DO GUN FREE ZONES SERVE A PURPOSE?  by Bohdan Rabarsky 

On Saturday afternoon, July 26th, at a Traverse City Michigan Walmart, a knife wielding attacker stabbed 11 shoppers before he was stopped by a good guy with a gun. Former Marine Derrick Perry, a veteran and well trained in the use of firearms and having a State of Michigan conceal carry permit, used his personal firearm to stop the attacker from committing further carnage. According to County Sheriff Michael Shea, from the time the 911 call came in until the attacker was stopped by the Marine Veteran, it took all of one minute.

Once again, a good guy with a gun stops a bad guy from harming more citizens.

The attacker will be charged with 1 count of terrorism and 11 counts of assault with intent to murder.

On Monday, July 28th, a shooter with preplanned motives, who had driven from Nevada to New York City, double parked his car 20 to 30 yards away from the targeted building that he planned on entering. He walked through a busy area of New York City for 15 to 20 seconds, openly carrying an AR-15 style rifle, without any resistance, into the Manhattan office building where he planned his mass murders.

With New York City being a perpetual “Gun Free Zone”, who was going to stop the shooter who was defiantly openly carrying his rifle? Definitely not a good guy with a gun, as it’s virtually impossible to get a conceal carry permit in New York City. The City is an investigative journalistic newsroom covering New York City.  According to it, in 2023*, 5,000 people applied for concealed carry permits and 503 were approved. In a city of 8.5 million citizens, the chances of someone being there to stop the shooter were slim.

Once again, a Gun Free Zone is nothing more than a feel-good measure that serves no purpose but it does embolden those that don’t follow the laws and leaves the rest of us helpless.

*The latest numbers available