COMMENTARY: Gun-free zones aren’t the answer, they’re the problem

The biggest problem in America today is a lack of common sense among elitists and liberals. (I know, I repeat myself.) Take “gun-free zones.”

There have been three mass murder events in America in just the past month. In two of the cases (the Las Vegas massacre at Mandalay Bay and the deadliest church shooting in America’s history in Sutherland Springs, Texas), liberals have suggested banning guns or, at the very least, stronger gun control. In the Manhattan terror attack, in which a rental truck was used as a weapon of mass destruction, some liberals have suggested (drumroll please) banning cars from big cities.

In reality, anyone with common sense can see that all three tragic events have one thing in common: gun-free zones.

Mandalay Bay and all MGM properties are considered “gun-free zones.” Even most guards are disarmed at MGM properties.

The obvious answer to protecting guests at Vegas hotels and concerts is to surround them with a strong presence of armed (and well-trained) guards. Which makes sense because many MGM security employees and executives have anonymously contacted my radio talk show to point out that CEO Jim Murren is often surrounded by armed guards wherever he goes at MGM properties.

Let’s move to the terror attack in New York. While that attack didn’t involve guns, it is important to note New York City is a well-known “gun-free zone.” It’s no coincidence Islamic terrorists constantly choose New York for so many attacks. They know in a “gun-free zone” there is no one to fight back quickly. People will run, hide and shelter instead of shoot back. That’s the perfect place to plan a terror attack.

Then there’s the deadliest church shooting in America’s history this past Sunday in Sutherland Springs. Are you aware Texas has a law banning guns at churches, synagogues and all other places of worship? That makes any church in Texas a “gun-free zone.” Or, as I call them, “killing zones.”

The church attendees are as helpless as fish in a barrel. “Gun-free zones” are like Vegas-style neon signs advertising “Come on in and start shooting. Everyone here is disarmed and helpless.”

If you want parishioners at church to be safe, disarming them isn’t the answer. Having armed security guards or designated armed (and trained) parishioners is the answer. At best, that is a deterrence in 99 percent of all instances. In a worst case, an armed guard or parishioner can return fire and either scare the attacker away or shoot the perpetrator dead before it becomes a massacre.

Lastly, liberals conveniently gloss over a few pertinent points about guns.

First, no amount of gun control would have prevented any of these recent tragic events. Bad guys always find a way to obtain guns illegally. Banning them only leaves good guys helpless with no way to fight back. Gun control does nothing to prevent criminals from obtaining illegal guns. Take Chicago, a city with the nation’s strictest gun control laws and the highest gun violence and murder rates. Chicago’s citizens and business owners are helpless sitting ducks because of gun control.

Second, a heroic good guy with a gun chased and shot the madman at the Texas church. That hero was willing to get into a running gun battle with a mass murderer. So a gun in the hands of a hero prevented an even worse tragedy and saved many lives. Guns in the hands of good guys prevent crime and save lives every day in America.

These are frightening and tragic times. But banning guns and creating “gun-free zones” is not the answer. It’s the problem.

And that, my friends, is common sense.

Contact Wayne Allyn Root at Wayne@ROOTforAmerica.com. Hear or watch the nationally syndicated “WAR Now: The Wayne Allyn Root Show” from 3 to 6 p.m. daily at 790 Talk Now and at 5 p.m. on Newsmax TV.