Jan 12, 2011

Gun Control in Arizona

Have you been wondering why Arizona’s relatively unrestrictive laws regarding carrying a weapon didn't play into the tragedy? Guess what, it did. And Jerry Rivers accidentally discovered it when he interviewed Joe Zamud.
“They’d already had a-hold of him, and there was a lot of people around him, and I wasn’t going to cause any more collateral damage or scare anybody any further than they needed to be scared. I felt like I could hold him down and wait for police, and it wasn’t my responsibility to end his life.”
He had a gun. He was licensed to carry. He made a split-second evaluation of the situation. He made the right choice. No shooting innocent bystanders. No making the situation worse. Just a responsible citizen, trying to help, and doing the right thing. And here’s the kicker. This guy is all of 24 years old. Just two years older than the 'alleged' shooter who sprayed his Glock into 20 or so people, and killed 6.

Two people. Two guns. One gun was used to shoot people indiscriminately. The other, a responsible citizen who not only chooses to carry a gun legally, but had the good sense NOT to use it, when doing so could have made a tragic situation even worse. In fact, he even went toward a dangerous situation to see if he could make a difference - to help others. And he did.

Thank you, Joe Zamud, for speaking the truth publicly about what happened, for your concealed carry license, and for being a responsible gun owner.

Now before I hear another person, right or left, bring up restricting the other side's first or second amendment granted Constitutional rights - and continuing to turn this tragedy into a metaphor for everything that's wrong with America -- let's take pause and remember what works in America. We owe, if only that tiny bit, to the victims.

Thanks to
Brad Kozak for the heads up on this interview.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah Jerry Rivers - accidentally reporting something.

I love the part where he realizes that he's got something going on -- shuts up for a moment -- then advocates death upon the shooter.

That's responsible, Jerry.

RiffRidder said...

That is very interesting. The anti-gun factions are always quick to say that in an incident like this a concealed carry holder will only add to the fatality list as their stray bullets take out unintended targets. And then when the cops show up, they will surely be mistaken for the criminal and shot. However reality, as shown above, is much different.

buy generic cialis online said...

granted Constitutional rights - and continuing to turn this tragedy into a metaphor for everything that's wrong with America -- let's take pause and remember what works in America.