Blood on the Hands of the French Government
This article will seem controversial to some. Let me preface it by stating emphatically that I believe only the terrorists are responsible for the death of 129 Parisian citizens last week. However, to ignore the decades old French government policy of civilian disarmament as a direct cause of the helplessness of the French citizens is to ignore the only thing that could have saved them in their moment of crisis. American citizens (and Governments) must learn from this tragedy and reverse the trend toward civilian disarmament in left leaning states and communities. Burying your head in the sand and hiding behind “Gun Free Zone” signs will not stop terrorist bullets.
The victims of the recent terrorist attacks in Paris were victimized by their own government long before they were victims of the jihadists who slaughtered 129 people in the streets of their finest city. The natural right of self-defense is meaningless without the tools to defend yourself. Governments who disarm their citizens in the delusional attempt to stop violent predators from getting guns are betting that people who will NOT obey laws against murdering another human being WILL obey a law about illegally acquiring a firearm to commit that murder. This is delusional thinking to the point of insanity.
What did the French government expect was going to happen? These attacks were as predictable as they were inevitable. The French government has disarmed its population and openly invited millions of people, some of whom are very dangerous, into their country. They have created an entire country full of soft targets.
The attacks last week are the 3rd major terrorist incident in France this year. In January, the offices of French magazine Charlie Hebdo were raided by Jihadists wielding AK-style rifles, submachine guns, and pistols. In August, three Americans jumped and over-powered Ayoub El Khazzani on a train in France. Khazzani had an AKM assault rifle, a semiautomatic pistol, and a box cutter. The three Americans had their fists, feet, and spines of tempered steel. The terrorists who killed 129 people last week were armed to the teeth with Automatic AK-style rifles and homemade explosives. The French people at the targeted theaters and soccer games were sitting ducks. Disarmed and left defenseless by their own government.
As you can imagine, liberals in America and gun grabbers in Europe were beside themselves at how these largely peaceful but misguided political operators terrorists were able to get so many guns in a country like France, where private ownership of guns is incredibly restrictive. Liberals in America have long sought to make America’s gun laws more like those in their perceived European utopias. So how is it possible that jihadists can get so many guns in France?
The answer is simple human nature. Black markets for ANY commodity will thrive where legal availability is restricted or forbidden. After the Charlie Hebdo attack in January, French police union official Philippe Capon told Bloomberg “The French black market for weapons has been inundated with eastern European war artillery and arms. They are everywhere in France."
After the train attack in August, The Independent reported, "According to the French Interior Ministry drug dealers and terrorists have been acquiring these weapons in increasing numbers.”
To put this into perspective, let’s look at the actual number of guns in some major western European countries. The most reliable numbers date back to 2003 from the Small Arms Survey based in Geneva. At that time, the organization reported that France, a nation of 66.8 Million people, had a mere 2.8 million registered civilian-owned firearms.
That’s right, less than 5% of the French people own guns. As I stated before, Black markets for ANY commodity will thrive where legal availability is restricted or forbidden. The problem with government creating restrictions and bans, which in turn spawn underground markets, is that those same black markets are perfectly capable of serving the small number of terrorists who want to do enormous harm to the world around them.
The laws the French government uses to disarm its citizens; the laws they use to deny any meaningful method of self-defense in the face of evil are not barriers to a small number of terrorists who have dedicated themselves to harming others and see the law as no hurdle to achieving that goal.
And where was the French government when the shooting started? They were outsmarted, overmatched, outgunned, and disorganized. The same cowardly rats who disarmed their people, telling them, “everything will be alright, the government is here to protect you” was totally helpless in the face of evil.
You are your own first responder. The only thing that could have stopped the terrorist attacks escalating from the initial stage of shock to the final stage of wholesale slaughter of innocent people would have been those innocent people carrying guns too. The only real impact of France’s restrictive gun laws was to strip law-abiding people of the tools to defend themselves while leaving criminals and terrorists well-armed.
It's difficult to keep terrorists from killing 2 people, but you can keep them from killing 29 people or 129 people. Murderous thugs who are intent on creating chaos and killing as many people as possible will not obey restrictive gun laws. Law-abiding citizens should not be made defenseless by their own governments. Remember, Sheepdogs Need Sharp Teeth.