Posted by
Craig Freeborn on Thursday, April 19, 2007 1:59:25 AM
There was no expression on his face. He walked “calmly”, “determinedly” from table to table, from person to person as he shot them one by one.
It was the worst mass shooting in American history… at least it was on October 16, 1991.
Dr. Suzanna Hupp, a chiropractor was having lunch with her Mother and Father at Luby’s restaurant in Killeen, Texas. The gunman (I won’t dignify him by printing his name) had just driven through the windows and started shooting even before his car stopped moving.
Dr. Hupp’s father turned their table on its side and the three of them crouched on the floor behind it. The shooter was walking and shooting… not ten feet from her. She’d hit smaller targets from greater distances before. She had the table to steady her hand. She was in a perfect position to stop this madness. “I reached for my purse on the ground thinking, ‘I’ve got him! I’ve got this guy!’”
But then she remembered…
Concealed carry was illegal in Texas, and although she had taken her handgun into restaurants before, this time – concerned about loosing her chiropractic license – she left in her car… 150 feet away!
“It was a stupid decision… one that I will regret forever. I would much rather be sitting in jail with a felony offense on my head and have my parents alive.”
Dr. Hupp escaped with her life. Her parents didn’t. And neither did 21 other innocent men, women, and children.
The good citizens on the state of Texas began demanding the right to carry concealed handguns. And the Texas Legislature agreed. But then-Governor Anne Richards, who distrusted freeborn Americans to make their own choices, vetoed the legislation… twice. It is considered one of the main reasons she was defeated for reelection by George W. Bush in 1994.
After the vetoes, Dr. Hupp ran for and won a seat in the Texas House of Representatives. In the floor debate during the next legislative session, she made the following point:
“A gun can be used to kill a family, or defend a family. I’ve lived what gun laws do. My parents died because of what gun laws do. I’m the typical soccer mom, and I want the right to protect my family. What happened to my parents will never happen again with my kids there.”
The Texas Concealed Carry Law was passed and signed into law.
Last Monday, witnesses described the gunman at Virginia Tech as expressionless, calm, but methodical as he shot his victims one by one. It is the worst mass shooting in American history… at least it was on April 16, 2007.
Interestingly, Virginia already has a law allowing the right to carry a concealed handgun, but Virginia Tech forbids weapons on university property. A little over a year ago, a bill allowing professors or students over 21 to carry a concealed weapon on college campuses was considered by the state legislature. It failed, in part, because Virginia Tech administrators lobbied against it. Ironically, a Virginia Tech spokesman commented that the bill’s defeat “will help parents, students, faculty, and visitors feel safe on our campus.”
I asked Dr. Hupp, who retired just this year as a State Representative if such a law would have prevented these tragedies – these atrocities?
She didn’t hesitate in answering. “Every single one of these shootings from Killeen in 1991 to Blacksburg in 2007 has occurred in gun-free zones. The politicians and administrators have created a shopping list for madmen. Yes it would have been prevented. In fact, he never would have tried because scumbags like him look for easy targets.”
“I’d like people to think about what happened to me, and try to place themselves in that situation. “Even if you choose not to have a gun, as the bad guy who ignored all the laws is getting close to you and as he levels that firearm at one of your children, don’t you hope the person next to you has chosen to carry a gun and knows how to use it?”