The Wages Of Gun Control - Testimony of Suzanna Hupp (Updated)

Gun control laws - as well as "gun free zones" - do nothing more than disarm the law abiding, with of course disastrous effect when a gun is needed for defense of self and others. Little puts that into more perspective than the now near two decade old testimony of Suzanna Hupp in support of a Texas concealed carry law.

Ms. Hupp was in Luby's Restaurant in Killeen, TX in 1991, eating a meal with her parents, when a gunman entered and began a slaughter that would eventually take the lives of 23 people, including Hupp's parents, while wounding 20 others. Ms. Hupp, who was trained to use a weapon and who regularly carried a weapon in her purse, had earlier taken the gun out of her purse and left it in her car because of then Texas law. She testified that she could have stopped the slaughter had she had her weapon still in her purse.

Here is her testimony.



As a consequence of Ms. Hupp's testimony and activism, Texas, in 1995, passed a shall-issue gun law, which requires that all qualifying applicants be issued a Concealed Handgun License.

Compare and contrast the Texas response with the myriad of calls from the left today for stricter gun control laws in the wake of Sandy Hook. Had some of the teachers or staff had concealed carry, could they have stopped the slaughter before a very evil, insane man managed to kill 26 women and children? When seconds counted, the police were minutes away - there in time to take stock of, but not stop, the carnage. How the left thinks that disarming the law abiding and insuring they don't have access to a weapon to defend themselves and others is an appropriate response to a horrendous mass murder is something I don't understand.

H/T to the fine Aussie blog, Crusader Rabbit

Update: At least one school district in Texas has responded to the threat of school shootings by recently authorizing certain of its teachers and staff to be armed with concealed weapons. This from Fox News:

. . . Trustees at the Harrold Independent School District approved a district policy change last October so employees can carry concealed firearms to deter and protect against school shootings, provided the gun-toting teachers follow certain requirements.

Superintendent David Thweatt told FOXNews.com the policy was initiated because of safety concerns.

"We have had employees assaulted before by people in the last several years," Thweatt said. "I think that safety is big concern. We are seeing a lot of anger in society." . . .

The Texas superintendent linked gun-free zones with the uprising of school shootings in recent years. . . .

"When you make schools gun-free zones, it's like inviting people to come in and take advantage," Thweatt told FOXNews.com.

In order for teachers and staff to carry a pistol, they must have a Texas license to carry a concealed handgun; must be authorized to carry by the district; must receive training in crisis management and hostile situations and must use ammunition that is designed to minimize the risk of ricochet in school halls.

Thweatt said the small community is a 30-minute drive from the sheriff's office, leaving students and teachers without protection. He said the district's lone campus sits 500 feet from heavily trafficked U.S. 287, which could make it a target. The kindergarten through 12th grade school district is home to 110 students. . . .

Texas law outlaws firearms on school campuses "unless pursuant to the written regulations or written authorization of the institution."

While the district's plan shot them into the national spotlight, carrying guns to school is nothing new some states. In Utah, the law allows anyone with a permit to carry a gun in public schools and state institutions of higher education. . . .

H/T Instapundit, who labels his post "What Constructive Action Looks Like.

Update: I noted in the post below that what the Sandy Hook massacre should ignite is a conversation on mental illness and its treatment in our society. At Huffington Post, Liza Long, the mother of a mentally ill, potentially dangerous and, at the same time, high performing child has made precisely the same call. As she writes in a must-read column:

I am sharing this story because I am Adam Lanza’s mother. I am Dylan Klebold’s and Eric Harris’s mother. I am James Holmes’s mother. I am Jared Loughner’s mother. I am Seung-Hui Cho’s mother. And these boys — and their mothers — need help. In the wake of another horrific national tragedy, it’s easy to talk about guns. But it’s time to talk about mental illness." . . .

When I asked my son’s social worker about my options, he said that the only thing I could do was to get Michael charged with a crime. . . .

Related Posts:

- St. Louis Police Chief Calls for Arming School Personnel

- John Fund: Mass Murder, Gun Free Zones & Mental Health

- Reynolds On Gun Free Zones, The Left's Mistrust Of Armed Private Citizens, & Our Problematic Mental Health Laws

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