| Op-Ed: A tale of two cultures proves value of firearms, bankruptcy of gun bans |
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| Written by Jeff Garvas | |
| Wednesday, 19 May 2004 | |
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By Dave Workman Separated by several states and an obvious cultural gap, two recent stories about crime - one from Ohio and the other from Oregon - perhaps best illustrate why a growing number of American citizens have concluded that the police can't protect us, and neither can gun control laws or anti-gun corporate policies. 
Police were quick to apprehend a suspect in the May 4 armed
robbery of a Dairy Mart convenience store in Akron; perhaps much quicker
than many Ohioans were able to grasp why so many of their neighbors are
arming themselves, getting licenses to carry concealed handguns, and
choosing not to shop in establishments that ban their legal firearms.Clerk Mustapha Taoufik was struck in the head by an armed bandit who ignored the sign posted in the glass double door of the Dairy Mart on West Market Street. That's the sign warning customers: "No Weapons. Pursuant to the Ohio Revised Code, no person shall knowingly possess, have under the person's control, convey, or attempt to convey a deadly weapon or dangerous ordnance onto these remises. A valid license does not authorize the licensee to carry a weapon onto these premises. Violators will be prosecuted!" 
That sign certainly did Taoufik's head, and the nerves of six unarmed customers in his store at the time, a lot of good, didn't it? Such signs are being posted by gun-phobic businesses in Ohio, Minnesota and elsewhere. They accomplish two things: They tell law-abiding firearms owners that the management thinks social bigotry is okay, when practiced against armed citizens, and they alert thugs to a risk-free environment. In the Buckeye State, a group called Ohioans for Concealed Carry has established a "Do Not Patronize" list on its website of businesses where armed citizens are not welcome, and neither, evidently, is their money. Smart economic move, turning away potential customers simply because they choose to exercise a civil right; they might as well post signs reading: "Gun-Free Zone. Armed robbers welcome. Come in, plunder, and assault anyone because nobody will be able to stop you." Click on the "Read More..." link below for more. Meanwhile, out in Scappoose, Oregon, a woman identified as Sheryl Fitzwilliams won't be calling the police anymore. She tried that once, on May 8, and it took more than two hours for her town's only cop on duty to respond, even after some guy tried to break into her home before she screamed and he fled. She was at home with her daughters at the time. Fitzwilliams put her indignation tersely: "I do have an armed neighbor. And from now on, that's who we call. We do not call 911." Fitzwilliams has a keener perspective than the management of Akron's Dairy Mart, but still hasn't figured out that her safety is not the neighbor's responsibility, it's hers. Instead of counting on police, stupid signs, or armed neighbors, Fitzwilliams should visit the nearest gun shop and take a self-defense course. Or, maybe she should just get herself elected to the Scappoose City Council, and follow the example set by Chicago Alderman Arenda Troutman, who lives on Chicago's South Side. Her home having been burglarized twice in recent weeks, Troutman reportedly demanded-and received at a whopping $366 per day cost to the taxpayers-individual police protection of her home. A patrol car is parked outside her house several hours a day on Saturday and Sunday, and beat cops have been ordered to check her property on every shift, every day of the week. Troutman's arrogant justification for this elitist treatment: "Deserve it? Damn right. I should receive the protection I am receiving. I am an elected official." Well, we're all impressed. Chicago, incidentally, is a city in which the average law-abiding citizen can't buy a handgun, much less legally carry one for personal protection. Anti-gun signs, like restrictive gun control laws and the pontifications of those who support both, do not prevent crimes, nor deter criminals. Elitists who get special police protection deny it to everyone else in the process. It is refreshing that in a society where so many have flocked to the false promises of gun control laws and stupid warning signs, an increasing number of sensible American citizens have decided they are not sheep. Dave Workman is senior editor of Gun >ek (a publication of the Second Amendment Foundation), and a nationally-published firearms writer. Related Story: Store on Do Not Patronize While Armed list robbed, clerk pistol-whipped |