| Terrorists on buses and in malls: Ohio CHL important to Homeland Security |
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| Written by Jeff Garvas | |
| Tuesday, 06 April 2004 | |
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In recent days and weeks, the United States has seen increased signs that terrorists may attempt to attack American shopping malls or transit systems such as buses or trains. The citizens of Israel have faces such threats in their every-day lives for years, and that government has responded by encouraging law-abiding citizens to go armed. Meanwhile, taxpayer-funded bureaucrats at bus services in Toledo, Columbus, Youngstown and Cleveland are ignoring Section 9 (read: ignoring the will of the Ohio General Assembly) and attempting to ban CHL-holders from buses. In addition, some Ohio mall operators are posting discriminatory signs telling CHL-holders to stay away. Given the fact that the millions upon millions of CHL-holders in our nation are known as the most law-abiding of citizens, while terrorists continue to prove their exhibit their desire to murder innocent Americans at will, why are they more concerned about law-abiding citizens than they are about terrorists? Click on the "Read More..." link below for more. Stories like this prove the success of Israel's efforts to curb terror: In a 1998 letter to the Baltimore City paper, Keith Batcher, Chairperson, United Sportsmen of Maryland noted that having citizens armed does, in point of fact, translate into enhanced public safety. Many, many examples exist.
The situation in Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas, that year had a much more distressing outcome, with 23 innocent lives lost. Texas legislators, not wishing any repeats of that incident, and comparing it to the occurrence in Israel, passed a "shall-issue" concealed-carry law, which allows citizens to carry concealed guns unless the state can prove a reason why they can't." The whole world knows Beamer's story. But another hero in the War on Terror has been ignored. He is 46-year-old Israeli shoe salesman William Hazan. This account is taken from U.S. Press Ignores Another Armed Citizen-Hero, by Richard Poe.
And what about the police who allegedly came to the rescue? The Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz explains that a young plainclothes cop named Salim Barakat was parked outside when the attack began. Officer Barakat shot and wounded the terrorist. But the gunman fought back, stabbing the policeman in the chest and killing him on the spot. Only then, reports Ha'aretz, did a "civilian on the scene shoot the gunman in the head, killing him."
At least one small explosion did take place, leaving one customer lightly wounded but causing no casualties, said Jerusalem Post reporter Margot Dudkevitch. Nails from one of the explosions littered the floor. Further tragedy was averted when a woman shopping in the packed supermarket apparently saw the terrorist trying to set off a second explosion and shot him twice in the head from close range. In spite of the new terror alert, the following shopping malls in Ohio are moving ahead with efforts to ban CHL-holders from their property: If you were a terrorist, where would you go to kill and maim? |