As a Second Amendment advocate, there are a few snarky sarcasm feelings I get when I read stories about stabbings, and I thank goodness that it’s not a shooting. There have been some stabbings in Massachusetts that have made the headlines.
We don’t hear anything from the Anti-gun crowd when there’s a stabbing. Sure, they’re anti-gun, not anti-knife, is likely what you’re thinking. Why aren’t they anti-violence? As gun owners, we know that the firearm, knife, baseball bat or barstool leg is nothing but a tool in the hands of someone who wants to commit violence. We know that there are people that want to harm others for any reason whatsoever and will use any method available to them.
At the end of May, there was a “mass stabbing” (no pun intended) at a movie theater in Braintree, which is just south of Boston. Four teenage girls were stabbed by an individual. When the police finally caught up with him, they found out he was wanted for a stabbing murder in Connecticut.
There was someone that pulled a knife out at a McDonald’s on Main Street in Worcester. He was threatening the employees as well as a number of customers.
In June, there was a stabbing of a man in Hyde Park. Two men got into an altercation and one man stabbed the other in the back.
This past week in July, there was a man attacked with a hatchet in Worcester. He hit the victim in the neck. The “alleged” attacker is charged with armed assault to murder, armed robbery, and aggravated assault and battery causing serious bodily injury.
Like I said, part of me is relieved that these weren’t shootings. But it also makes me wonder why more people are not getting their license to carry and carrying firearms regularly. It makes me wonder why people that are not “gun folks” do not carry pepper spray at the very least.
The SABRE pepper spray course covers what everyone should learn regardless of whether they’re going to carry pepper spray, a knife, or a gun. It covers situational awareness. Paying attention to your surroundings. If there’s a guy with a knife at McDonald’s, get out. Leave. As soon as you safely can. If your daughters are going to the movies, give them a small bright flashlight. Guess what, it’s going to be dark in the theatre. Having a flashlight when you’re going into a dark place is a good idea.
One of the games I started playing after I got into firearms is the “if/then” game. If this happens, then I’m going to do that. Check the exits at the movie theatre when you sit down and look for two exits. I’m not blaming the teenage girls for the movie attack. I’ve been to the McDonald’s on Main Street in Worcester a few times. It’s in a shady area, for sure. I don’t go there anymore.
Big picture here. Today is the day that MA H.4885, the most anti-gun bill ever proposed, was signed by AGG Anti-Gun Governor Maura Healey. It puts restrictions on damn near everything. Changing definitions, creating a firearm registration, keeping the “assault weapon ban” and so-called “high capacity” magazine bans. It also makes it more challenging and expensive to get a Firearm Identification Card and License To Carry.
Here’s what Healey and her liberal ilk do not get. It isn’t the guns. It’s the people who want to commit crimes. Criminals will get their hands on semi-automatic handguns and magazines with more than 10 rounds. Because they don’t care. They aren’t going to follow the laws. They’re going to thrive and do well with an unarmed populace. They know the law-abiding folks aren’t going to break the laws and they’ll be able to commit crimes with no recourse. We know from seeing how many times criminals are in the judicial system then released without much, if any, punishment. But Healey will want me to serve time and pay heavy fines for doing something like assembling my own firearm. As if that makes me a hardened criminal.
With stories like the ones above, we see that evil people do evil things with items you can buy at Walmart and Home Depot. Without background checks. Without special permission to have a hatchet. And the law-abiding, responsible, background-check-passing people are being disarmed so they cannot fight back and defend themselves and their loved ones.
Thanks, Gov Healey.
Great article by Charlie, as always!