After the shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, we've seen plenty of demands from gun control activists and anti-gun politicians to "do something," even though they can't quite explain what that something looks like.
As it turns out, hundreds of residents in the county where the horrific shooting took place are doing something. They're applying for concealed carry licenses in droves.
“Often after major incidents that impact our community, we see more interest in concealed handgun licenses,” Deschutes County Sheriff Ty Rupert said in a statement. “This trend is consistent with what we have observed historically, and we understand why many residents are thinking more about personal and family safety right now.”
Because of the spike in CHL interest -- 204 people have signed up -- DCSO said it is scheduling an additional CHL training class on Saturday, Nov. 14. Forty-five spots are available, nine of which have already been taken. DCSO said additional classes will be scheduled based on demand.
As Rupert says, it's not unusual for interest in concealed carry to spike after a high-profile crime, but I'm wondering how this particular surge compares to others that he's seen in the past. Is interest even higher, perhaps because a concealed carry holder actually stopped the attack at Silver Rail Elementary School, or are the numbers in line with previous incidents where an armed citizen wasn't involved in putting an end to a heinous crime?
Whatever the case may be, it's good that so many residents in Deschutes County are taking their safety (and the safety of others) more seriously. Hopefully none of them will ever be in a situation similar to what Kaylub Giamanco was confronted with, but if they are, they'll at least be better prepared to defend themselves and others instead of being forced to wait for help to arrive.
Of course, getting a concealed carry license is the first step, not the last step. Having a permit doesn't make you a great shot, and it doesn't guarantee that you'll be cool and calm under pressure. I hope these new gun carriers will hit the range on a regular basis and will continue their training even after they've received their county-issued permission slip to bear arms.
These Deschutes County residents aren't waiting for Congress to pass another law or for the Oregon legislature to come up with some new restriction on lawful gun owners. They're taking concrete steps to give themselves a better chance of surviving if they're ever confronted by a violent criminal.
Even though the gun control lobby tells us all the time that they're not opposed to responsible gun ownership, I doubt gun control activists are going to applaud this development. They prefer to see the response to the Silver Rail shooting take the form of more restrictions on firearms, even though they can't tell us what new law would have prevented this attack. Meanwhile, hundreds of people in Deschutes County have apparently reached a different conclusion about what they can do to make themselves and their loved ones safer.
I don't know whether any of these new applicants will ever have to draw their gun in self-defense, and I sincerely hope they won't. But I do know that if they ever are in a situation where lives are at risk, the ability to protect yourself and others is worth a lot more than a politician's promise to "do something."
Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their extreme gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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