20 year-old Florida man offers red meat the anti-gun media prayed for

By Tim Inwood

There are certain pro-gun control elements in the American news media that have been almost despondent since the Supreme Court heard District of Columbia v. Heller. It was pretty clear to most observers from the comments made by the Justices that a majority on the Court will rule the Second Amendment is a recognition of a pre-existing individual right.

However, these individuals in the press also know certain members of the Court have in the past been swayed by emotion rather than logic and the law. With that in mind, they have been praying for an incident so they could hype the need for additional gun regulation (if not outright bans) prior to the Court making its ruling sometime after June. Sadly, they have gotten what they wanted, and just in time for them to tie it to the Virginia Tech tragedy.

There are some similarities too juicy for them to pass up.

According to press reports, 20-year old Calin Chi Wong began gun collecting a few years ago. In this time, he apparently amassed a collection of thirteen guns including, from what I have seen on television, four semiautomatic AKM pattern rifles. This, of course, has the press and the Bradys in a tizzy.

Wong had apparently procured some of the firearms via Internet sales. One of those sales went sour and that was when Wong contacted the Homestead, Florida police to complain that he had been robbed of $800 in a gun deal and the firearm was not delivered. He informed them that he had also contacted the FBI and the BATFE.

However, the wheels of justice seemed to roll too slowly for the young man and he got impatient. So, to get attention, he did something extremely stupid. He began making threats on-line. On March 25, it came to the attention of the police that Wong had posted a threat to conduct a massacre in the fashion of Virginia Tech. Needless to say, this got the attention of the authorities and the media, who have been anticipating with hunger such a story. The police raided the Wong home, confiscating guns and ammunition, and putting Mr. Wong in prision. That should have been the end of the story...but the press needs red meat to push the anti-gun agenda.

The story offered all the elements the press wanted. Young - too young to have a handgun, but had them anyways. Odd - the misfit factor is always good. Asian - just like Virginia Tech, so helps tie him into that shooting, and the guy had a Glock pistol, just like Seung-Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech killer. This was perfect mix of ingredients for the anti-gun press to really whip this up into a frenzy. The fact he owned four AK rifles is just icing on the cake.

To make things worse, Homestead, Florida picked a Detective, who knows nothing about guns, to talk to the press about the raid. Detective Antonio Aquino told the press that “Wong had 13 firearms in all, more than 5,000 rounds of ammunition, some that could pierce armor, and 100 rounds in a feeding clip with bullets "meant to take down aircraft or military machinery."

I must confess I rolled my eyes when I read the comment. I suspect most of you did, too. For some reason, I have a hunch Detective Aquino, is not a gun enthusiast and probably only shoots his gun enough to qualify each year...but I digress.

The media feeding frenzy on this story has been predictable in tone. Blame the hardware and easy access to it. The anti-gun police chief of Miami, John Timoney, was on Fox News April 4th, carrying on about how this case shows the need to open a new dialog about the access to guns in America and how appalled he is that anyone at age 18 could purchase a AK-47.

Frankly, his comments disgust me. Here we are at war with a bunch of 18 year-olds wearing the uniform, risking their lives for us, and he makes a comment like that! If we can send an 18 year old to war with a M-4 carbine, Beretta M9 pistol or using a Ma Deuce .50 cal. mounted on a Hummvee, then I bloody well don’t see why that same 18 year-old can not own what ever kind of rifle he likes. I think there should be a move now to see the legal age for handgun ownership in Ohio drop to 18 since we do have 18 year olds who are heads of households and need to defend them from criminals. If you can pass the National Instant Check at 18, then
there is no reason to deny them a firearm in my view.

Instead of this story being focused on the stupid and criminal behavior of one person, which is where it belongs, the media want to turn this into a discussion on the need for more gun control. Why? As I postulated before: to try to sway moderates on the Supreme Court to rule in a way that will allow more regulation of guns, even if they rule the Amendment does protect an inalienable right.

Clearly, Wong is, for lack of a better term, an idiot at best. Even if he was, as he now claims, never serious about an attack and just wanted attention, he has completely ruined his life with this utterly deplorable and stupid stunt. But he should not be permitted to ruin ours. Let the justice system deal with him, but do not punish us for the stupidity or crimes of others.

In this nation we used to hold people accountable for their actions, but the press and some government officials wish to punish we the innocent with the indictment that we are all capable of such action and thus should be disbarred the use of certain types of guns. During the Heller hearings, I noted some Justices and lawyers for the District of Columbus took the view that the handgun is an instrument of crime and has no other purpose. The same view seems to be held by many, including in the gun owning community, that certain types of semi-automatic rifles have no place in private hands. I will never understand this.

Statistically, these semi-auto rifles are rarely used in crime. If a law abiding American citizen wishes to own examples of these rifles, then it should be allowed, and they should not be stigmatized for that desire. Ownership and familiarity with such arms, like the Colt AR-15, is certainly beneficial to National Security. In a crisis, they can be called on, just as when the police in North Hollywood California borrowed Colt AR-15 rifles to fight bank robbers in February 1997. Now, ironically, California has banned the ownership of such arms and the police cannot fall back on this resource in a emergency. It’s pure folly.

The press needs to get over their paranoia about firearms and embrace the concept that gun ownership is a normal and beneficial thing. They need to calm down, take a deep breath, and realize 13 guns is not an arsenal, having 5000 rounds in one’s home is not really all that unusual, and that those of us who do have a fair number of guns and ammo in our homes are perfectly normal, good citizens who are merely exercising our right to do so. The focus should be on Wong and his crime.

The news media needs to also focus on doing their job, which is reporting the news and not being the cheerleader for a misguided policy to disarm the American people by hyping a story to make people think we are on the edge of calamity because too many Americans own guns. The media should stop and face the fact that a contributing factor in 32 people dying last year at Virginia Tech was the college’s rule disarming CCW license holders on that campus. Had one of those students been armed, they might have stopped Cho.

So my advice to the press is 'get over it'. The Supreme Court will rule in a couple of months that the right to bear arms has and will always be our right. Your desire for a “Weapons free society” is not going to happen.

For the rest of us gun owners, I can tell you my advice to the anti-gunners is not going to happen either. No matter what the court rules in June, they will continue their tirades and attempts via whatever means possible to infringe as best they can on our rights. I can guarantee once a liberal President appoints enough liberal justices to the Supreme Court, they will try to over rule any ruling saying the Second Amendment is an individual right. Until then, Chuck Schumer and those like him will rant and rave about activist judges making a political ruling. You can count on it.

We must remain ever vigilant and keep organizations like the NRA, GOA, and BFA strong. I ask you to keep your memberships current and to make a donation today. Even though it appears we are on the edge of a great victory it is not time to drop our guard, it is time to wait for the next wave of attack.

Trust me in this.

Tim Inwood is the current Legislative Liaison and Past President of the Clinton County Farmers and Sportsmen Association, an Endowment Member of the NRA, Life Member of OGCA, and a volunteer for Buckeye Firearms Association.