U.S. Attorney General Comment Draws Response From MSSA President [YouTube]

A comment from the Attorney General of the United States, Loretta Lynch, following the deaths of 14 people and the injuries to 21 others in San Bernadino, California by what are now considered to be Islamic extremists, has drawn a response from the President of the Montana Shooting Sports Association, Gary Marbut. 

In a speech on Thursday, Attorney General Lynch said the shootings were 'an unspeakable crime', and that 'violence of this kind has no place in the country." She also was quoted as saying 'We are at the point where these issues have come together really like never before in law enforcement thought and in our nation's history, and it gives us a wonderful opportunity and a wonderful moment to really make significant change.'

Marbut responded by agreeing with the Attorney General's sentiments that the attacks were a 'wonderful opportunity', but not as Attorney General Lynch inferred.

"I think the Attorney General is exactly correct," Marbut said. "There are some things that are coming into stark clarity about gun violence in America. One is, for about the last decade, the murder rate by firearms has come way, way down, while the ownership of firearms in America has gone way, way up."

"But, there is one area in America where gun violence continues to increase, and that is those mythical, theoretically dangerous gun-free zones," he said. "We are seeing a stark clarity, and we need to start getting rid of these stupid and dangerous gun-free zones, which are only gun-free for the victims of the madmen and predators."

Marbut said government employees, civil servants, teachers and others who work in 'gun-free zones' should be allowed to protect themselves in a situation similar to that of San Bernadino.

"Police would love to be able to get to a scene like that immediately, but they cannot. Their response times could be three or four minutes, or even up to an hour," he said. "That's why our position is that those people should not be disallowed the best tools to protect themselves, and that would be firearms, so that's why we need to get rid of these dangerous gun-free zones."