealSax's posting history before flaming him as an anti gunner. The man's credentials in this regard on FR are nigh unimpeachable.

[AD from SpringBay]

headline you will never read: Innocents Take Hit in Culture of Sex

(an AD original)

What might happen if a public school teacher shot one of her students? And when I ask, “What might happen?” I’m referring to all sorts of things. Of course there would be an arrest, and a trial. There would be lots of media coverage. Certainly it would draw attention to the role of guns, violence, and possibly some background on the teacher. There would be an outraged parent or two. The school administration would have to make a statement and be prepared for a lawsuit. And if it were a one-time event, that would be about it.

So what might happen if during one school year a dozen teachers, across the nation, shot a dozen students? I hate to use the word frenzy, but it does come to mind. It would be tragic and there would be all kinds of appeals and discussions at all kinds of levels. I’m sure some organization would petition Congress to do something about it. There would be widespread calls for stricter gun control and more background checks. Background checks and psychological profiling of potential teachers would be on the table. There would be greater calls for home schooling. Demands would be made from parents’ organizations about school safety, metal detectors, and classroom monitors.

And then there’s the media. Just imagine the headlines and the magazine covers we would see. Think what Oprah and Dr. Phil might do. Who would they have on as guests and what might their topics be? I’m starting to feel like Dr. Seuss; as in, “Oh the places you’ll go…”

I realize I can only go so far with this, but stay with me for just a while longer. If I may, allow me to draw two comparisons between tragic events that are happening in our nation’s public schools.

For the past year or so, there have been at least a dozen public school teachers who have been arrested for having affairs with one or more students. And in the majority of those cases, the teachers involved were women. But, gauging the national reaction, I don’t think we appreciate how serious the problem is.

Any time a school shooting occurs is it a tragic and life-changing event for all involved. And each one rightly brings the light of attention to the whole topic of guns, children, safety, and schools. Why aren’t we seeing the same type of response when it comes to the topic of what is going on in our public schools as it relates to the students, the teachers, and their sexual activities?

[Dead Corpse]

12 million armed people is no deterent? That is more than the whole of the German Armies combined! By almost 2:1.

No. The first thing they were missing was a spirit of resistance. They went along to get along, and they were slaughtered for it. Just like we will be if we don't stand up to governmental abuses of our Rights. Starting with the Second Amendment.

[ctdonath2]

Ask the author about the cost of automobiles in society. Funny, everyone seems to brush off the lives lost as an acceptable consequence of convenience...

[Luna]

Hey, Jim! Why don't you tell us how many people used a firearm to prevent a crime, h'm? What? You don't care? Surprise, suprise.

Idiot gun-hater.