Who’s Crazier, James Holmes or Gun Control Advocates?

by GREGORY D. LEE July 30, 2012

The killing of at least 12 people and the wounding of upwards of 50 others in an Aurora, Colorado movie theater during the midnight opening of the latest Batman film was a horrific event perpetrated by mass murderer, James Holmes.

Right on cue, liberal politicians called for even stronger gun control, suggesting reinstituting the ban on "assault weapons," and limiting ammunition magazines to no more than 10-rounds would prevent another tragic event.

Between federal and state governments, there are approximately 10,000 laws regulating the possession, sale, and use of firearms. Is another gun law going to prevent a repeat of what happened inside that movie theater in Aurora? Not likely.

Einstein's definition of insanity was someone repeating the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. That's what happens every time politicians pass a new gun law. What liberal politicians don't understand is that these laws only "infringe" law abiding citizens from exercising their personal Second Amendment rights to "keep and bear arms."

When Philadelphia Police Commissioner, Charles Ramsey, was asked if things would have been different if an armed citizen with a concealed weapons permit were in the theater, he scoffed at the notion and said: "The debate goes beyond just this one incident, but this guy had body armor from head to toe," he explained. "You had tear gas in there, and unfortunately, many states, and I don't know about Colorado, but many states that authorize concealed carry have no provisions at all for people to receive training, marksmanship, proper handling of firearms, or whatever. So now you got two people randomly shooting in a movie theater. I don't know how that helps."

It would have helped a lot. Holmes meekly surrendered when he was confronted outside the theater by armed police officers, despite being covered with "body armor from head to toe." The same thing would have probably happened if he was confronted before hand by an armed citizen inside the theater, potentially saving numerous lives. And, by the way, Colorado requires a resident to "demonstrate competency" before a concealed weapons permit is issued. It is unfortunate that a legally armed citizen or off-duty or retired police officer was not in attendance at the theater at the time Holmes made his entry.

Would anti-gun advocates feel better if instead of using an "assault weapon" Holmes used explosives to blow up the entirely sold out 16 theaters and leveled the building? How about if he swung two machetes at his helpless victims? The bottom line is that it really doesn't matter what weapons are used when the perpetrator is hell-bent on killing as many people as physically possible. Somehow, evil people like Holmes will find a way.

It's obvious to me that Holmes wanted to survive the event. That's why he immediately told arresting officers that he had booby trapped his apartment. In the event of his arrest, he wanted to show everyone just how smart he is. If the police, or an armed citizen had killed him, the booby traps would have killed other people as his method of extracting revenge. He wants to glow in the media spotlight, and is now faking his mental illness, as evidenced by his sending a notebook to a psychiatrist to cover himself should he survive the event. Keep in mind, this guy was a PhD student who thought he was smarter than anyone else on the planet.

It couldn't be that the Hollywood movie violence Holmes has been subjected to over his entire lifetime, such as Batman movies, might have influenced him to perpetrate this violence and to gain his 15-minutes of fame? Several mentally deranged copy-cats have already been charged with plotting similar events across the country.

In light of the number of crazed people hiding somewhere who would do us harm, this latest episode demonstrates why responsible, crime-free citizens should have the right to defend themselves, and others, from nut-jobs like Holmes.

To suggest that firearms caused the mass murder in Colorado is like saying matches cause lung cancer. All firearms are inanimate objects; it takes an evil-doer like James Holmes to put them into action.