by Bruce A. Smith
Editor’s Note:
Here we go again. Since the Newton massacre I have been deluged with emails describing righteous shooting deaths in the defense of some person or belief. Below is the latest.
All the emails come from friends or people whom I respect. I respond and ask them what we should do in terms of gun safety, but I get nothing of substance in return. It seems the subject of weapons and self-protection leaves them unable to converse coherently on legislation that can keep our kids safe.
When they do respond, all I get are glorifications of somebody blowing somebody else away. That seems to be it – more guns and more ammo are the answer, with the goal of making sure somebody is packin’ at every corner, hallway, and office in America.
It doesn’t matter if the facts of the story below are true – it is simply a reflection of a mind-set, a mythic view of the world that many people accept as real.
Many people castigate me for lousy journalism if I don’t thoroughly vet these kinds of stories, but I say it is unnecessary. The story is real enough because many people already believe it is true. At the least, this story is an accurate reflection of the thinking and values of many of our country men and women.
This gun story also has an ugly ending, penetrating to the core of hatred that so many have for immigrants. I find it particularly offensive since I was once married to an immigrant who cherished being able to live in this country as much as she loved me.
First is the gun story, then comes my response.
Bruce A. Smith, Publisher
The Mountain News-WA
February 11, 2013
_______________________________________________
BUTTE, MONTANA
Shotgun preteen vs. Illegal alien Home Invaders…
Two illegal aliens, Ralphel Resindez, 23, and Enrico Garza, 26, probably believed they would easily overpower home-alone 11-year-old Patricia Harrington after her father had left their two-story home. It seems the two crooks never learned two things: they were in Montana and Patricia had been a clay-shooting champion since she was nine.
Patricia was in her upstairs room when the two men broke through the front door of the house. She quickly ran to her father’s room and grabbed his 12-gauge Mossberg 500 shotgun.
Resindez was the first to get up to the second floor only to be the first to catch a near point blank blast of buckshot from the 11-year-old’s knee-crouch aim. He suffered fatal wounds to his abdomen and genitals.
When Garza ran to the foot of the stairs, he took a blast to the left shoulder and staggered out into the street where he bled to death before medical help could arrive.
It was found out later that Resindez was armed with a stolen 45-caliber handgun he took from another home invasion robbery. That victim, 50-year-old David 0’Burien, was not so lucky. He died from stab wounds to the chest.
Ever wonder why good stuff never makes NBC, CBS, PBS, MSNBC, CNN, or ABC news……..?
An 11 year old girl, properly trained, defended her home and herself……against two murderous, illegal immigrants…….and she wins, She is still alive.
Now THAT is Gun Control!
Thought for the day….
Calling an illegal alien an ‘undocumented immigrant’
is like calling a drug dealer an ‘unlicensed pharmacist’
I like this kind of e-mail!
American citizens defending themselves and their
homes.
IF YOU’RE A TRUE AMERICAN PASS THIS ON, IF YOU’RE AGAINST PROTECTING OUR BORDERS DELETE THIS MESSAGE
Please show your e-mail savvy by respecting and protecting the privacy of all parties. When Forwarding, use “BCC” and press “Send” only AFTER you have deleted all extraneous email addresses from this email. It’s the smart way to share. THANK YOU EJ
***********************************************************************
My Response:
This is one story that has a positive outcome, at least for the eleven-year old girl.. However, the bigger question is how we lower the 35,000 gun deaths each year in the United States.
I have no problem killing people who threaten us. But how do we protect people when they are in very vulnerable states, such as sitting in a classroom, driving kids to school, sitting in movie theaters, having a meal with family, sitting at a desk in an office and doing work, etc.
I have no desire to be in the company of people I don’t trust who carry lethal power. One-third of all men currently have a Concealed Weapons Permit (CWP) in Washington. That does not make me feel safe.
I used to teach gun safety, and I used to go hunting with guys who have lived with guns all their lives. On occasion, I would hunt with guys who worked in gun stores, so they were certainly trained to use weapons safely. Yet, I’ve seen what they are capable under even the least amount of stress or excitement. It ain’t pretty. As a result, I’ve been shot at by accident more than once. Many people can not handle lethal power, and few of them realize – or accept – that limitation.
To train someone to be skilled and mature enough to handle killing will take this country a lot of time and money. It might be easier to follow the wisdom of the Celts, who said: “One should not teach a man the art of war until you’ve taught him how to dance.”
I think the requirements for a CWP should include some measure of that kind of emotional development. Then, we can talk about arming the entire country, including teachers and bus drivers.
