Knowing my neighbors, it might be good not to try to stage a terrorist takeover in my town. \u00a0 But there are lots of “gun free” zones in Los Angeles, meaning that only criminals have guns.<\/p>\n
Of Arms and the Law: Massacre in Mumbai<\/a><\/p>\n It’s hard to envision hundreds of American civilians or dozens police standing by while four guys shot up a hotel full of people, encountering no resistance.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I’ve had other comments<\/a> to make about this.<\/p>\n But this<\/a> is all worth reading, and so is this<\/a>.\u00a0 I’m afraid both of these worthies are a bit optimistic when it comes to modern America.\u00a0 Sure, Flight 93 fought back.\u00a0 The other flights on 9\/11 allowed themselves to be driven into buildings, because they had all been taught not to resist.\u00a0 Our schools have done a magnificent job of inculcating this ethic into Americans for the last forty years or so.\u00a0 It was just starting when I was in high school.<\/p>\n John Lott has this to say,<\/a> with more at the link. He is a scholar and economist, who has done lots of research into the effects of gun control laws.<\/p>\n In India, victims watched as armed police cowered and didn’t fire back at the terrorists. A photographer at the scene described his frustration: “There were armed policemen hiding all around the station but none of them did anything. At one point, I ran up to them and told them to use their weapons. I said, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcShoot them, they’re sitting ducks!’ but they just didn’t shoot back.”<\/p>\n Meanwhile, according to the hotel company’s chairman, P.R.S. Oberoi, security at “the hotel had metal detectors, but none of its security personnel carried weapons because of the difficulties in obtaining gun permits from the Indian government.”<\/p>\n India has extremely strict gun control laws, but who did it succeed in disarming?<\/p>\n The terrorist attack showed how difficult it is to disarm serious terrorists. Strict licensing rules meant that it was the victims who obeyed the regulations, not the terrorists.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I teach in one of those “gun free zones”, and if they come to our campus before breaking out their weapons, a lot of people will die before the authorities arrive, just like at Virginia Tech, when there was only one shooter, and no one was armed to resist.\u00a0 And, it has to be said, no one had the guts to get together six people to charge the shooter and take their chances, knowing that someone would get to him.<\/p>\n I’m afraid we’ve trained a nation of sheep who like violent movies.<\/p>\n