Lax Gun Laws, not Gun Free Zones are the problem: Ex-Air Force Officer

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/ex-air-force-officer-gun-laws-not-gun-free-zones-are-the-real-problem

Last week, a man with a gun killed four Marines, mortally wounded a Navy sailor, and injured a police officer in Chattanooga, Tennessee. And last night, in Lafayette, Louisiana, another man with a gun shot into a movie theater, killing two people and injuring nine more before turning the weapon on himself.

Both tragedies felt like a punch in the gut. Today is especially hard for survivors and victims’ families from the Aurora theater mass shooting three years ago, who are just finishing up the trial for the accused killer of their loved ones. It’s past time to stand with all victims and survivors of gun violence and say – in the words of Richard Martinez, whose son, Chris, was killed in the Isla Vista shootings last year – that “not one more” person should be sacrificed to such senseless killing.

RELATED: 3 killed, 9 wounded in movie theater shooting

For my family, the mass shooting in Chattanooga hit particularly close to home. As a Pentagon 9/11 veteran myself, I know our men and women in uniform put their lives on the line wherever they are every day, but it’s especially tragic when they’re caught in the line of fire here at home. My thoughts and prayers go out to their families, their comrades, and their community. 

NEWSNATION WITH TAMRON HALL, 7/24/15, 11:09 AM ET

Aurora victim’s parents: ‘You wonder how this can continue in our country’

Between us, my wife and I spent four decades on active duty, serving all over the world and engaging in vital force protection missions. We never thought one of our children would have to face such a dire threat here at home, but our daughter Mary was one of 32 students and teachers shot to death at Virginia Tech eight years ago. Our vibrant, beautiful college freshman had her whole life ahead of her when a gunman who should never have been able to purchase a firearm walked into her French class and started shooting. So every time another mass shooting occurs, we feel it at our core.

Now it’s routine for gun lobby commentators and politicians to blame mass shootings on the existence of so-called “gun-free zones.” This is a red herring, pushed by the gun lobby to advance a “guns everywhere” agenda, which insults the dead and mocks the living by reducing tragedy to a mere trope.

It’s past time to lay this fallacy to rest.