(In Greek mythology, the Sirens had such sweet voices that mariners who heard their songs were lured upon the rocks from which they sang.)


On May 24, 2000, it was closing time at Wendy's. As employees worked to finish their chores so they could go home, John Taylor and Greg Godineaux are alleged by police to have entered the restaurant on Main Street in Queens, New York. One of the men pulled a gun on the workers, tied and gagged them, then systematically executed the entire crew. Five employees died, while two survived.

In New York City, you see, only the cops and robbers have guns--employees of Wendy's aren't allowed. Decades of strictly enforced gun laws have bullied most law-abiding citizens into abandoning their best means of self-defense.

But, as the Wendy's shootings show, gun control laws don't prevent violence. In fact, statistics have shown that such laws often breed crime. The combined research of Dr. Gary Kleck, Dr. John Lott, Jr., and others make powerful arguments against restrictive firearms legislation.

Gun control, however, is an enticing mistress.

She promises security, safety, and insulation from those brutal thugs whose faces you see each night on the six o'clock news. She whispers that if you give her your gun, the cops will protect you. In her heart of hearts, she can't stand the thought that a single citizen might be armed.

Like the Siren that is, though, her lying lips don't tell you that the Wendy's victims might have been saved.

Almost exactly a month after the New York shooting, the McDonald's restaurant at 5301 East Freeway in Houston was getting ready to close. Three robbers burst in wearing masks and brandishing rifles. Threatening employees and customers, they didn't notice Willis Lee. The janitor pulled out a revolver and shot two of the thugs. Because he carried a gun, the maintenance man stopped an armed robbery and possibly a mass murder similar to the one at Wendy's.

In New York City, employees are sitting ducks.

But in Texas, concealed carry laws give citizens the opportunity to defend themselves.

One of the common songs the gun control Siren sings is that if you give robbers your money, you probably won't get hurt. That lie has lured many onto the rocks of gun control.

But what the Siren won't tell you is that robbery victims are often successful in fighting off their attackers.

On September 3, 1998, Joe Montgomery, an Indianapolis gun shop owner, refused the demands of two robbers who held a gun to his head and ordered him to lie on the floor. During a brutal struggle in which the robbers beat Montgomery, slashed him with a knife, and attempted to shoot him twice, the businessman was able to retrieve a gun he'd hidden. The gun shop owner then shot and killed both robbers.

In a recent interview, Montgomery related his reasons for choosing to fight back. "I had seen too many horrible video clips," he said, "of robbers who, after they push somebody to the floor, start shooting while [the victim is] lying face-down. I figured at this point I'm already dead, so why should I lay down and let them shoot me in the back of the head?"

The gun control Siren won't mention Joe Montgomery.

Nor will she tell you about other intended victims who saved their own lives and the lives of others.

She won't tell you about Joel Myrick, the assistant principal of Pearl High School who used his handgun to end a school shooting, probably saving the lives of dozens of schoolchildren.

She won't tell you about Jan Hartford, the Philadelphia baker who shot and killed an armed robber. Or the Tucson jogger who shot one of two armed robbers. Or the Charleston, South Carolina woman who shot a burglar after he tore the steel bars off her window in order to break into her house. She won't tell you about the Atlanta housewife who shot and killed a masked intruder in her apartment.

Each year, thousands of armed victims fight back and survive.

In Jacksonville, Florida, 77-year-old Claude Allen and his daughter, Shirla Menendez, were relaxing at home one Sunday evening. Suddenly a stranger kicked in the the door. Holding the two at gunpoint, he forced Menendez to tie up her father, a World War II veteran. Then the robber looted the house. As he was leaving, he placed his gun to Menendez's head and threatened to pull the trigger. Allen, desperately wrenching at his bonds, finally broke free, The veteran then retrieved his 9 mm semiautomatic pistol and shot the intruder dead.

In spite of the evidence, the Siren continues to lure innocents onto the rocks of gun control. Her song causes them to lose their reason, to surrender their senses, and to believe her lies.

Under her influence, they learn to live like sheep and die like cows.