← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Faust
Thread ID: 15479 | Posts: 3 | Started: 2004-10-30
2004-10-30 00:33 | User Profile
Good Kids With Guns by Robert W. Lee
Advocates of gun control are inclined to portray firearms in the worst possible light while ignoring the positive aspects of gun ownership and use. They will, for example, focus on the million or so violent gun incidents committed by offenders annually, while disregarding the estimated 2.5 million-plus successful defensive uses of firearms each year. Such self-serving bias is equivalent to condemning prescription drugs because tens of thousands of persons die each year from adverse drug reactions, while ignoring the more numerous instances in which such drugs save lives.
The tendency to ignore evidence that challenges planks of the anti-gun agenda has surfaced in the wake of recent shooting incidents at schools in Arkansas, Kentucky, and Mississippi. The major media and gun control zealots have sought, for example, to create the impression that when minors use guns other than for supervised hunting or target shooting, the results are inevitably disastrous. That misleading assumption was also evident in a 1994 public service advertisement (PSA) about children and guns run on several television stations in Utah. It featured the president of the Utah Chiefs of Police Association asking rhetorically, "When do you think a child, or teenager, should have a gun?" and sternly warning that "the only reason for a child to have a gun is a dangerous one."
Safety Measure
But a few days before the PSA appeared, the Salt Lake Tribune reported an incident in Tulsa, Oklahoma in which 13-year-old Jarrod Barnes, who had been properly trained in the use of firearms, probably saved his own life and those of three younger brothers who sought refuge in a bedroom after an intruder burst into their home while their parents were away. According to the Tribune, while a brother dialed 911 the interloper tried to force the bedroom door open, at which point Jarrod "went for his stepfatherââ¬â¢s .357 Magnum and fired through the bedroom door, striking the man in the chest." The man "stumbled into the front yard and collapsed dead." A pocket knife and 15-inch screwdriver were found on the body.
The two oldest brothers had attended gun safety classes sponsored by the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Department. The boysââ¬â¢ stepfather told reporters that he considered "the older boys to be experts with firearms," adding: "We taught him [Jarrod] where to aim at the door if the door rattled. He did exactly as he was instructed." He speculated that "the firearms training the boys received probably saved their lives." No charges were filed against the parents for allowing Jarrod and his brothers to have access to the gun that may have saved their lives.
In some instances, even paintball, cap, and BB guns have been utilized by minors to protect themselves or others. In 1994, two New York teenagers were waiting to "ambush" fellow paintball war-games friends when they noticed a female jogger being attacked on a nearby path. The youths ran to the scene, firing several warning "shots" along the way, and as the attacker fled they opened fire in earnest, hitting him nearly 30 times. The paint-splotched suspect was easily apprehended by police.
That same year in Salt Lake City, a cap gun proved to be an effective crime-fighting tool in the hands of an eight-year-old after a predator molested a nine-year-old friend. The man had dragged the older boy behind a wooden fence, molested him, and then refused to release him. Hearing the childââ¬â¢s screams for help, his young friend rushed to his aid and, according to police, alertly fired his cap gun in the air, causing the attacker to flee. The pedophile was arrested shortly thereafter.
And in 1995, 14-year-old Nathan Archuleta was at home with the flu when confronted by a burglar in the kitchen of his home in Pueblo, Colorado. The thief grabbed a kitchen knife and slashed the boyââ¬â¢s arm. Nathan ran to his bedroom, hoping to escape the attacker, but with nowhere else to hide he grabbed his BB gun from a dresser and shot the criminal, who stopped in his tracks, shifted into reverse, and fled from the house.
Exercising the Right
There have been many instances of minors employing handguns or rifles to defend themselves or loved ones from injury or death from other persons or wild animals. Here are a handful of examples, gleaned from news accounts and the monthly "The Armed Citizen" column of the National Rifle Associationââ¬â¢s American Rifleman magazine:
ââ¬Â¢ In 1996, although her parents and a deputy sheriff were at the scene, a 15-year-old Cookeville, Tennessee teen was forced to defend herself when an abusive ex-boyfriend eluded the deputy, kicked in the door of the home in which she was hiding, and came after her while she was calling 911. She had the phone in one hand, but a Ruger .44 magnum in the other. A single fatal shot saved her from certain harm and possible death.
