Op-Ed: Gun-free zones are fatal mistakes

By Dave Workman

Reacting to questions from reporters about how to prevent future outrages like the murders of 32 students and teachers at Virginia Tech on April 16, Texas Gov. Rick Perry dispelled any notion that common sense has been eradicated by political correctness in the United States.

Perry's sensible solution: Allow legally armed citizens to carry their defensive firearms anywhere -- schools, restaurants, churches. Perry correctly asserted that so long as such areas are legislated as "gun-free zones," killers who don't care about the law will enjoy risk-free opportunities in which good people cannot fight back.

Perry's remarks were in stark contrast to comments made in Oklahoma recently by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. He's against guns on campuses, yet he admits the nanny state approach is no panacea to violence.

"We can't guarantee complete security," he said. "We need to see what we can do as a government -- on the federal level, on the state level -- to ensure the safety of our students."

Gonzales is wrong and Perry is right. Government should get out of the way and let people take care of themselves.

...Don't blame these monstrous crimes on the National Rifle Association or the Second Amendment Foundation. Blame them on the anti-gun lobby for pushing limitations on the public's right of self-defense.

This country has tried it their way -- the way Gonzales would have it -- and all we have to show for it is a body count.

It's time for a different approach. Perry's idea is simply a reminder of an earlier, simpler time, when everyone thought with the logic of a Boy Scout: Always be prepared.

Click here to read the entire op-ed in the Columbus Dispatch. Dave Workman is senior editor of Gun Week, a national firearms publication owned by the Second Amendment Foundation.