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Women of Hawaii Should Be Allowed to Carry Firearms
If Not, the Violent Attacks Against Women (Including the Recent String of Rapes and Gang Rape) Will be On the Conscience of Lawmakers and Police Chiefs Who Ignore the Second Amendment
By Malia Zimmerman, 4/1/2005 2:07:18 PM
Malia Zimmerman
Honolulu police report an 18-year-old woman was kidnapped and gang raped by five men on Monday, March 28, 2005, at about 9 p.m. near the University of Hawaii. This gang initiation-like attack follows a series of rapes and sexual assaults in the area, including one on an 85-year-old woman, who was tied up and raped by a much bigger, stronger man with prior sex assault convictions.
No one deserves to suffer that kind of attack. Everyone deserves the right to protect themselves. That right was ensured by America's founding fathers, who made the right to bear arms the Second Amendment in the United States Constitution, following only the right to free speech and religion.
So why is it that in Hawaii, as a law-abiding citizen, I cannot carry a firearm with me to protect myself and my family?
Thirty-seven other states across the country permit their citizens, women and men, to carry a firearm, once they have been properly trained.
In Hawaii, the law reads the police chiefs "may issue" a permit to residents who want to carry a concealed firearm, however they adamantly refuse to do so. In fact, police chiefs in Hawaii, unlike their mainland peers, lobby at the state Legislature for stricter gun laws and against any concealed carry bills that say that the police chiefs "shall issue" a concealed carry permit to those qualified, rather than giving chiefs the option through the words "may issue."
Repeated efforts to change the Hawaii law have been thwarted by liberal lawmakers and the media, many who have never touched a firearm, have not been victims of violent crime, and are not educated about the Second Amendment.
Opponents to the right to bear arms say we should rely on police and calls to 9-1-1.
But how does 9-1-1 help the young woman as she is snatched into a car with five men who intend to cause her harm.
How does 9-1-1 help the 85-year-old woman who is about to be tied up and raped by a man with previous sex offense convictions?
How does a 9-1-1 call help me when in the face of danger?
Truth is as good as police may be -- or not be -- at their jobs, they need time to respond to a call, and they need to be called.
What rapist is going to allow a woman to call police from her cell phone? What gang member will enable a victim to call for help? No such opportunity exists.
But what every gang member, what every rapist, what every previous sex offender can understand and will respond to is the barrel of a gun pointed between his eyes -- or lower.
Lawmakers should be ashamed of themselves for not passing laws that enable the women -- and men -- of this state to protect themselves when confronted by violent criminals, many of whom are still on the streets because of the laws these lawmakers passed that favor criminals over victims.
It is time for Hawaii to join the 36 other states that allow their law-abiding citizens to have the option to carry a firearm. Statistics show that just the possibility of someone possessing a gun has lowered crime in these states. If our legislators and police don't take action to empower the women of this state -- the future attacks on innocent victims will be on their consciences.
Malia Zimmerman is president and editor of Hawaii Reporter and co-founder and vice president of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, Hawaii's only free market public policy institute focused on individual liberty and freedom. Read more about the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii at http://www.grassrootinstitute.org She can be reached via email at mailto:[email protected]
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?6cdeb725-7856-415f-9db3-8fbc509a9716
If Not, the Violent Attacks Against Women (Including the Recent String of Rapes and Gang Rape) Will be On the Conscience of Lawmakers and Police Chiefs Who Ignore the Second Amendment
By Malia Zimmerman, 4/1/2005 2:07:18 PM
Malia Zimmerman
Honolulu police report an 18-year-old woman was kidnapped and gang raped by five men on Monday, March 28, 2005, at about 9 p.m. near the University of Hawaii. This gang initiation-like attack follows a series of rapes and sexual assaults in the area, including one on an 85-year-old woman, who was tied up and raped by a much bigger, stronger man with prior sex assault convictions.
No one deserves to suffer that kind of attack. Everyone deserves the right to protect themselves. That right was ensured by America's founding fathers, who made the right to bear arms the Second Amendment in the United States Constitution, following only the right to free speech and religion.
So why is it that in Hawaii, as a law-abiding citizen, I cannot carry a firearm with me to protect myself and my family?
Thirty-seven other states across the country permit their citizens, women and men, to carry a firearm, once they have been properly trained.
In Hawaii, the law reads the police chiefs "may issue" a permit to residents who want to carry a concealed firearm, however they adamantly refuse to do so. In fact, police chiefs in Hawaii, unlike their mainland peers, lobby at the state Legislature for stricter gun laws and against any concealed carry bills that say that the police chiefs "shall issue" a concealed carry permit to those qualified, rather than giving chiefs the option through the words "may issue."
Repeated efforts to change the Hawaii law have been thwarted by liberal lawmakers and the media, many who have never touched a firearm, have not been victims of violent crime, and are not educated about the Second Amendment.
Opponents to the right to bear arms say we should rely on police and calls to 9-1-1.
But how does 9-1-1 help the young woman as she is snatched into a car with five men who intend to cause her harm.
How does 9-1-1 help the 85-year-old woman who is about to be tied up and raped by a man with previous sex offense convictions?
How does a 9-1-1 call help me when in the face of danger?
Truth is as good as police may be -- or not be -- at their jobs, they need time to respond to a call, and they need to be called.
What rapist is going to allow a woman to call police from her cell phone? What gang member will enable a victim to call for help? No such opportunity exists.
But what every gang member, what every rapist, what every previous sex offender can understand and will respond to is the barrel of a gun pointed between his eyes -- or lower.
Lawmakers should be ashamed of themselves for not passing laws that enable the women -- and men -- of this state to protect themselves when confronted by violent criminals, many of whom are still on the streets because of the laws these lawmakers passed that favor criminals over victims.
It is time for Hawaii to join the 36 other states that allow their law-abiding citizens to have the option to carry a firearm. Statistics show that just the possibility of someone possessing a gun has lowered crime in these states. If our legislators and police don't take action to empower the women of this state -- the future attacks on innocent victims will be on their consciences.
Malia Zimmerman is president and editor of Hawaii Reporter and co-founder and vice president of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, Hawaii's only free market public policy institute focused on individual liberty and freedom. Read more about the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii at http://www.grassrootinstitute.org She can be reached via email at mailto:[email protected]
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?6cdeb725-7856-415f-9db3-8fbc509a9716
