Garlic festival shooting took place in another “gun-free zone,” could have been stopped by citizens, but they were all disarmed
07/30/2019 / By JD Heyes
The question must be asked: How many more Americans are going to have to die before citizens, en masse, begin demanding that our elected officials stop ignoring our constitutional right to keep and bear arms? Or legislating against it?
The question is appropriate given that another shooting occurred over the weekend at a gun-free zone in California in which people lost their lives while others have been permanently damaged and traumatized as a result of their wounds.
As reported by NBC Bay Area, three people – two children and a young man barely out of his teens — were killed when a gunman cut through a fence to avoid security before opening fire on attendees of the Gilroy Garlic Festival in Gilroy, Calif.
The affiliate noted further:
The gunman, who was shot and killed by police, has been identified as Santino William Legan, a federal law enforcement official confirmed to NBC News. Police in a news conference Monday said the gunman used an AK-47 type assault rifle purchased legally in Nevada on July 9.
“This is a tragic incident for our community,” said Gilroy Mayor Roland Velasco. “On behalf of the city and the Gilroy City Council, our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and families.”
Alberto Romero lost his six-year-old son. He told the local NBC affiliate, “My son had his whole life to live and he was only six. That’s all I can say.”
Thirteen-year-old Keyla Salazar from San Jose was also killed, as was Trevor Irby, 20, a 2017 graduate of Keuka College in New York.
Now for the really angering news: This shooting, once again, occurred in a gun-free zone, and at least one attendee to the festival believes had there been no ordinances against concealed carry, he might have been able to stop the attack before three people were killed and another 12 wounded. (Related: If “gun-free zones” actually worked, then 98% of mass shootings wouldn’t happen in them.)
This isn’t a gun issue, it’s a Second Amendment issue
In an interview with CNN, Brendon Gorshe said he likely could have stopped the shooter cold, if only he was armed.
“I was close enough, I could have ran him over. If I didn’t have my daughters, I probably would have. If I had a gun, I probably would have ended it right there. I felt helpless,” he said.
"I was close enough, I could have ran him over. If I didn't have my daughters, I probably would have. If I had a gun, I probably could have ended it right there… I felt helpless."
Brendon Gorshe, a father and Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting witness.https://t.co/UBzof0DInO pic.twitter.com/KOIGTBY5Q8
— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) July 29, 2019
He added: “I was angry and I felt helpless” because he was unarmed, by law.
So that left him and everyone else at the festival at the mercy of the shooter and waiting for police who, of course, were several minutes away.
Gorshe told CNN that he and his two young daughters actually saw six-year-old Stephen Romero get shot and killed.
The father of two said he yelled at the shooter when he saw him, which caused him to train his rifle on the family briefly.
“I got out of my truck and screamed at him, ‘Hey!’ and he started to turn toward us… I threw it (the truck) in reverse and started backing up fast, screaming at people to get down and run,” Gorshe said, Infowars reported. “The guy panicked and started running toward the fence, but for some reason he changed his mind and turned around and raised that gun and he just walked into the festival and continued.”
Democrats will, of course, use the incident as another platform to rail against gun rights and call for more curbs on our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for self-defense. When the framers wrote that amendment, they did not include any riders, conditions, or restrictions, so there shouldn’t be any. And yet…there are far too many, which creates these kinds of killing zones.
It’s past time to demand — not ask — for the return of our Second Amendment rights. It should not take more Americans dying in gun-free zones to do so, either.
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Tagged Under: California, concealed carry, death, gun free zone, gun rights, guns, murder, Second Amendment, self-defense, shooting, shootings
