BELLEVUE, WA – With at least eight people dead and more injured in a truck attack in New York City, the Second Amendment Foundation today condemned the hypocrisy of anti-gunners for remaining silent because the suspect did not use a firearm to create mayhem.
“When are the gun control zealots going to admit that the problem we’re facing isn’t guns, it’s violence,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “While most Americans are alarmed and saddened by Tuesday’s horrible events, the gun control crowd, including Mayor Bill de Blasio, hasn’t immediately started screaming about ‘truck violence’ or ‘truck control.’
“Only when a firearm is used do these extremists focus on the weapon,” he continued. “Nobody’s talking about banning trucks. There hasn’t been a rush to the microphones to demand background checks for people who drive pickups. But if a gun had been this madman’s weapon of choice, you would already be hearing shouts for more restrictions on the Second Amendment.”
Police shot the suspect and he is now in custody. He left a trail of broken bodies in his path before law enforcement managed to take him down…with a gun, Gottlieb noted.
“Our hearts and prayers are with the victims and their families,” Gottlieb said. “And our hope is that in the midst of this madness, people can come together and understand that you cannot blame the tool. It’s the black heart of the individual who commits such a heinous act.
“Tens of millions of law-abiding Americans use firearms responsibly every day,” he observed, “and they also drive along our highways, city streets and county roads without harming a soul. Their driving privileges are never threatened when some lunatic runs over a crowd of people, but let one criminal commit a crime with a gun, and suddenly all of us are slandered.
“The problem isn’t gun violence or truck violence,” he said. “The problem is violence, and we’ve got to deal with this problem together.”