ââ¬Â¢ In 1992, 14-year-old Clint Reynolds of Central, Alaska was awakened by noise from a scuffle between an uncle and a grizzly bear attempting to climb through the window of the family home. Young Reynolds quickly loaded his .357 magnum revolver and fired seven shots into the bear, mortally wounding the marauding animal.
ââ¬Â¢ In 1992, two teenage girls were asleep at home in Bakersfield, California when two armed men kicked in the door and demanded money. As one of the men grabbed a wallet, one of the girls grabbed a handgun and opened fire, mortally wounding the other thug. His accomplice fled.
ââ¬Â¢ In 1994, a father and son teamed up to thwart a burglary. Walter Bracken and son Daniel of Albuquerque, New Mexico noticed a strange truck near another family memberââ¬â¢s home. When they went to investigate, two intruders attempted to run-over the father, but Daniel, armed with a .30-30 rifle, fired several shots, wounding the driver. The other man fled. Police investigators concluded that Daniel had acted properly in self-defense.
ââ¬Â¢ In 1993, after the family home had been burgled several times, 17-year-old Darren Yakunovich of Kipton, Ohio stayed home from school in the hope of apprehending the burglar. The thief did indeed strike again (it was an erstwhile friend), but when he entered an upstairs room Daniel ended his crime career, at least temporarily, by holding him at gunpoint until the police arrived.
Youthful Soldiers
In our nationââ¬â¢s early years, young people often served courageously and competently in the military. One particularly important battle of the Civil War is worth noting. The Virginia Military Institute, founded in 1839, is the nationââ¬â¢s oldest state-supported military college. Its graduates have fought in every American conflict since the Mexican War, and the service of its entire cadet corps during the 1864 Civil War battle of New Market, Virginia marks the only occasion in U.S. history in which an entire student body has fought as a unit in pitched battle. The 257 cadets included many minors, the youngest of whom was 15.
An account of the battle by Colonel William Couper, VMIââ¬â¢s official historiographer, in The VMI New Market Cadets (1933) describes how on May 15, 1864 the "deadly fire of shells, grape, canister and bullets, to which the corps was subjected ââ¬Â¦ did not cause it to retreat or even fall back temporarily." Instead, it "began, for the first time, to fire upon the enemy." At one point, when a command was given to the corps to charge, it "was obeyed, not only with alacrity, but with enthusiasm." Indeed, "So eager were the cadets to charge the enemy, 100 or 150 yards off, that it was difficult for them to find time to load and shoot their old-fashioned muzzle loading muskets."
The retreating Northerners were pursued until the VMI corps "was halted by the order of [Confederate Major] General [John C.] Breckinridge." This important Southern victory, Couper notes, "temporarily preserved the Shenandoahââ¬â¢s resources for the Confederacy." Ten of the VMI cadets either died during the battle or later from wounds they received. Another 47 suffered non-fatal wounds. The Institute eventually purchased much of the battlefield, on which it erected the nationââ¬â¢s largest Civil War memorial to honor the youthful New Market heroes.
* * *
The incidents cited above are not intended to minimize the problem of youth violence, including gun-related violence. They are simply a reminder that not all young people who wield firearms for purposes other than hunting or target shooting do so in an irresponsible manner.
[url]http://www.thenewamerican.com/tna/1998/vo14no11/vo14no11_kids.htm[/url]
2004-10-30 15:15 | User Profile
VERY interesting read. I will print it out and use it as ammo against the anti-gun numb nuts that I encounter on a regular basis.
2004-11-04 15:57 | User Profile
"Youth violence," like "gang-related violence" is nothing but yet another euphemism for [I]colored[/I] violence. Every White knows this -- even the liberals -- yet still the violent tendencies of negroes and mestizos remains the Truth That Dare Not Speak Its Name. Even the NRA won't touch this one, for fear of being labeled "Racist" by the governmedia.