The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms concurs with Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble’s suggestion earlier today that an armed citizenry is one way to meet the threat of terrorism like the attack on a Nairobi, Kenya shopping mall last month.
In remarks moments after today’s opening of the 82nd annual gathering of Interpol’s governing body in Cartagena, Colombia, Noble made this observation: “Ask yourself: If that was Denver, Col., if that was Texas, would those guys have been able to spend hours, days, shooting people randomly? What I’m saying is it makes police around the world question their views on gun control. It makes citizens question their views on gun control. You have to ask yourself, ‘Is an armed citizenry more necessary now than it was in the past with an evolving threat of terrorism?’ This is something that has to be discussed.”
“Finally, someone gets it,” CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb observed. “Secretary General Noble is spot-on about armed citizens being able to defend themselves and others in dangerous situations. The right of self-defense is the oldest human right, and in far too many places around the world, that right is shamefully unrecognized.
“This is a no-brainer,” he continued. “In his remarks today, Mr. Noble wondered ‘How do you protect soft targets?’ In this country, such places are universally designated ‘gun-free zones.’ We’re talking about shopping malls, college campuses, public schools, restaurants, movie theaters and other places where guns are not allowed. These are places consistently targeted by criminals and crazies because they know people will not be able to fight back.”
“Societies have to think about how they’re going to approach the problem,” Noble said. “One is to say we want an armed citizenry; you can see the reason for that.”
Gottlieb, co-author of America Fights Back: Armed Self-defense in a Violent Age and co-sponsor of the upcoming “Guns Save Lives Day” in December, said Noble has literally “cracked the code” when it comes to deterring criminal and terrorist attacks. He referred people to GunsSaveLivesDay.com for more details on the Dec. 15 event.
“You make it possible for citizens to fight back,” he said, “to be the true first responders; to make it so difficult and even deadly for outlaws to succeed that they simply stop trying. We have tried disarmament and even appeasement, and all we’ve gotten is a body count. It is time for the victims to become the victors.”
With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (www.ccrkba.org) is one of the nation’s premier gun rights organizations. As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities throughout the United States.
