-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_dougherty_com/19991025_xcjod_the_da nger.shtml"> The dangers of a disarmed society </A> The dangers of a disarmed society © 1999 WorldNetDaily.com I don't often write about the same subject twice in a week, but I received a pro-gun/pro-safety response from an interesting fellow last Thursday after I wrote a column about the absurdity of disarming all Americans. I thought readers would find it useful in making their case that the gun issue really does revolve around safety, not just rights. This is his message: "Just read your article on Maryland's attorney general wanting to ban handguns for most. Your conclusions are correct. "We have lived for a number of years in Kenya. There ALL guns are banned, including toy guns that look like guns. The only exception is for small bore shotguns for bird hunting, which are owned by a select few. These guns must be stored in the local police station armory. They can be checked out only during hunting season. It takes an act of parliament to get shells. "Yet in Kenya any criminal that wants one can get a gun. "My wife and a friend were robbed at gunpoint near Mombassa. Their vehicle was taken also and they were left standing on the side of the road. As they were walking along they heard shots. The same crooks who had just robbed them, robbed and killed a tourist down the road. And this is in a nation where the police go around with automatic weapons. "They (the police), by the way, shoot to kill all the time. I worked as a pilot and the airport had armed police everywhere and lots of 'security.' One day, in front of our hangar, a Kenyan made the mistake of touching the policeman's rifle. He died for that mistake, right there in the parking lot. One night in Nairobi, next to my house, a person was lurking in a nearby empty lot. The police came and blew him away with automatic rifle fire. Shoot first and no questions, now or later. "Make no mistake, when only the police have guns, no one is safe. But even wanton killing by police does not deter crime. The only safety is when you're at home and behind locked bars. Bars everywhere, doors, windows, gates, everywhere. We had to have a security guard, armed with a machete, and a locked gate and wall around our house. Day and night. Terrible way to live. "And there is still no safety. There are home invasions there too, where 20 or 30 thugs come with wrecking bars and break into houses. Happens all the time. The police for the most part had no cars for transportation. Call 999 (911) and if the phone happened to be working, the response would be on foot or by public bus. "Another friend was robbed once, during the day. The police came and when they were standing in line for the bus to go back to the stationhouse they noticed someone standing there in line also, with the loot they recognized from the same robbery they came to investigate. The person started to run, so they blew him away too. Our friend felt real bad someone had to die over mere 'stuff.' "I am a gun owner and don't like the NRA, but when they say, 'when guns are outlawed then only outlaws will have guns,' they are correct. Then, no one is safe." This gentleman wrote me again last Friday, telling me that he'd still jump at the chance to make a pilgrimage to Kenya, even to this day, and he was emphatic that all parts of Africa are not similar. But he added that even in a country with a well-armed police force, criminals who still manage to acquire "tightly regulated and prohibited" firearms commit ghastly crimes, including murder, rape and robbery. Alas -- and in keeping with the notion of tying gun rights to the issue of overall safety -- that is the point this man is trying to make. Point taken, as they say. Still I wonder, how many vehement anti-gunners will simply never get the message until it is they who are confronted with this threat and there is nobody around to help and no way to help themselves? Will it be only then they will ask themselves -- right before a criminal puts a gun to their head -- why they didn't realize sooner that indeed the issue of gun rights was really an issue of personal safety all along? Writing about the wisdom of opposing abortion, Alan Keyes last week made some brilliant points about avoiding the pitfalls of painting all who oppose your point of view as "immoral" slobs with no consciences. He's right; some very well-meaning people who are otherwise very well informed and compassionate about a variety of issues still cannot see the wisdom in supporting gun rights, either as a matter of constitutional law and freedom or as a matter of enhancing personal and community safety. We shouldn't, as Mr. Keyes suggested, simply write these people off as our enemies and fail to engage them in reasonable dialogue, debate and discussion. Instead, we need to demonstrate that it is because we care about them -- as well as ourselves -- that we support the Constitution's reaffirmation of our God-given right to self defense and our nation's common goal of providing safety and security in our homes, our workplaces and our communities as a whole. If anything, the gentleman who shared his Kenyan experiences with state-sponsored gun control and the utter lack of safety such a concept provides will go a long way toward making these points. As a qualifier, I would like to add that in no way would I (or he) suggest that American police officers are or could be capable of such behavior. But let's face reality: We all know from experience that oftentimes their superiors certainly are capable of it (Waco comes to mind). For our own personal safety -- and the safety of our way of life and form of government -- we should work strenuously to avoid repeating the mistakes of others, mistakes dictated simply by human nature, in the arena of total gun control. Perhaps if the other media and government leaders did not behave the way WND Editor Joe Farah described Friday -- ignoring acts or events they have deemed "politically incorrect" -- more Americans would have the freedom to decide for themselves just how safe they want to be. Jon E. Dougherty is a staff writer for WorldNetDaily. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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