California gun group ties firearm ownership campaign to terror attacks

Josey1

California gun group ties firearm ownership campaign to terror attacksBy Don Thompson Associated Press WriterSACRAMENTO (AP) -- A California gun group launched a billboard campaign Monday touting firearm ownership as a response to last month's terrorist attacks. The billboards, with the message "Society is safer when criminals don't know who's armed," is similar to a 1995 campaign. However, the California Rifle and Pistol Association said this year's campaign is particularly timely in light of the terrorist attacks and the current debate over arming flight crews to thwart hijackers. The campaign was designed before the Sept. 11 attacks, and shouldn't be interpreted as suggesting a handgun can stop a terrorist assault, said association spokesman Chuck Michel. However, "we think this is maybe a good time for people to consider whether a firearm is a good defense mechanism for their particular circumstances," Michel said. As a result of the terrorist attacks, "people realize we're vulnerable and you can't necessarily count on someone else to protect you." Roberta Schiller, executive director of Women Against Gun Violence, denounced the timing as well as the message. "Their opportunistic behavior is really disgusting," she said. "It's really reprehensible to try to whip up the fears. I think it's very poor judgment." The two cited conflicting studies to back their positions. Michel said guns are more often used to save lives than to illegally take them, and cited lower crime rates he attributed to concealed weapons laws. "If the bad guys don't know which good guys have guns, crime goes down," he said. Schiller disputed that assertion, and worried that people who buy guns in response to the terrorist attacks might be more likely to turn the guns on themselves. "This only goes to increase the terror ... particularly in these times of anxiety and these times of economic uncertainty," she said. "People, if they're depressed, should see a mental health counselor, they shouldn't see a gun dealer." Michel said about 300 billboards will go up over the next two weeks across California, and will remain up for six to eight weeks.

---

On the Net: crpa.org; wagv.org. http://www.sacbee.com/news/calreport/data/N2001-10-08-1815-0.html

Free N TX

(spoken in valley girl dialect) Ohhh my God, like, I am, you know like, sooo shure they would, like, not use current events and stuff to, like totally, further their anti-gun agenda if those, like, terrorist people had guns and stuff, don't you know. Typical Kalifornian (read that as liberal) B-S. My apologies to the non liberals stuck there (opps, I meant living there).To mount a campain as large as this with all the planning and funding not to mention coordinating of logistics takes a lot of time. I believe it would have had to have been planned way in advance of 9-11-01.Schiller disputed that assertion, and worried that people who buy guns in response to the terrorist attacks might be more likely to turn the guns on themselves. "This only goes to increase the terror ... particularly in these times of anxiety and these times of economic uncertainty," she said. "People, if they're depressed, should see a mental health counselor, they shouldn't see a gun dealer." Why does she think that people are so irresponsible that they would "turn the guns on themselves"? Why do Kalifornians (again read that as liberals) think that the answer to everthing is to see a shrink? Maybe she has some underlying issues with depression herself!