GCO Member Philipp Marx wrote to the Atlanta Journal Consitution on April 15, 2007, to respond to Cynthia Tucker’s column from April 8, 2007, criticizing the “gun lobby’s” fight against laws restricting the right to keep and bear arms.  Mr. Marx was not a GCO member at the time, but since he is now, I thought it might be appropriate to post his letter here.

May I assume that Cynthia Tucker inadvertently brings up a “textbook example” where (only) a gun could have saved the victim’s life?  As we know, in nearly all cases the police, or, in the mentioned incident, the security guard, may be able to apprehend the assailant - but rarely to prevent the murder.

Even Tucker should be aware of the “disparity of force” between a male and female. 

In other words: Even without a gun, the assailant is able to kill his estranged wife or girlfriend with ease.  All he needs is a knife from a nearby shop; nobody can prevent this, but the victim - if she is armed and knows how to use her gun.

It is a common misconception that just tightening gun laws would provide more security.

The country where I come from, Germany, has a virtual total ban on private gun ownership.  It has helped nothing to reduce crime; criminals still have guns, and atrocities committed with knives are very common.  After all, laws are made for law-abiding citizens, “a new gun law is just as ignored as any other laws” by those who never abide by laws.

Tucker doesn;t mention, either, that most police officers do not oppose responsible gun ownership by citizens.  They know, the police cannot fully protect all individuals. 

Disarming victims?  Not a good idea, to be at the mercy of criminals.

Philipp Marx, Buford

This entry was posted on Friday, September 7th, 2007 at 7:14 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.