Firearms Friday: Time To Ban Trucks!

During what should have been a joyous Bastille Day celebration in Nice, France, the horrors of terrorism were front and center as 84 people were killed and dozens injuries when a truck plowed through the crowd of revelers. Now the second deadliest act of terrorism in the country’s history, this puts, front and center, the real issue that we have in the world and it has nothing to do with firearms. In fact, it was the police on hand that ended the rampage when the 31 year old Tunisian immigrant was shot and killed before he could continue blazing his deadly trail. Of course, that won’t stop some from making that nonexistent connection.

This is a tragedy and we should all mourn the loss of innocent lives but many should also consider this a wake up call as to the real dangers that lurk in this world. Terrorism as well as radicalized and mentally unstable individuals are the cause of these killings. They have nothing to do with the law abiding people in these countries. In saying this I refer to those of the Muslim faith who denounce these acts of rage as well as those law abiding gun owners whose stomachs turn when they hear of such killings. Two very different groups that seem to be shouldered with the blame of these mass murders.

Mental health is lacking in this country in particular and around the world in general. Additionally, politically correct security measures are putting us all in harm’s way. Finally, in the United States, the pervasiveness of a false sense of security (i.e. gun free zones) is doing nothing but leaving people ill equipped to protect themselves and, in fact, is offering those with evil intentions the opportunity to fulfill their twisted objectives. We need to empower people to speak up and stand up for themselves without the false accusations of racism or fanaticism.

The United States needs to wake up and the world needs to face reality. Guns are not the problem. Islam is not the problem. People are the problem. People on both sides of this equation… those who commit these acts and those who refuse to address the real cause of their actions. We cannot strip people of their rights, we cannot ban firearms, we cannot ban knives, we cannot ban trucks, and we cannot put a halt to immigration. Unless we change the distorted perspectives that have infected millions of people, these horrific events will continue to plague us. We must empower the law abiding people of this country and this world and learn to fear knee jerk political and social castration as much as we do the actions of deranged individuals.