Gun rights advocates see social benefits

Houston Chronicle ^ | September 8, 2012

[Cincinatus' Wife]

WASHINGTON - In the wake of mass shootings this summer, a fusillade of a different sort erupted when gun rights advocates suggested a good Samaritan with a concealed weapon might have saved the day.

After gunman James Holmes opened fire in a crowded Aurora, Colo., theater, killing 12 and wounding 58, Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, wondered whether an armed movie patron "could have stopped this guy more quickly."

In a subsequent interview, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a staunch gun-control advocate, called Gohmert's view "nonsensical."

This rather typical exchange is a measure of how far the gun debate has come since the days when it centered on the simple premise that firearms ownership is a Second Amendment right.

Now, in the aftermath of research suggesting state concealed-carry laws help reduce crime, pro-gun advocates have a new mantra: Gun ownership is not only a constitutional right, it's socially beneficial.

Armed lawmakers

In Texas, this view has become as integral a part of the state's heritage as longhorns, cowboy boots and chili.

"You cannot name a mass shooting in this country that has occurred in a place where guns were allowed," said former Texas legislator Suzanna Hupp, noting the Aurora theater prohibited customers carrying guns.

Hupp lost her parents in the 1991 Luby's cafeteria massacre in Killeen, Texas, in which 23 died.............

[Uri’el-2012]

After gunman James Holmes opened fire in a crowded Aurora, Colo., theater,

The Houston Chronicle seems
to have tried and convicted James.

Leftists always believe in
Guilty until proven innocent.

[sawmill trash]

Leftists always believe in
Guilty until proven innocent.

Unless, of course, you are Muslim.

(Fort Hood shooter comes to mind)

[Uri’el-2012]

But that is workplace violence. /s

Sounded like TERRORISM to me.