Reality of gun control

On Oct. 16, 1991, George Jo Hennard drove his pickup through the front door of Luby's in Killeen. Using his truck to barricade the front door, he went on to murder 23 people, wounding 20 others before taking his own life.

Suzanna Gratia Hupp was eating with her parents when Hennard plowed through the entrance to Luby's. When Hennard began firing, the family flipped over the table for cover, and Suzanna instinctively reached in her purse for her .38-caliber Smith & Wesson before realizing she had started leaving it in her vehicle a few months before for fear of losing her chiropractic license. Her father, Al Gratia, was gunned down while charging Hennard. Her mother was executed while holding her husband's head in her lap as he bled.

The Luby's massacre eventually led to the 1995 passage of SB60 in the Texas legislature, which allowed Texans the right to carry a firearm with a Concealed Handgun License. Suzanna Gratia Hupp was a huge proponent of the law and would be elected to the Texas State Legislature in 1996.

Fast-forward 20 years and our nation has suffered another tragedy in Tucson. The assault on a federal legislator has made gun control a popular topic in Washington.

Peter King, Republican representative from New York, has proposed making it a crime to knowingly carry a firearm within 1,000 feet of  "high ranking officials." As a practical matter, it is impossible to check everyone within 1,000 feet of highly ranked officials. It is unlikely that someone bent on violence would give a second thought to such a paper barrier. It will, however, stop law-abiding gun-carrying citizens from being any help and give those hell-bent on violence the peace of mind that those in close proximity to a highly ranked official are more or less defenseless.

New York Democratic Rep. Carolyn McCarthy and New Jersey Senate Democrat Frank Lautenberg have proposed legislation to ban high-capacity clips and limit them to only 10 rounds of ammunition.

This might help if there wasn't a multitude of high capacity clips in circulation (there are), if there was a realistic way track sales (there isn't), and if madmen didn't have any other options (they do).

Someone with a determination to kill won't have a problem buying a high-capacity clip grandfathered in before this would-be legislation was passed. The gunman could simply pull a "New York Reload" as the Virginia Tech shooter did by carrying a second weapon. Just as terrorists have consistently found new ways to wreak havoc, there are endless ways for a madman to find a bigger clip, another gun or resort to alternatives. Normal law-abiding gun owners are the ones who are discouraged by red tape.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been glorifying his city's oppressive gun laws that almost ensure that only criminals have guns.  This crucial flaw points out the absurdity of these feel-good policies. Criminals don't care about a 1,000 feet paper barrier. Would-be assassins don't give up because an extended clip is no longer sold at Wal-Mart. Violent malcontents don't care about petty infractions. Regular law-abiding citizens care about petty infractions.

Gun Control proponents seem unable to fundamentally understand the primary consequence of their laws.  Fewer good guys with guns.

According to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Utah has the most permissive gun laws in the country. It also has one of the lowest murder rates at 1.5 per 100,000 according to US Census Bureau. Conversely, California has the strictest gun laws in the country but beats the national average at 5.8 per 100,000. Until 2007, Washington D.C. even banned handguns but still led the nation with more than 30 murders per 100,000.

Recently, Senator Jeff Wentworth from TX District 25 introduced TX Senate Bill 354. The bill would allow concealed handgun license holders to carry on college campuses. The bill won't stop bad people from attempting heinous crimes, but it does create a chance for good people to stop them.

Suzanna Gratia Hupp lost both of her parents Oct. 16, 1991 on the floor of a Luby's because of a paper barrier. A barrier law-abiding citizens won't cross, a barrier that killers don't respect, a barrier that leaves students defenseless even today. It's time to end the feel-good policies that favor the monsters among us at the expense of the innocent.

In memory of: Patricia Brawn Carney, Jimmie Eugene Caruthers, Kriemhild A. Davis, Lt. Col. Steven Charles Dody, Al Gratia, Ursula Edith Marie Gratia, Debra Ann Gray, Dr. Michael Edward Griffith, Venice Ellen Henehan, Clodine Delphia Humphrey, Sylvia Mathilde King, Zona Mae Lynn, Dr. Connie Dean Peterson, Ruth Marie Pujol, Su-zann Neal, John Raymond Romero Jr, Thomas Earl Simmons, Glen Arval Spivey, Nancy Faye Stansbury, Olgica Andonovsk Taylor, James Walter Welsh, Lula Belle Welsh, Iva Juanita Williams.