Opinion: Gun control doesn't stop shooters

A couple of weeks ago, I was in Lubbock for a while. Before heading home I stopped by a Lubbock Walmart so I could grab a few items without being herded like a cow through a chute. As it happens, I missed a fatal shooting there by moments. I was almost surely still in the parking lot when the tragic crime occurred.

Crimes — real crimes against life, liberty, and property — infuriate me. There is simply no excuse. There is also no excuse for enabling such crimes with ignorant policies that help the bad guys by putting the good people at a disadvantage.

What do I mean by this?

I mean, once again, a place with a "No guns" sign by the door was the scene of a shooting. Will wonders never cease?

Very little makes me sicker than a "No guns" sign at a business. Bad guys will never obey such signs. You might as well roll out the red carpet for those set on murder. You've offered the rest of your customers to them on a silver platter with your compliments.

A "No guns" sign has never in the entire history of the world stopped a criminal from bringing in a gun and shooting someone if it's what he's set on doing.

If someone could be stopped by a sign, he could also be stopped by someone looking him in the eye and saying "No!" In fact, that would probably be more likely to work than a sign posted by the door. At least this is personal and he knows he has been noticed and called out for his behavior.

Instead, those signs, and those who enforce them, only keep out the people who are prepared to defend the employees and customers from such criminals.

It's the polar opposite of being helpful. It's a cheap political stance — political theater — prioritizing feelings over reality in the name of imaginary safety.

I never want someone intent on harm to be able to pull out a gun, a knife, a stick, or a fist without being stopped cold where he stands. Not even once. Some might believe that's a little harsh, but he made a choice. When police get in the way of this result, they've done more harm than good.

I don't support criminals or those who side with them by making up or enforcing victim disarmament rules. As if there's a difference.

Farwell's Kent McManigal champions liberty. Contact him at:

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