Belgian citizens, unarmed via stringent gun control, were helpless as a Jihadist stabbed two officers and then stole the officers’ guns and shot them dead.

ABC News reports that the attacker then fired at a passing car, killing that vehicle’s 22-year-old passenger.

The attacker, Benjamin Herman, allegedly approached the officers from behind and stabbed them repeatedly. He then took their guns and shot them. RTBF quoted a witness to the attack who said, “I was on a bus when we all had to get off, and were told not to proceed because it was dangerous. The police were tense and shouting at us to hide.”

The University of Sydney’s GunPolicy.org lists Belgium’s gun control as “restrictive.” This means Belgians have no guaranteed right to gun ownership. It also means that the process to legally purchase a gun in Belgium is arduous. One must acquire a license from the government before purchasing a gun and those pursuing such a license must convince the government they have a “genuine reason” for firearm possession. They must also pass a background check, including interviews with a third party reference, and must pass a firearm safety course. After all this Belgians are only allowed to acquire one firearm and face limitations on the amount of ammunition they can possess.

Moreover, Belgians’ firearms must be registered with the government.

GunPolicy.org lists the United States’ gun laws as “permissive.” Gun ownership is guaranteed by the constitution and every state in the Union has a process for permitting citizens to carry concealed for defense of themselves and others. This creates a scenario where law-abiding citizens can intervene on behalf of officers who are under assault.

For example, on January 12, 2017, an armed citizen stopped after seeing an Arizona State Trooper under assault on the side I-10. The citizen demanded the attacker stop, then shot and killed the attacker after he refused to comply. The Trooper had already been shot and Arizona Department of Public Safety Director Col. Frank Milstead said, “I don’t know that my trooper would be alive without [the armed citizen’s] assistance.”

On November 15, 2016, a concealed permit holder saw a Lee County Deputy in Florida being beaten on roadway. He approached the attacker and shot him, saving the deputy. Cell phone video captured the event:


In February of this year a concealed carry permit holder Derek Meyer drew his gun to save a police officer under attack in Springville, Utah. The permit holder did not have to fire his gun, as the attacker stopped the moment he saw the weapon was drawn.

Springville Corporal Cory Waters commented on Meyer’s intervention, saying, “Had he not been in the right place at the right time, who knows what would have happened. But he definitely stopped the attack from continuing and becoming much worse. He might have even saved either one of their lives. It could have gone really bad, even for the suspect.”

 

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.