By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, appearing on Sean Hannity’s evening Fox News program, reacted to the mass shooting in Maine by suggesting citizens need to be armed.
Almost reflexively, the far-left Huffington Post headlined its report on Gingrich’s comments thusly: “Newt Gingrich Spitballs Absolutely Horrible Plan To Stop Mass Shootings.”
Conflicting reports from various media outlets set the death toll at either 16 or 22.
Gingrich’s comments immediately raised eyebrows and liberals’ blood pressure. He told Hannity, “Well, I mean, first of all, it’s horrible. And I think that we’re gonna have to really think through a better method of protecting people. Frankly, in states that have conceal carry and other permits, constitutional carry permits, you have a much more rapid response to these kind of people who are crazy.”
The former Republican House speaker then added, “We have to have a greater ability for our citizens to protect themselves because it’s clear that law enforcement comes in after the massacre. But law enforcement’s almost never there to stop the massacre.
“So,” he stated, “I think we have to think about a whole new strategy because these kind of people are extraordinarily dangerous, are willing to kill others, have no sense of decency. And frankly, you have to stop them as early as possible to minimize the loss of individual lives.”
Gingrich’s remarks may have startled viewers and liberal critics, but a Pew Research report last month tends to reinforce his observations. According to Pew, about 40 percent of U.S. adults say they live in a household where guns are present. Personal protection is the top (72%) reason for owning a gun, and a majority of gun owners (71%) say they enjoy owing a firearm.
There was another telling revelation from the Pew survey which underscores the philosophical difference between liberals and conservatives.
“Feelings about gun ownership also differ by political affiliation, even among those who personally own firearms,” Pew noted. “Republican gun owners are more likely than Democratic owners to say owning a gun gives them feelings of safety and enjoyment, while Democratic owners are more likely to say they worry about having a gun in the home.”
Here are four highlights to the Pew report:
- Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are more than twice as likely as Democrats and Democratic leaners to say they personally own a gun (45% vs. 20%).
- 40% of men say they own a gun, compared with 25% of women.
- 47% of adults living in rural areas report personally owning a firearm, as do smaller shares of those who live in suburbs (30%) or urban areas (20%).
- 38% of White Americans own a gun, compared with smaller shares of Black (24%), Hispanic (20%) and Asian (10%) Americans.
Perhaps this partly explains why Democrats are invariably behind legislation to restrict or even ban firearms, while Republicans are there to defend gun ownership and oppose gun prohibition schemes.
An earlier Pew Research report revealed “Non-owners are nearly twice as likely as gun owners to say it is too easy to legally obtain a gun (73% vs. 38%).”
While Huffington Post readers are having fits about Gingrich’s remarks, recent history suggests he has a valid argument. In July 2022, an armed citizen identified as Elisjsha Dicken drew a pistol and fatally shot a would-be mass killer at a shopping mall in Greenwood Park, Indiana. Dicken fired ten shots and connected with eight of them, according to WTHR News. The killer was armed with a rifle.
In December 2019, an armed volunteer at the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas shot and killed a gunman who had just murdered two other people in the church. Jack Wilson, 71, was hailed as a hero for shooting the killer in the head as he moved toward the front of the sanctuary, armed with a shotgun.
In May 2022, an armed female bystander intervened when a 37-year-old man “with an extensive criminal history” opened fire on a crowd in Charleston, W.Va. The gunman was killed.
