by Dave Workman | Senior Editor
When gunman Micah Johnson opened fire in Dallas during a “Black Lives Matter” (BLM) protest march, there were several armed citizens involved in the demonstration and contrary to long-standing rhetoric from the gun prohibition lobby, those citizens posed a threat to nobody.
Still, President Barack Obama, speaking at a memorial for the five fallen police officers who were apparently targeted by the killer along with several colleagues, could not resist the opportunity to bring up gun control.
“We flood communities with so many guns that it is easier for a teenager to buy a Glock than to get his hands on a computer,” the president pontificated during a 25-minute speech that was panned by a writer for the New York Post.
Johnson, the African-American Army veteran who reportedly told a police negotiator that he intended to kill white people and especially white police officers, murdered five officers and wounded several others. Published reports mentioned that among the marchers were several “gun rights activists” including some who were openly carrying firearms.
Yet when the shooting started, none of these people irresponsibly opened fire and police officers did not shoot any of the activists by mistake. Contrary to how anti-gunners have portrayed open carry advocates and their alleged “Wild West” mentality, the armed marchers headed for cover like everyone else.
But instead of concentrating on the motives of the gunman, anti-gunners quickly cranked up the rhetoric. CBS News, in an interview with Vice President Joe Biden, brought up so-called “armor piercing bullets” without explaining that virtually all modern centerfire rifle ammunition will penetrate typical police body armor.
The BLM protest in Dallas came days after two African-American men were fatally shot by police, one in Baton Rouge, LA, and the other in the Minneapolis suburb of Falcon Heights. The Minnesota incident involved a man, Philando Castile, whose family confirmed that he had a legal carry permit.
Castile died after being shot during a traffic stop. Initial reports indicated that he had been pulled over for a broken taillight, but then reports surfaced that he allegedly resembled an armed robbery suspect. There were different accounts of what happened and why, with Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, insisting that he was reaching for his driver’s license and gun permit after advising the officer that he was licensed to carry and was armed.
A video made by Reynolds that began after the shooting includes the officer’s voice insisting that he had told Castile not to move.
As a result, the Second Amendment Foundation and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms called for an independent investigation. SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb said the incident was “very troubling” because Castile was legally armed.
“Castile may have done nothing more than reach for his identification and carry permit,” Gottlieb said in a statement to the press. “We received calls of alarm from many of our members across the country. They are justifiably concerned that a law-abiding citizen may have been wrongfully killed.”
Aware of the racial overtones of the shootings, Gottlieb told TGM that “The Second Amendment is color blind.”
That apparently was not the case with the Dallas shooting. Police Chief David Brown noting during a press briefing that the gunman had told a police negotiator that his purpose was to kill white people and especially white police officers. Yet the reaction from President Obama, during remarks made while he was in Poland, stunned people.
“I think it’s very hard to untangle the motives of this shooter,” he said.
However, during his remarks in Dallas, the president acknowledged that the shooting was “an act not just of demented violence but of racial hatred.”
When Congress recessed for the summer, one New York congressman hinted that there could be trouble because of a failure to pass more gun control.
The Wall Street Journal quoted Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) stating, “This could very well be a very hot summer—we don’t know what ramifications will come.”
Gottlieb, perhaps, had the best retort, in a statement made after the Dallas shooting.
“We abhor any attempt to exploit this hateful crime, which appeared to target police, to press a political agenda that would penalize millions of law-abiding American citizens,” he observed.
