(Thanks to TM for the image)
In light of the shooting at the Colorado theater, which is apparently a gun-free zone, I want to review why I think that gun-free zones should be renamed slaughterhouse zones.
Here’s Dr. John R. Lott to make the case.
Excerpt:
It wasn’t supposed to happen in England, with its very strict gun-control laws. And yet last week, Derrick Bird shot twelve people to death and wounded eleven others in the northwestern county of Cumbria. A headline in the London Times read: “Toughest laws in the world could not stop Cumbria tragedy.”
But surely this was an aberration. Because America has the most guns, multiple-victim public shootings are an American thing, right? No, not at all. Contrary to public perception, Western Europe, most of whose countries have much tougher gun laws than the United States, has experienced many of the worst multiple-victim public shootings. Particularly telling, all the multiple-victim public shootings in Western Europe have occurred in places where civilians are not permitted to carry guns. The same is true in the United States: All the public shootings in which more than three people have been killed have occurred in places where civilians may not legally bring guns.
Look at recent history. Where have the worst K–12 school shootings occurred? Nearly all of them in Europe. The very worst one occurred in a high school in Erfurt, Germany, in 2002, where 18 were killed. The second-worst took place in Dunblane, Scotland, in 1996, where 16 kindergartners and their teacher were killed. The third-worst, with 15 dead, happened in Winnenden, Germany. The fourth-worst was in the U.S. — Columbine High School in 1999, leaving 13 dead. The fifth-worst, with eleven murdered, occurred in Emsdetten, Germany.
It may be a surprise to those who believe in gun control that Germany was home to three of the five worst attacks. Though not quite as tight as the U.K.’s regulations, Germany’s gun-control laws are some of the most restrictive in Europe. German gun licenses are valid for only three years, and to obtain one, the person must demonstrate such hard-to-define characteristics as trustworthiness, and must also convince authorities that he needs a gun. This is on top of prohibitions on gun ownership for those with mental disorders, drug or alcohol addictions, violent or aggressive tendencies, or felony convictions.
The phenomenon is not limited to school attacks. Multiple-victim public shootings in general appear to be at least as common in Western Europe as they are here. The following is a partial list of attacks since 2001. As mentioned, all of them occurred in gun-free zones — places where guns in the hands of civilians are outlawed.
He then lists about two dozen incidents – all occurring in gun free zones.
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WINTERY KNIGHT 
If pictures speak a thousand words, this one refuted 10s of thousands of words that anti-gun advocates might say.
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“. . . I want to review why I think that gun-free zones should be renamed slaughterhouse zones.”
I prefer to think of them as “victim zones”. (May have a better chance of catching on with the mainstream?)
(I don’t think that term is original to me, but if it’s not, I don’t remember where I first heard it.)
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Although I believe in 2nd Amendment rights – I never bought my own personal firearms …. UNTIL VA Tech happened.
And let me be clear – I work in a profession where handling firearms is pretty common : I am in the US Army and ha
ve deployed twice.
VA Tech : A Gun Free Zone – where a year earlier students had asked the administration to allow students to be able to practice their 2nd Amendment rights and were turned down using the same arguements I saw in this article. The Result: The gunman had many law abiding citizens who, following the law & Univ Rules, were herded and slaughtered.
Columbine: A Gun Free Zone. The maniacs who showed up and shot all those kids did not listen to the magical “Gun Free Zone” fairy dust, and killed people they KNEW. My father later commented how when he was growning up in Texas he would take his shotgun to school, leave it in the truck, and go hunting after school. Weapons stored in high school students vehicles on site, and no mass shootings.
Fort Hood : Gun Free Zone. Yep, you read that right – due to Clinton’s signing of an executive order, our (your) Soliders, most of whom were combat hardened vets were unable to defend themselves from a maniac Jihadi. Trained, combat proficient, proven, brave-in-the-face-of-enemy-fire, experienced SHOOTERS could not stop the Fort Hood shooting. And MAJ Hassan knew the policy.
Aurora Colorado Theatre shooting: Gun Free Zone. We all know the story.
Maybe we can stop genocides by posting “Genocide Free Zone” and monitor the area with the U.N. Oh, wait, they’ve done that. Google it (multiple stories).
Maybe it’s the ‘crazy American gun culture” to blame? No, apparently not:
http://winteryknight.wordpress.com/2012/07/20/do-gun-free-zones-prevent-incidents-like-the-colorado-theater-shooting/
In all these cases the shooter CHOSE a “Gun Free Zone”. The shooter did not go to a police station where everyone is armed and trained. The shooter did not go to an area of the general public where some citizens would be armed. No, in every case listed above, and in almost all mass shooting cases, the shooter went to an area where law abiding citizens, having bought the unicorns and rainbow assertions of politicians, statists, feel good liberal theorists, and the ignorant – where those citizens trusted that the “Gun Free Zone” was safe.
No mass shootings at police stations, or at the military checkpoints at the entrance of our bases, or at a firearms instruction course.
Proof, reality, actual cases and lots of dead due to others ignorance – can we finally stop with the “Gun Free Zones”?
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