345 Park Avenue Shooting by Tom Reynolds
By now, you have probably read about the shooting that occurred at 345 Park Avenue in New York City at about 6:30 PM on Monday. The media covers it in their own, usual way but here are some added thoughts.
President Trump said. "I trust our Law Enforcement Agencies to get to the bottom of why this crazed lunatic committed such a senseless act of violence." Seems sensible. It was a senseless act of violence and the police need time to get the facts behind it.
On the other hand, after identifying the gun used as an AR-15-style “assault” rifle, Governor Hochul wasted no time in calling on Congress to pass a national assault weapons ban.
What piece of logic did she miss?
Estimates are that there are 20-30 million AR15 style rifles in the U S A. Does Hochul believe they will all be turned in? Does she believe criminals will turn in their illegal guns? All she wants to do, which is standard for the gun grabbing left, is to disarm law abiding citizens and put them at a disadvantage to armed criminals.
No surprise there. Hochul relies on emotion and misinformation to sell her agenda. Never miss the chance to use a crisis to further a political agenda.
It’s reported that the rifle used was a Palmetto State Armory PA-15 rifle and early reports claimed it was equipped with a suppressor. (It was not. The sling was mistaken for a suppressor.) Palmetto does sell PA 15 rifles that are semi-automatic and most chamber in .556 or .223 ammo. None of the PA15’s fire automatically, which is necessary to be a military ‘assault’ weapon, a fact ignored by gun grabbers in order to make the semi-automatic rifle sound worse.
Some reported that the shooter bought a ‘lower’ and built his own weapon which is meant to start the ‘ghost gun’ stampede. But the gunman’s supervisor at the Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas has admitted that he purchased a fully assembled AR-style rifle in Las Vegas and sold that rifle, the one used in the New York City office shooting, to Tamura for $1,400.
Some report it had a 30 round magazine. Enter the large capacity magazine banners.
CNN claimed the active shooter in New York City is a “possibly white” male. They are probably the only people in the world who could see his picture and say he might be white.
A couple decades ago, I attended a dozen meetings in that same building. In front of the patio is an automobile waiting area, where limos usually wait, and it is reported that the shooter double parked there. The entrance patio is about 20 yards long so it took the shooter 15-25 seconds to exit his car and walk to the front door. It’s a busy area and you can tell from a picture that people are standing in front of the cars. And yet, no one noticed a man with a rifle! No one called 911! No one yelled, ”Hey, he's got a gun!”
Could it be that everyone was too busy staring at their cell phone?
One of the main preventive measures taught in defense classes is ‘situational awareness.’ Had anyone been aware, that tragedy might have been avoided. The would-be witnesses missed one of the most tragic events they will ever experience.
Hochul also used this as an opportunity to complain about states that do not have New York’s strict gun laws; “…our laws only go so far when an AR-15 can be obtained in a state with weak gun laws and brought into New York to commit mass murder."
There were probably hundreds of people in the building. Pictures show rooms inside the building being barricaded. Due to NY’s strict gun laws, no one was ‘carrying.’ No one (or multiple persons) was armed and could step up and challenge the murderer. All the hundreds of law-abiding, would-be victims could do was hide and pray.
And finally…
Numerous studies estimate there is a median figure of 1.6 million Defensive Gun Uses occurring in the U S A, every year. (Very few end up with shots being fired.) If 1% of those would have ended in a murder, that is 16,000 murders prevented. Gun Violence Archives estimates there is an average of 14,567 non-suicide, illegal gun homicides over nine years. (There is an average of 1,882 legal gun homicides.) It’s quite possible that guns prevent more murders than they are used in. Another issue Hochul chooses to ignore.
