Millions of private citizens exercise their right to bear arms and are licensed to carry. Incidents like the St. Cloud slasher attack in Minnesota reinforce that decision. (Dave Workman photo)
By Dave Workman
Senior Editor
The bloody Crossroads Center Mall rampage in St. Cloud, Minnesota proved two things that have so far left the gun prohibition lobby speechless.
For starters, the fact that the Crossroads Center was considered a so-called “gun-free zone” by its own rules of conduct that prohibit “firearms or illegal weapons” did not prevent a violent, potentially fatal attack.
Second, and more important, the oft-disdained principle about “good guys with guns” was reinforced when firearms instructor and part-time police officer Jason Falconer drew his legally-carried handgun and fatally shot the attacker, Dahir A. Adan. He slashed or stabbed at least ten people before apparently lunging at Falconer.
Falconer was trying to remain low-profile while the investigation proceeds, despite being hailed as a hero. He’s been described as a “medal-winning marksman.”
TGM has left a message for Falconer at his business, Tactical Advantage Firearms Training in Waite, a community located just west of St. Cloud. He did not immediately return the call.
The suspect had already attacked several other people, and allegedly asked at least one of them if he was Muslim. While authorities have not determined the motive behind the attack, a “news agency” reportedly run by the Islamic State has called Adan a “soldier of the Islamic State.”
The fact that Crossroads Center apparently prohibited firearms came under almost immediate discussion on talk radio across the map. This mall is hardly the only such facility with a firearms prohibition in its rules, which proved worthless.
“Gun-Free Zones” designations do not prevent violent crimes, as has been previously demonstrated at the Tacoma Mall, Clackamas Town Center Mall outside of Portland, Trolley Square in Salt Lake City and Westroads Mall in Omaha. All of these have been scenes of mayhem.
While the mainstream press has gone out of its way to identify Falconer as an “off-duty police officer,” he is in private business. At the time of the shooting, he was out of his jurisdiction, so he essentially was an armed private citizen on what apparently was a shopping trip to the mall.
The fact that Falconer is an experienced shooter and competitor may have weighed more heavily in his favor than a badge. And he was armed.
According to the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC), somewhere in the neighborhood of 14.5 million Americans are licensed to carry.
During President Barack Obama’s administration, the number of concealed carry licenses and permits has soared nationwide, CPRC reported. Just over six percent of the adult population is licensed to carry. In ten states, more than ten percent of the adults have permits or licenses, with Indiana in the lead at 15 percent. In the years from 2012 to 2016, the number of legally-licensed women has increased twice as fast as the number of legally-armed men.
Yet with all of this additional firepower, the number of homicides involving firearms has actually declined, according to the FBI Uniform Crime Report, from 8,874 slayings in 2010 to 8,124 in 2014, the most recent year for which data is available. Crime data for 2015 should be available by the end of September.
