Dan Frisa
Friday, Feb. 2, 2001

This event, like so many that have taken place involving criminal use of firearms, is shocking by its very nature.

Will we hear the radical left screaming on the evening news, calling for banning bats and knives?

How about safety locks for bats? Knives?

Hardly.

After all, the left was absolutely silent following the brutal knife attack by O.J. Simpson as he murdered his former wife Nicole Brown and friend Ron Goldman.

No, the radical left-wing politicians will not be seen or heard from regarding today’s violent assault.

Thankfully, today there were no fatalities – though three female workers and three students sustained injuries – and authorities apprehended the attacker.

But the reason Sen. Chuckie Cheese Schumer and company won’t be whining tonight is that he and his ilk care not about this or any of the other acts of violence.

They instead care only about using incidents and abusing victims for pure, crass political advantage, and that means demonizing firearms and their owners.

When a shooting occurs that shocks society, the left sees an opportunity for political gain by bashing its enemies. Rather than focus on the sick, illegal and criminal act and what means can be employed to prevent and punish such dangerous behavior, they focus on the instrument of the crime – just as long as it happens to be a firearm.

There was another wacky news report today that when a child picked up a piece of fried chicken in the lunchroom and pointed it menacingly at a teacher, the student was suspended because it looked like a gun!

But when an actual crime involves a baseball bat and a knife, mum’s the word. Because even the left knows that no one would take them seriously if they proposed an Assault Bat and Knife Ban.

Similarly, when MTV recently broadcast its new show "Jackass," which featured a young man donning fireproof clothing, affixing steaks to himself and then lying down on a charcoal fire, Schumer was silent. And he remained silent on this bizarre subject even after news reports this week that several youngsters actually tried this sick stunt, with one 12-year-old boy sustaining second- and third-degree burns over much of his body.

Why not ban MTV?

Or at least the "Jackass" show?

We know why there will be no such calls. It’s called the Bill of Rights – in this case, the First Amendment.

Now, if a firearm had been involved, this same Bill of Rights, particularly the Second Amendment, would be trashed in a heartbeat.

All because the left-wing media have deemed it not just politically correct, but politically advantageous, to call for the disarming of law-abiding Americans as a means of controlling criminal behavior.

Unless and until we have leaders and statesmen who are willing to stand up to this lunacy and for the rule of law, we will continue down this dangerous path.

During the last presidential campaign, George W. Bush had the courage to remain steadfast in his belief in the importance of the Second Amendment, and never hesitated to point to two important ways to address violence: rigorous enforcement of the existing 20,000 gun laws on the books and finding our moral compass, which values life.

In the meantime, don’t look for Schumer et al. to seek a new phony ban to "protect" us.

For now, at least, baseball bats and knives will remain legal.

And they aren’t even covered by the Bill of Rights.

E-mail Dan: danfrisa@newsmax.com.

Dan Frisa represented New York in the United States Congress and served four terms in the New York State Assembly.

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