Good CCW Article by Local Radio Commentator

[Drtop]

Post-September 11: Another Look at Guns and Racial Profiling

By Larry Elder



Care to also revisit the argument for "gun control"?

The LAPD Protective League sent Attorney General Ashcroft a letter requesting permission to allow off-duty cops to carry firearms on planes. In her letter, LAPD Union Chief Mitzi Grasso said, "If the public knows that additional protection is available to them through trained and credentialed officers, they will feel much safer traveling via airplane."

The 67,000-strong Air Line Pilots Association, post-Tuesday, September 11, also suddenly got religion. The pilots now want the right to arm themselves. In a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing 737 Captain W. J. "Skip" Hapeman said, "It seems quite incredible to me that I am entrusted daily with a $40 million aircraft and the lives of many hundreds of passengers, but the FAA, in their questionable wisdom, does not trust me with a firearm." The Air Line Pilots Association and the LAPD Union base their argument on the concept of "randomness." That is, the bad guy cannot determine which "passengers" carry arms, thus complicating the terrorist’s mission. But isn’t this the basis upon which 34 states allow citizens to carry concealed weapons? In concealed-carry states, only about 2% of the population ever apply for a concealed weapon permit, but the bad guys don’t know who. That’s the whole point.

What if Congress refused to allow pilots to arm themselves? The Air Line Pilots Association, in a resolution, calls for "a national suspension of air service, at such times and in such manner as is deemed appropriate by the leadership of the Air Line Pilots Association." In short, if rules do not permit pilots to carry arms, they refuse to fly!

But what about inner-city residents, those most vulnerable to street crime? According to a recent Time magazine article, "Los Angeles is in terrible shape–again….After falling steadily from 1996 to ’99, gang murders in the city increased 143% last year; 331 people died because of gang violence, in contrast to 136 in 1999. The violence got worse during the first half of this year, with a 23% increase in murders. Even as gang-related property crimes decrease–robbery is down 8.8%, carjacking is down 28%--other violent crimes are up. Felony assault by gangsters is up 9.7%, attacks on police officers are up 35.5%, witness intimidation is up 50%."

What about their protection? Shall inner-city residents go on strike until granted the option of carrying a concealed weapon? Shall inner-city residents refuse to work unless allowed to carry a firearm?

Before September 11, emotions, rather than fact, logic and history, drove the argument against guns and "racial profiling."