(Springfield, VA) — GOA today blasted the ignorant and elitist views presented by Louis Palumbo of the Elite Groupe, Ltd. Palumbo appeared on Fox Cable News today with Eric Shawn.

“Palumbo just doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” said GOA Executive Director Larry Pratt. “He thinks that only the police can defend people against criminals, but the facts just don’t support his case.”

Palumbo said that because citizens are “not trained or experienced,” the best that they can do is to be the “eyes and ears” for the police until the Beltway sniper is caught.

“What arrogance,” Pratt said. “The fact is, armed citizens kill almost three times as many criminals as do the police every year. And according to the Clinton Justice Department in 1997, armed citizens defend themselves more than 4,000 times a day. In most of these self-defense cases, the gun is only brandished and a shot is never fired.

“Even though sniper-style shooting sprees are quite rare, armed citizens have long been one of societies best defenses,” Pratt said.

The most deadly sniper attack in recent history occurred at the University of Texas in 1966. The killing spree on that campus came to an abrupt end when armed citizens began shooting back at the sniper, Charles Whitman, who had perched himself in a clock tower. Because he was pinned down, Whitman never noticed the two officers and armed citizen who climbed the clock tower to kill him.

Pratt applauded the fact, which was reported by Fox Cable News, indicating that applications for carrying firearms were up 500% in the counties affected by the recent sniper shootings.

— GOA —