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Beware The Barbed Hook of "Gun Control"

By Richard W. Stevens

You know how a fish hook works? It has an extremely sharp hard point and a looped shape so that it penetrates the fish’s mouth quickly and gets a hold of him. To make sure the fish cannot free itself, the hook has protruding barbs. With these barbs the hook slides in, but does not slide back out. A barbed hook goes one way -- deeper in -- and does not reverse its course.

Victim disarmament ("gun control") laws are barbed hooks. Once put on the books, it seems they never get pulled out. Whenever a new "crisis" or other trigger event makes the news, the anti-self defense lobby kicks in, trying to push in deeper the "gun control" hooks. Some compromising pro-gun people call it a victory if the hook goes in only a little bit more. Yet, the deeper the hook, the less likely we can regain our freedom.

Trigger Events

Some people believe that if the economy downturns, then violent and property crimes will increase. Others think crime will jump as the current generation moves into its violence-prone teen years. Violent crime rates have dropped somewhat over the last few years, but the moment they show any increase, the "gun control" lobby will push for more victim-disarming laws. Increasing crime rate stats will provide the trigger event.

Any attack by a foreign terrorist on American soil, and every multiple killing perpetrated by a criminal will serve as trigger events, too. Major media will run stories about gang drive-by shootings and deranged teens who murder classmates or family members. Each publicized event will trigger "gun control" crusades to drive the hook deeper.

Lock Down the Trigger Events

For years the media and victim disarmament lobbyists have converted every multiple murder (by a firearms misuser) into a moralistic TV special that gets replayed for days and weeks. Consider the case on December 26, 2000 in Massachusetts, when a cold-blooded murderer attacked and killed seven co-workers in a business office. Like the Xerox workplace attack and many others, the co-worker victims were not protected by the company and were unprepared to protect themselves.

The media and anti-self defense lobbyists ask the question, “how did the killer get his guns?” The better question is: “why didn’t the victims have defensive firearms?”

We must stop apologizing for insisting on the unalienable rights to self-defense and to keep and bear arms. In some states, regular citizens can openly carry firearms just about anywhere without difficulty. Why wasn’t even one of the victims in Massachusetts carrying a sidearm?

Three factors explain personal disarmament:

LAWS: Many states like Massachusetts have laws that heavily restrict citizens’ ability to carry firearms for defense.

RULES: Many businesses forbid their employees from possessing defense firearms in the workplace.

FEARS: Many people are irrationally afraid of firearms -- and they are afraid of their peaceful neighbors having firearms, even for protection.

JPFO strategies reverse those three factors:

Rights: Teach Americans their rights under the Bill of Rights; develop a zero-tolerance for victim disarmament laws that violate our rights. Use the Gran’pa Jack booklets and the Bill of Rights Day materials.

Responsibility: Force business owners and managers to face their potential liability – for having disarmed their employees in the workplace and then failing to provide adequate protection against violent attacks. Download the sample “Xerox” letter you can modify and send to businesses, which shows them why they face legal liability if they support “gun control” schemes that endanger their workers. These letters can prevent corporations from joining the forces that oppose our rights – by appealing to their self-interest.

Psychology: Learn the psychology behind the anti-self defense (“gun control”) movement – download or obtain copies of Dr. Sarah Thompson’s path-breaking analysis, entitled Raging Against Self-Defense: A Psychiatrist Examines the Anti-Gun Mentality. Using Dr. Thompson’s insights, you can expose the irrational fears that underlie “gun control” -- and help people work through their feelings and understand the positive values of firearms and self-defense.

Each of these strategies works to stop the barbed hook of “gun control” and to prepare America for pulling out that hook once and for all. These strategies weaken the “trigger events” by causing Americans to ask the right questions – instead of allowing the major media commentators to howl like coyotes.

Take Action – use these strategies today. Contact JPFO at (800) 869-1884, or click on www.jpfo.org. Join JPFO for only $20 annual dues, tax deductible. (Two-year membership gets quality lapel pin – free.)



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