Gun-Free Europe Finding Out The Hard Way That Criminals Still Kill

HEIDELBURG, GERMANY — The latest attack on a crowd of Germans occurred last weekend when the driver of a car smashed into a group of people, injuring two and killing one. People had to wait for police to arrive and were powerless to stop the attacker or defend themselves. When police arrived, the man pulled out a knife. After a brief stand-off, police shot and killed the man.

According to Russia Today, German authorities did not publish the identity of the attacker but merely said he was a German citizen. His victims included a 73-year-old man, a 32-year-old Austrian citizen, and a 29-year-old woman from Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Unfortunately, these types of high profile attacks have become much more common. Despite the politics surrounding the discussion of such issues, Western Europe has experienced a noticeable uptick in violent crime.

Outside of a few countries like Switzerland, gun ownership is all but impossible for the average citizen. And in the countries where it is allowed, such as Germany, it is very highly regulated. The idea of the common citizen walking around with a legally-possessed concealed carry handgun is relegated to pure fiction. That doesn’t mean violent criminals will not use knives, guns, vehicles, and bombs to accomplish their ends.

And they do.

This is a great example of what happens when people are completely dependent upon police and security forces for protection. The common person in Western Europe does not have permission or authority to exercise force when attacked. He has a duty to retreat. And if he uses deadly force to defend himself, he may be treated as badly or worse than his attackers.

This is also what happens when society equates guns with bad guys. Only bad guys and police have guns in Western Europe. If the first is present and the latter absent, there is no way to resist.

The European solution to this is to create “no go” zones — places where the average European is discouraged from walking alone at night or without company. And there are no protections against a person losing his life or property to roving bands of thugs.

This is why it’s so important for us to defend our inalienable rights to keep and use firearms.

In our type of society, that means regular reminders to our elected officials AT ALL LEVELS (local, state, and federal) that we, their constituents, demand our gun rights be protected.