September 19, 2001

CONTACT: Kent McNaughton
Public Information Director,
The Libertarian Party of Colorado

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Libertarians Call for Increased Self-Protection

DENVER - Colorado is a long way from New York, but that does not mean that the people of Colorado are any less threatened by monsters than those who lost their lives last Tuesday. Libertarians in Colorado call on Governor Bill Owens to deliver one thing that might actually save their lives: statewide-concealed carry.

Recent events point out how vulnerable people are in public settings and how little law enforcement officers can do to protect them from a determined assailant. In fact, it is the laws that are supposed to protect people that leave them unprotected.

"It is no coincidence that our greatest tragedies occur in places that government laws or corporate policies have declared 'gun free,' such as schools, trains, offices, and now planes," said John K. Berntson, Chair of the Libertarian Party of Colorado. "It is exactly this 'gun free' feature that attracts the perpetrators in the first place, because they are free from retaliation."

It should be obvious to anyone who looks that weapons-free zones have become very dangerous places for people: a cafeteria in Texas, a commuter train on Long Island, post offices and office complexes nationwide, and many schools, including one in Littleton. Commercial aircraft have long been risky ventures, because of hijackers, because the passengers are denied all means of self-defense; now they have become risky to those who are not even on the planes.

The problem has now become much worse, because, according to reports, there are more terrorists in this country, waiting to create more terror. They wish to kill people. However, they do not need airplanes to accomplish that.

It does not take much imagination to see ways in which many Americans could be killed, with only moderate risk to the attackers. They could walk through a shopping mall, entering from all sides, spraying automatic weapons fire, and because of our draconian gun laws, it is not likely that anyone would have the means to fight back. They could attack sports stadiums, concert halls, mass-transit vehicles and stations, office towers and factories, safe in the knowledge that few or none of their victims could stop them. They could attack schools.

"We have tried the great experiment of disarming the public in the name of safety and security; it does not work," said Berntson. "There is always a way around the safeguards, there is always the opportunity to commit murder on a grand scale."

The Colorado Legislature will soon meet in special session. The Libertarian Party calls on the governor to make universal concealed carry an emergency priority, to give his constituents the right to defend themselves and their neighbors, wherever they happen to be, against all terrorists, foreign or domestic.

"Next January, when the governor gives his 'State of the State' address in the house chamber, how well would he like to be defended against a possible terrorist attack?" asks Berntson. "Would he want just a few state troopers with sidearms? Or would he like to have a hundred legislators, plus guests, well armed and ready to fight back?

"Would he not like to have gun of his own, under his jacket, to defend himself against killers? The danger is real and he needs to act."