Sheriff Joe might be right about citizens aiding in defense

Both sides of the gun debate push harder whenever there’s an incident such as the horrific mass shooting in San Bernardino. Both sides feel justified in their perspectives. The left feels like gun control laws should be tighter. The right points out that in nearly all instances, there was a distinct absence of a “good guy with a gun” who could have stopped the shooter.

I’ve never been very hawkish on the gun debate, but listening to Sheriff Joe Arpaio from Arizona makes me think that he might have a point. Americans, especially gun control activists like President Obama, have to understand that people who intend to do harm will find a way to do harm. The gun laws, which haven’t changed very much over the last decade, cannot be the reason for the rise in mass shootings in recent years since they’ve been relatively static. If it’s the gun laws to blame and the gun laws are static, logically one would think that the number of mass shootings would be relatively static as well.

They are not.

Arpaio is calling for the quarter-million citizens in Arizona who have carry permits to assist law enforcement in stopping mass shootings and terrorism.

By the time Law Enforcement assembles the SWAT, it's too late. https://t.co/t304W5MFaU

— Peter Antonell (@PeterAntonell) December 3, 2015

The police cannot be everywhere. They are responsive rather than proactive when a shooter is active. Trying to take guns away from bad guys will be much harder than taking them away from good guys. In essence, what Sheriff Joe is proposing adds a wildcard to the equation for would-be terrorists or murderers.