{"id":1751,"date":"2007-12-07T05:12:05","date_gmt":"2007-12-07T10:12:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=1751"},"modified":"2008-02-14T17:51:08","modified_gmt":"2008-02-14T22:51:08","slug":"gun-free-zone-claims-eight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=1751","title":{"rendered":"Gun Free Zone Claims Eight"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Westroads Mall in Omaha – site of Wednesday’s horrible spree-shooting – is\u00a0a “gun free” zone<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Turns out that the Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska, where Robert Hawkins killed 8 with an SKS medium-powered rifle<\/a> is, guess what, a Gun Free Zone<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For an overview of all the media discussing this fact, see GunPundit<\/a>, Murdoc’s fledgling gun-oriented site.<\/p>\n

From FoxNews<\/a>:<\/p>\n

But despite the massive news coverage, none of the media coverage, at least by 10 a.m. Thursday, mentioned this central fact: Yet another attack occurred in a gun-free zone.<\/p>\n

Surely, with all the reporters who appear at these crime scenes and seemingly interview virtually everyone there, why didn\u2019t one simply mention the signs that ban guns from the premises?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Show me a spree-killing, and as a rule I’ll show you a “gun free zone”.\u00a0 The exceptions largely prove the rule, in fact.<\/p>\n

The usual suspects are lining up to claim the usual BS (via Say Uncle<\/a>), or in the case of this ignorant Australian knuckle-dragger<\/a>, commit libel:<\/p>\n

\n

NEBRASKA, the farming state with the highest per capita gun ownership in the US, began the year with LB-454, a new state law allowing people 21 years and over to carry a concealed handgun pretty much wherever they go.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Applicants must pass a routine police check, complete a basic handgun training course (most are run by ex-cops) and pay $US100 ($115) for a five-year permit. It’s as simple as that.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Simpler still – the shooter used a rifle.\u00a0 Not a concealed handgun.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is, in fact, as simple as that<\/em>.<\/p>\n

There might be some meaning to this tragic waste of life if all over the Cornhusk state [ ? ? ?- Ed<\/em>]\u00a0– the only US jurisdiction that still executes prisoners by frying them in the electric chair – the gun-culture penny was to finally drop.<\/p>\n

Sadly, that is unlikely to be the case. Out in the American Midwest tragedies such as Westroads and the Virginia Tech massacre in April, when 32 people were killed [ Virginia’s in the Midwest?\u00a0 Who knew? – Ed<\/em>.], often serve to reinforce the convictions of gun nuts who believe that being armed is not just a constitutional right but goddamn common sense, too.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’m sure a few people at “gun-free” Westroads Mall thought it might have made sense yesterday.<\/p>\n

Take Chuck Zellers, a resident of the state capital, Lincoln, who wrote to his local newspaper, the Lincoln Journal Star, after the Virginia Tech slaughter to complain about an article in an Australian publication that had argued for stricter US gun control.<\/p>\n

“Google Australian gun laws,” Mr Zellers urged his readers. “You will see several entries that, upon reading, dispel the notion that such stricter laws have reduced crime in that country. In fact, crime has risen in Australia since passing stricter laws.<\/p>\n

As a Lincoln resident, Mr Zellers no doubt feels his freedoms have been violated by a local ordinance that denies convicted stalkers or anyone named in a protection order over the previous 10 years the right to a concealed weapon.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Is the columnist calilng Mr. Zellars a convicted stalker?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Seems a bit…yellow?<\/p>\n

After all, just down the road in Omaha no such restrictions exist.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And it is about as relevant as Mr. Nelson’s preeningly, gratingly\u00a0ignorant column.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Westroads Mall in Omaha – site of Wednesday’s horrible spree-shooting – is\u00a0a “gun free” zone: Turns out that the Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska, where Robert Hawkins killed 8 with an SKS medium-powered rifle is, guess what, a Gun Free Zone. For an overview of all the media discussing this fact, see GunPundit, Murdoc’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gun-free-zones","category-victim-disarmament"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1751\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}