Posted on 04/20/2005 9:39:11 AM PDT by 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.
Nice to see the author provides a balanced point of view. I mean the author did provide a complete cost and benefit analysis of firearm ownership.
Greetings Jim Spencer/Mark Morford!
Can you tell us lies about how the honorable Ted Nugent and the vile Columbine Killers are remotely related, again? Can you say "non sequitur" for us? There now, I knew you could!
~ Blue Jays ~
I could watch & giggle at that .GIF for hours...
Not possible. This behavior is illegal.
The alleged thief pulled his own piece and shot back, police say.
I wonder if either of them were legally entitled to own fireaarms.
My guess is, probably not.
Place the blame where it belongs. On the bike thief. It was their actions that initiated this. Although the honorable person would have stuck around to help out his unintended victim as Blood pointed out above.
I understand. My point is that at least one of these guys is most likely a convicted felon.
And? Some States allow ex-cons to own firearms. It wasn't until the '68 Crime Bill that did anything on a Federal level. Oddly enough, all those laws haven't stopped one damn felon from getting his hands on whatever firepower he wants. If anything, it puts us law abiding types at a distinct disadvantage.
Owning a cell phone to dial 911 guarantees you much less. The pro-gun side never said owning a gun guaranteed anything. We're saying that is gives you better odds (much better odds) of survival in a dangerous situation.
Welcome to FR. Real Saxophonist is the just the messenger and doesn't necessarily support the views expressed in the article.
You are incorrect. Welcome to FR.
I see someone hasn't been spending enough quality time at the range.
The vast majority of perpetrators of gun crimes -- regardless of whether they hit their intended targets, or someone else -- are not first-time perps, and would already have been dead under the Nugent plan.
Guns cause crime. That's why people in Washington DC, a city that prohibits personal firearms ownership, is so safe. If you don't count the firearms incidents caused by criminals and the police it's very safe there.
MM, you join Free Republic five short days ago so you can attempt to hurl insults at a FReeper who has been posting for six years on this site? You might want to reply again to Real Saxophonist with a sincere public apology...or we'll just simply assume you're rude and likely a troll.
~ Blue Jays ~
~ Blue Jays ~
You're off the hook. Thanks for the clarification.
~ Blue Jays ~
Wrong. See the results of the Warsaw Ghetto fighting. They delayed the liquidation of the Warsaw Jews for *months*. If there had been more people with guns, they could have stood off the Germans indefinitely. Their number one problem was that they didn't have enough weapons or ammo.
You can also look at the siege of Stalingrad to see what determined men with rifles can do to a mechanized army.
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