Following a deadly mass stabbing in Washington State, a major gun-rights organization is saying what gun owners have long known but gun-ban advocates won’t accept—it’s the criminal, stupid.
On February 24, a man who had a protective order against him stabbed multiple people, including the person who had the protective order against him. (The ineffectiveness of a piece of paper to protect unarmed victims is another story altogether, but equally maddening.) The violent attacker managed to kill four people with his knife before being shot dead by officers with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office.
The deadly knife attack prompted a quick observation from the Washington-based gun-rights group Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA).
“The deadly mass stabbing this morning in Washington state’s Pierce County underscores what the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms has been stressing for years; evil intent in the hearts of violent perpetrators, not the lawful ownership of firearms, is at the core of the state’s crime problem,” CCRKBA said in a news release detailing the attack.
To be sure, nearly every time a deranged person uses a gun to kill multiple victims, anti-gun advocates immediately call for all manner of gun control, basically blaming the gun instead of the violent criminal misusing it. But regardless of what weapon is used in mass murder, it’s not the weapon that is at fault, according to CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb.
“All the gun control laws enacted over the past few years in Washington state did not prevent this horrible crime,” noted CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “Thank heavens an armed deputy arrived to put a stop to this rampage before even more people might have been injured. Once again, a good guy with a gun stopped a bad guy with an evil heart.”
Details are still emerging in the case, but it underscores the importance of being able to act in self-defense without even a moment’s notice, and having the right tool for the job, CCRKBA noted. However, in Washington, anti-gunners have been eroding the right to keep and bear arms, which is protected by both the state and federal constitutions. Instead, they have pushed through a 10-day waiting period to buy any kind of firearm, a so-called “enhanced background check,” and, waiting to take effect next year, a permit-to-purchase scheme with an expensive training requirement, which will almost certainly be challenged in court.
“Evergreen State gun prohibitionists have been gaslighting the public for too long, but what happened Tuesday morning should put an end to that nonsense,” Gottlieb said. “Guns are not the problem; violent people are. Whether they misuse a firearm, knife, crowbar, automobiles or some other weapon, the actions of these evil people should never be used to justify restricting the rights of law-abiding citizens.”
Ultimately, Gottlieb said the fact that this rampage occurred is an outrage, but it reinforces what his organization has been saying all along.
“Passing restrictive gun laws will not prevent violent crime, and thinking otherwise is fatally flawed,” he concluded. “The suspect in this case didn’t use a gun; he used a knife, and now four people are dead. Today’s silence from the gun control crowd is deafening.”