Also, we need to remember that four armed cops got ambushed while sitting at a coffee shop in Parkland just a couple of years ago. One was even the commander of his department’s SWAT team. That shooting was followed or preceded by several others in the region and I stopped counting the killing of police officers after about 7 or so. It begs the question – since even armed and trained professionals are getting killed, what level of vigilance do you gun folks recommend?
Besides dance lessons, I call for a ban on assault weapons, clips that hold six or more rounds, and the prohibition of all machine pistols.
As for immigrants, my sweet wife helped me form my view on that subject.
America stands for freedom. Everyone here came from someplace else that was not as free. To forbid the pursuit of freedom is to restrict America.
Mazel Tov.
– Bruce
BTW: The gun story is not true. It is a complete fabrication, and has no basis in a known, published facts. Here is the link to Snopes:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/crime/homeinvasion.asp
Addendum, 2.12. 13
The following comes from another friend, commenting on all of the above:
“The sad truth is that many gun owners long for the perfect self-defense scenario to unfold in their midst: one which allows someone (preferably themself) to justifiably shoot the bad guys, save the fair maiden and be hailed as a hero by all good people.
“Lacking a real self-defense shooting opportunity, many drift into fantasy, hence the 11 year-old Montana girl story. That story is a really interesting psychic stew involving a murderous hatred of Latino immigrants, weapon-enabled “modern” women (they can vote and shoot) and even a very subtle nuance of child rape fantasy. Freud would have a friggin’ field day.
“Somehow these huge glorious lies are tolerated and even embraced because they ‘send the right message.’
“I know a guy, a skydiver, who has a concealed carry permit. He likes fantasizing about “the poor fucker who tries to stick me up” as he walks through bad neighborhoods hoping it will happen. He is one bad ass dude and would probably be the one left standing, but what a perverted situation as he trolls for land sharks itching for his first human kill.”
The Mountain News - WA 
Re: the gun story, I believe it matters very much if it is true. Stories like this are the problem. It is part of the fear-mongering that is driving this issue and the craziness around it. TeriLyn Brown
Has anyone addressed the fact of non-parenting/supervision of their children (who then grow up to be adult children) Violent video games, violence on TV and in movies, the absence of morality teaching in schools, the teaching and acceptance of killing babies in schools by Planned Parenthood, pornography, the absence of the word God, Jesus, religion, prayer etc because of a non existent statement of “Separation of Church and State in the Constitution, the lack of discipline etc etc etc. All the above lead to unstable young minds which leads to mental illness and evil deeds.
Most of the reaction to recent acts of violent insanity has been to control the weapons used. Cosmetic fixes like banning overly decorated firearms, or reducing the size of magazines, are popular. Universal background checks are a big deal, but the current system can’t keep up with the lesser program today. Fewer people are asking what to do about the perpetrators of those crimes, all of whom were mentally ill. So what will we need to protect us from the crazy person who wants to hurt us or our children? First, we’re going to need a massive bureaucracy with enormous power. People who are a potential threat to safety must be identified early, monitored carefully, and removed from society before they can do harm. Reporting to the massive bureaucracy will be the responsibility of teachers, neighbors, relatives, just regular people who will need to be ever vigilant to the strangeness of others. Think back to the hunt for hidden jews in Nazi Germany, or the ferreting out of communist sympathizers in the 1950s. Once we have identified a neighbor as strange or different, we just report them to the massive bureaucracy and they can take it from there. We will all be safe. Of course, we might have to be a bit careful what we do or what we say, we wouldn’t want to be thought different would we?
Massive bureaucracy with enormous power like in Germany, Russia, Cambodia etc where gun confiscation preceeded the slaughter of their own citizens by the massive bureaucracy??? Even a mild bureaucracy in the USA would add to the tax payer’s burden and open the way for total dictatorship by our burgening government, many of whom are bent on destroying our way of life and bringing about Socialism. It has already begun, by the way. I think your message was tongue in cheek, if not, I have said my piece.
In the fictitious gun story, the home invaders were packing a stolen gun. Doesn’t that actually shoot down the philosophy that assault weapons should be left in the hands of “responsible gun owners”? In real life, what percentage of gun crimes are actually committed by guns stolen from “responsible gun owners”. And what “responsible gun owner” would actually have a purpose for owning an assault rifle. With the amount of trouble we are having with getting a few common sense gun control laws passed, what makes anyone think their passage would lead to the complete elimination of American public to own a gun? We are believers that responsible gun owners should have the right to their guns for sport and self defense, but I’m not seeing anything proposed thus far that jeopardizes that.
