Northern Illinois University Shooting Only Shows One Side Of Guns

While it was certainly a tragedy that a crazed gunman silenced five lives before taking his own yesterday in a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University, many gun critics have said there is no more need for the Second Amendment because of the recent school shootings.

But the fact that gun critics are citing only recent school shootings, and some saying that one never hears about people using guns to protect themselves and their loved ones, paints a very false picture indeed.

While a homeowner using his or her legally-owned firearm to protect him or herself from burglars does not make national news, it does not mean it does not happen. In fact, it happens nearly every day. If one goes to the Web site Gun Watch, one will see links to news articles that show that in one month’s time guns have been used to protect people against criminals than a year’s worth of nationally reported school shootings.

Such as the case of 80-year-old Texan and W.W. II vet James Pickett. He heard a knock at his door and two men barged into his home with a knife, according to police.

“He just came through that door, stabbing and beating,” Pickett told Dallas/Fort Worth Channel 9.

Thankfully for Pickett, he already placed a gun in his pocket before he went to answer the door. During the fight, Pickett turned and shot one of the alleged robbers and the bullet missed his spine. The other man ran but was later caught, stated police. The two alleged robbers are facing assault, burglary and robbery charges.

The sad fact is that school shootings have been happening for a long time in America, including the little known 1927 Bath School incident in Michigan where a man bombed the Bath Consolidated School and shot and killed three people. By the end of the incident, a total 45 people died, mostly children.

But during the aftermath of the terrible shooting at Northern Illinois University, now is not the time for knee-jerk reactions. As it has been stated before in The Times Observer, those who are calling for the stripping of the Second Amendment fail to realize that criminals will continue to get guns or use other weapons to inflict pain and death to the law-biding citizen.

What needs to be done is to enforce the gun laws that we have now or provide better ones to help law enforcement officials to properly do their job without inconveniencing gun owners with restricting new legislation.

Do not let the justified national media coverage of school shootings cloud the protection that the Second Amendment gives to many Americans every day.