The season finale of “Burn Notice,” entitled “Lesser Evil,” involves Michael Weston (Jeffrey Donovan) trying to keep both himself and Madeline Weston, his mom (Sharon Gless), safe from some angry spies. Madeline and Sam Axe (Bruce Campbell) are surrounded by those bad spies and Madeline makes what to many may seem like an obvious suggestion.
Madeline Weston: Should I call the police?
Sam Axe: No, that would make it way too easy for them. Cops take us to the station — they know where we are and they know that we are unarmed.
The segment reminded me of an even even more politically incorrect show: “The Rifleman.” The episode entitled “The Anvil Chorus” aired on December 17, 1962, and is summarized this way:
Blacksmith Nils Swenson (Joe Higgins) is asked to serve as temporary Marshall for the town. He asks all the citizens to check their guns at the Marshall’s office while they are in town. His intention is to make the town safer, but that is NOT the result. When three thugs arrive and begin to cause trouble, the unarmed citizens have no means to protect themselves. Lucas (Chuck Connors) is summoned to help rescue Mark (Johnny Crawford) and the Marshall.
As a friend of mine noted to me, “Of course, Lucas relies on his gun to secure Mark’s rescue.” The episode of “Burn Notice” might not seem as relevant to most people as the above episode of “The Rifleman” (after all, when you’re not dealing with spies, research shows that police are quite effective in deterring criminals), but it stills gets the point across. When guns are banned, instead of making things safe for the victims, you make things safe for the criminals. Instead of gun free zones deterring criminals, they actually serve as a magnet for them.
Is it really surprising that all the multiple victim public shootings in the United States where more than three people have been killed have all taken place where permitted concealed handguns are not allowed? Or that states that pass right-to-carry laws have a 60 percent drop in multiple victim public shootings and that to the extent these attacks still occur, they overwhelmingly take place in those few areas with the state where permitted concealed handguns are not allowed?
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