As well as writing for Athens Now, I research and write for another publication. I especially focus on news stories of law abiding citizens exercising their right to defend themselves by using a firearm. I do NOT find these news stories anywhere in the mainstream media. I find all these self defense news stories on web sites which cater to patriotism, self defense, and firearms, etc. Sometimes I find stories of self defense on the more conservative cable news shows, such as Fox News, or The Blaze. Occasionally, I might find stories on the local news TV channels of small towns around the country. Stories about a life being saved, by a gun, do NOT seem to fit the main stream media’s “Anti Gun” agenda.
My point is: the mainstream media does NOT report these types of stories. Just this past week, I commented on a self defense incident reported by Fox News. A young lawyer named Kristi McMains wrote her story several months ago, on a day which had been designated as “Gun Violence Awareness Day.”
In her own words she wrote, “The night I was attacked, I fought like hell for my life before reaching for my gun. I kicked, I screamed, I had all ten fingernails ripped off and bloodied from scratching and trying to fight my way out of a literal life and death situation. Ultimately, I accessed my gun, shot my attacker multiple times, and saved my life.” (Found on foxnews.com).
She was able to use her legally concealed firearm and shoot her attacker, saving her own life, with a GUN! Why is there a gun violence awareness week? How about having a “Victim Awareness Week?” This woman was so traumatized by her experience, she left the town she was living in and moved back to her hometown to recover and be near her family.
I am totally convinced the “mainstream” media would have rather reported, “Today a young woman lawyer’s lifeless body was found dumped in a ditch. She was brutalized and raped. The suspect is believed to be a career criminal recently released on early parole.”
Guns do NOT cause violence. Guns do NOT kill people. People kill people! Short prison sentences cause gun violence. Liberal bleeding heart judges cause gun violence. Early release of violent criminals causes gun violence. Shall I go on? Taking the Bible, prayer, and God out of our schools is what causes violence. Guns can and do save lives every day.
Have you ever heard or read a news story about a “Gun Free Zone” preventing gun violence? I have read of stories, too numerous to list here, of mass shootings in “Gun Free Zones.” What would happen, if every night on the 6 o’clock news, there were two or three stories about law abiding citizens saving their own lives or the lives of others with a gun?
Now, I don’t think for a second that the typical thug reads my article and thinks, “Wow, I better not do any ‘stop and robs’ tonight, the clerk might be armed!” I doubt if the typical burglar reads the NRA magazine about citizens defending themselves with a gun and thinks, “I could get shot trying to steal my neighbor’s jewelry.” But I do believe these low life criminals watch TV, especially violent TV or Entertainment TV, and read violent, online web sites. What would happen if those criminals, when they were young, had seen and read stories about criminals getting shot by a citizen who were trained how to use a firearm safely and properly? How many crimes of violence, or even property crimes could be prevented because the would be criminal heard for many years as he grew up how he could get shot or killed breaking into someone else’s home?
How many stories of innocent, law abiding citizens do you hear about on the evening news defending their families with a gun? How many stories of criminals getting shot do you hear about on one of the entertainment channels that young people watch on TV? When was the last time your child came home from school and told you how his teacher explained to him what could happen if he committed crimes against his neighbors?
I challenge my readers to clip this page out and mail it into their favorite TV channel, or maybe even send it to your local school board.
By: Paul Foreman
