Call it like it is: The NRA types want a nation of George Zimmermans. [View all]

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So I've been observing the post-Sandy Hook shooting reaction. Two state legislatures introduced bills that would allow teachers to have CCW in classrooms. Then some gun rights activists suggesting that armed vigilantes would've saved lives in this shooting, the Portland mall shooting, etc. A nation of George Zimmermans, as this Daily Kos blog put it.

Imagine how safe you would feel. You’d always know that you were surrounded by vigilant Zimmermans. George Zimmerman would have your back everywhere you went. He’d be standing in line behind you at Starbucks, walking behind you on your way through the parking lot to your car, waiting patiently while you withdrew money from the ATM. Instead of a world full of strangers, you would live in a world full of strangers with guns. You’d always feel safe. And if for any reason you found yourself feeling unsafe? Remember, you have a gun, too. Feeling fearful? Unsure? The simple solution: draw first. Problem solved.

And if some nut-job tried to pull a stunt like this guy did in Aurora, Colorado, it wouldn’t go well for him at all. After setting off his smoke bomb and opening fire, he’d instantly find himself confronted with dozens of armed movie goers.

In Peckinpahtopia, we wouldn’t have to worry about tragedies like the Aurora movie theater killings. Instead of waiting helplessly for the police to arrive, a theater full of Zimmermans would rise up and stand their ground and the situation would quickly be controlled. For the police, there would only be the paperwork. Imagine how much safer and easier life would be for police officers in Peckinpahtopia!

Besides the gun manufacturers, who obviously make more money off people's fear of crime, who wins from the "be afraid, be very afraid of the next massacre" messaging prevalent by the arm-everyone crowd? And honestly, can you consider that to be freedom?

And you wonder why people were so offended after Bob Costas's halftime gun commentary. Maybe because Costas dared to tell the truth, quoting another sports commentator: "our current gun culture simply ensures that more and more domestic disputes will end in the ultimate tragedy." They are afraid of their own shadow. OK, law-abiding citizens should be able to own guns. But then, it is worth the cost of: people dying over trivial confrontations (like Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis), or children accidentally being shot in their own homes by parents' firearms, or stray bullets?

Furthermore, the gun lobby has no idea how one who conceal carries can protect oneself from drive-by shooting or sniper attacks, unless an armed vigilante were around. And this USA Today editorial from November 2002 posits possible reasons why the NRA was silent after the DC sniper attacks: because NRA-backed laws aided/abetted the two gunmen.