MESSAGE
| DATE | 2016-12-21 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout-NYLXS] The fascinating case of Bernie Goetz
|
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-feldman/bernie-goetz-the-subway-g_b_6369128.html
Bernie Goetz "The Subway Gunman" 30 Years Later
12/23/2014 01:31 pm ET | Updated Feb 21, 2015
Richard Feldman President, Independent Firearm Owners Association, Inc.
Thirty years ago today the inviolate right to self-defense and the
battle over firearm civil liberties were joined in one of the
unlikeliest of battle zones -- New York City. Riding a southbound
express train in lower Manhattan, a slight of build navy contractor rode
that subway car into gun lore history -- his name was Bernard Goetz
dubbed -- "the subway gunman" -- defending himself and every other
scared New Yorker to ride the underground. (Ironically, at the time Mr.
Goetz's naval contract was to protect all of humanity by creating a
safeguard against terrorists stealing nuclear weapons.)
In a scene eerily reminiscent of Charles Bronson in the Hollywood hit
"Death Wish" four punks threatened and attempted to rob their victim,
but enclosed within that graffiti encrusted rail car the "hare turned
around and bit the hound" he fired his Smith and Wesson 5 shot
38-caliber revolver into his would-be muggers. The bumper stickers were
everywhere in NYC - "Ride with Bernie -- he Goetz 'em"! The crime rate
in the dangerous subways plunged dramatically -- so much so the
authorities even held back the numbers -- the truth hurt too much.
Bernie Goetz wasn't caught immediately. It was a brief hiatus allowing
the incident to grow into an international media sensation. During a
White House press conference in early January Sam Donaldson asked
President Reagan his position on the "Goetz shooting." The next day a
young NRA political director held a news conference at the Park Terrace
Hotel on 7th Avenue with Roy Innis, National Chairman of the Congress of
Racial Equality (CORE) and State Senator Chris Mega from Brooklyn
declaring, "A government which cannot protect its citizens has no right
denying them the means to protect themselves"! The famed journalist
Murray Kempton asked if he was urging vigilantism? His retort, "when
will Mayor Koch provide the same level of protection to the citizens who
ride the subways and pay their taxes that he enjoys surrounded by a
phalanx of New York's finest, oh with guns at the ready"? It was a good
question then and an even better one today - thirty years later!
New York City leaders have maintained that same hypocritical, elitist,
racist, and demonstrably counter-productive licensing posture then
extant under Ed Koch. Mayors Dinkins, Giuliani, Bloomberg and now
DiBlasio enforce indignity upon outrage sacrificing the essential human
right of self-defense, even life and property. The mealy mouthed
subterfuge that the police will protect you -- (tragically they can't
always protect themselves witness the assassinations of two cops in
Brooklyn on Saturday), is an excuse that costs lives, civilian lives as
those of us in the rest of America know all too well. The issue is never
the gun (despite politicians blather) but really, "In whose hands are
the guns"?
Looking back, it was a defining moment for the emerging gun rights
movement led by the National Rifle Association -- and I know because I
was that young NRA spokesman. The era prior had been about eliminating
the right to even own a handgun; now the debate would be transformed
into the lawful ability to carry one. The following year Florida passed
the first modern "shall issue" statute mandating the issuance of a carry
license if the applicant met certain basic standards. No longer could
Palm Beach, Broward and Dade Counties Florida prevent their citizens
from having the same self-defense rights as other Floridians.
Forty-two states in this country with 72% of the population are now
"shall issue" states the inverse of 1984! New York is not one of them.
Thirty years is too long to be "allowed" to enforce ones legal and
unalienable human rights. It's time for Congress to enact an
intelligent, well designed, National Carry Law so none of us has to fear
being in the wrong place at the wrong time without the means to lawfully
protect ourselves as Bernie Goetz discovered thirty years ago today.
Follow Richard Feldman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/IFoAusa
--
So many immigrant groups have swept through our town
that Brooklyn, like Atlantis, reaches mythological
proportions in the mind of the world - RI Safir 1998
http://www.mrbrklyn.com
DRM is THEFT - We are the STAKEHOLDERS - RI Safir 2002
http://www.nylxs.com - Leadership Development in Free Software
http://www2.mrbrklyn.com/resources - Unpublished Archive
http://www.coinhangout.com - coins!
http://www.brooklyn-living.com
Being so tracked is for FARM ANIMALS and and extermination camps,
but incompatible with living as a free human being. -RI Safir 2013
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