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Liz Michael for United States Senate

Gun Control In Kenya

 The dangers of a disarmed society

by Jon E. Dougherty, staff writer for WorldNetDaily

(This article is an excerpt from the October 25, 1999 edition of WorldNetDaily. © 1999 WorldNetDaily.com )

I don't often write about the same subject twice in a week, but I received a pro-gun/pro-safety response from an interesting fellow last Thursday after I wrote a column about the absurdity of disarming all Americans. I thought readers would find it useful in making their case that the gun issue really does revolve around safety, not just rights. This is his message:

"Just read your article on Maryland's attorney general wanting to ban handguns for most. Your conclusions are correct. "We have lived for a number of years in Kenya. There ALL guns are banned, including toy guns that look like guns. The only exception is for small bore shotguns for bird hunting, which are owned by a select few. These guns must be stored in the local police station armory. They can be checked out only during hunting season. It takes an act of parliament to get shells.

"Yet in Kenya any criminal that wants one can get a gun.

"My wife and a friend were robbed at gunpoint near Mombassa. Their vehicle was taken also and they were left standing on the side of the road. As they were walking along they heard shots. The same crooks who had just robbed them, robbed and killed a tourist down the road. And this is in a nation where the police go around with automatic weapons.

"They (the police), by the way, shoot to kill all the time. I worked as a pilot and the airport had armed police everywhere and lots of 'security.' One day, in front of our hangar, a Kenyan made the mistake of touching the policeman's rifle. He died for that mistake, right there in the parking lot. One night in Nairobi, next to my house, a person was lurking in a nearby empty lot. The police came and blew him away with automatic rifle fire. Shoot first and no questions, now or later.

"Make no mistake, when only the police have guns, no one is safe. But even wanton killing by police does not deter crime. The only safety is when you're at home and behind locked bars. Bars everywhere, doors, windows, gates, everywhere. We had to have a security guard, armed with a machete, and a locked gate and wall around our house. Day and night. Terrible way to live.

"And there is still no safety. There are home invasions there too, where 20 or 30 thugs come with wrecking bars and break into houses. Happens all the time. The police for the most part had no cars for transportation. Call 999 (911) and if the phone happened to be working, the response would be on foot or by public bus.

"Another friend was robbed once, during the day. The police came and when they were standing in line for the bus to go back to the stationhouse they noticed someone standing there in line also, with the loot they recognized from the same robbery they came to investigate. The person started to run, so they blew him away too. Our friend felt real bad someone had to die over mere 'stuff.'

"I am a gun owner and don't like the NRA, but when they say, 'when guns are outlawed then only outlaws will have guns,' they are correct. Then, no one is safe."