Most GAT Daily readers know that so-called “gun-free” zones are a fallacy invented by gun-ban advocates to make it seem like it’s possible to create a safe place free of violent criminal activity. What such zones really are, however, are places where criminals continue to possess and use whatever kinds of weapons they want, while lawful gun owners are forced to leave their guns behind to enter such zones, making them easy targets for attack.
Unintended Consequences of “Gun-Free” Zones
That brings us to a recent report from the Council on Criminal Justice lamenting the fact that firearms thefts from parked cars jumped dramatically over the period 2018 to 2022.
“The rate of guns reported stolen from motor vehicles increased by 31% over the period, while the rate of guns reported stolen during residential and commercial burglaries dropped by 40%,” the report stated. “Rates of gun thefts from vehicles were highest and rose the most steeply in the most rural areas.”
CCRKBA’s Take
Now, one gun-rights group, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA), is pointing out what gun-ban advocates won’t ever tell you. Armed citizens having to leave their guns in the car to enter so-called “gun-free” zones, created by those same anti-gun advocates, is a big part of the problem.
“While the report raises alarms about a 31 percent increase of gun thefts from vehicles, it fails to mention a major reason people must leave their firearms in their cars, and that’s the proliferation of ‘gun-free zones’ and ‘sensitive areas,’ all promoted by the same social justice extremists who complain about guns falling into the wrong hands,” Alan Gottlieb, CCRKBA chairman, said in a news release about the report.
“A legally-owned firearm is safest when it is in the possession of its owner. Armed private citizens should never be expected to leave their firearms just to have lunch, attend a meeting or public hearing, handle personal business in a government building, enter churches, synagogues or mosques, or merely to go shopping at a mall or market.”
As Gottlieb pointed out, mass shootings occur more frequently in so-called “gun-free” zones.
“Establishing laws that disarm honest citizens while creating risk-free environments for criminals and crazy people is not simply ineffective, it’s insane,” Gottlieb said.
“No law should ever be allowed to force law-abiding citizens to leave their means of self-defense locked in an automobile. If you want to prevent gun thefts from parking lots and garages, don’t make things easier for thieves. If you want to deter mass shootings in public places, make it possible for people to fight back.”
He concluded, “If you want to keep guns out of the wrong hands, then allow those guns to be in the right hands.”