If we look back in history, the number of deaths have not risen, but are somewhat the same. Think of the “wild west” or the “gang wars” or “mafia wars” of New York or Chicago. The difference today is WHO is being killed — children, law enforcement, and families. I do not believe it is a gun issue. Guns will not go away and trying to do what will cause more problems then it will help reduce the number of deaths. It is, as Claudia said, a parenting issue. It became worse with the parents that are known as the “baby-boomers” (sorry Mom & Dad). That generation and the next generation (mine, known as “GenXers”) may go down as some of the worst parents in history for many reasons, including poor education of gun safety. We had grown accustomed to killings being not the norm or our soldiers not being shot down for many years, but poor parenting have brought us back to a negative place in this world’s history.
Thanks for your comments, Josh, it is a relief to hear someone that, I think, agrees with me. I remember in the early 60s when Madelyn Murray was successful in removing mention of God from our schools. It sounds like a little thing because God was not often talked about in schools but the act of the government to agree with her began a downward slide in our society and in our schools. May America wake up and get back on track!
الحمد لله
For those whose Arabic may be a little rusty, this translation service might help. Just cut and paste.
http://www.freetranslation.com/
Let us consider the fhe following. In 2011, some 77,000 criminals attempted to purchase guns
They did this by lying on their instant check form. They were detected by the NCIS sysytem and were not allowed to purchase the gun in question. This is a Federal crime. How many of these criminals were prosecuted by Holder’s Justice Department? Exactly ZERO.
In Washington state today if a juvenile is found to be illegally in possession of a gun, he may be prosecuted. How many convictions are required to actually get him put into detention? FIVE!!
So every juvenile gang banger gets four free passes, unless he actually shoots so kebody. They are trying to pass a law that requires detention for 15 weeks after the second offense. The Democrats are fighting this.
I am a retired military officer who was trained in the use of weapons by a police firearms instructor. I have been a Life Member of the NRA for 50 years. I could show you my marksmanship medals. I have owned rifles, pistols and shotguns at various times, but never saw the need for a large-capacity magazine. But before we go off half-cocked and create a new batch of regulations that only affect law-abiding citizens, let’s enforce the laws we have now and give them a chance to work.
I guess I won’t be socializing with Bruce any more since I am one of the dangerous individuals who has a permit to carry concealed weapons.
Just don’t try to break down my door at 3 AM.
Other than shunnning me socially, Richard, what your plan for keeping me, and others, safe?
This begs a deeper question. What are folks to do when people who are packin’ weapons to make themselves feel safe in turn make others feel unsafe? What am I supposed to do with an America that wants to arm itself to the teeth? What am I supposed to do with neighbors that invent violent, ugly stories that are not true? What am I supposed to do with an America that feels it has a right to carry as much firepower as it wants eventhough most of those folks scare the beejeesus out of me? What do I do for protection from that?
Anybody out there going to call me and say, “Gee, Bruce, I know that it freaks you out a little, but I really have to pack my gun everywhere.”
It would be a nice gesture, but is it going to make me feel any better?
It’s funny, but at this moment I am beginning to feel some kinship with Claudia – she seems to feel very isolated, and so do I.
Is anybody going to even read this? Is anybody going to care about me?
Maybe that’s where we begin this conversation, talking about how alone so many of us feel, and so threatened.
I agree with you Bruce and I also agree with Claudia and Josh. I feel that the major issues are with the violence in our society that is taking the lives of our young innocents. But randomly arming the general public is not the answer and scaring people into believing that it would be even possible for the government to swoop down and remove everyone’s personal firearms will only add to the violence. (I know of an individual with dementia who is becoming paranoid and wanting to arm himself. His family is terrified by this thought.)
I don’t think either of you are alone. I think the silent majority is just that on this topic.
Bruce, I agree with Richard in the fact that new restrictive laws on law-abiding citizens won’t help the situation. But I also agree that some folks are scared of guns and any person toting them. Sorry, but just because you are afraid of it doesn’t mean someone can’t or shouldn’t have the right.
You asked me in an email about my earlier comment: “If poor parentling is causing the epidemic in gun deaths ala Newton, Columbine and Aurora, what’s the solution?”
My response was: “Better parenting, duh. Parents have to be involved in their kids lives and know what is going on. The parents of the Columbine shooters didn’t even know what was going on in their own garage or kid’s bedroom (the prep for the act). Too many parents today try to be a friend to their kid instead of their parent. My parents still act like my parents more than my friend and I’m almost 40. The way I see it … My kids will have little to no privacy in MY house until they either move out or I know for a fact I can trust them, and even then it is still MY house. The new parents of today have to change the trend of increased poor parenting and maybe that involves parenting classes, but that shouldn’t be forced. There isn’t an easy solution to this and many issues like it. As my wife says often, “You cannot legislate morality or decency.” Creating restrictive laws won’t fix this, but could make it worse. Just the talk of gun control has put more guns in homes because people are buying quickly fearing they will not be allowed to buy a gun later.”
Right on, Josh!!