Pro-gun rights advocate: You’ll never ban guns

Every mass shooting results in calls for a ban on guns, or at least tighter gun control, but the outcome has never been more than a moderate restriction on gun owners. Metro spoke with Mark Vanderberg, founder of Gun Radio Network.



I saw an interesting view that if the teachers at Sandy Hook were armed, maybe they could have prevented this tragedy?

It’s an idea from our Founding Fathers, and when the Constitution was drafted they got it right: We should be able to protect ourselves. When you create so-called gun-free zones where guns are not allowed to be, it’s only the law-abiding, honest citizens that do not carry guns. Criminals and crazy people in this case show up at these places because they know no one there is going to be able to stop them.



Do you really think that would stop Sandy Hook shooting?

Even in the case like this, which was a suicide, the killer still had an agenda prior to committing suicide. And, the agenda this crazy guy had in his mind is that he doesn’t want to be stopped prior to that. So, he’s not going to a place like a police station or a gun range or a gun store or some other place that people have guns.



A lot of people were staying this idea of school teachers carrying guns was shocking. But it’s not a new idea.

No, it’s not, and we do other things like fire drills and other kinds of safety drills to protect our children. There are some states that allow teachers to carry firearms in the classrooms. Principals carry firearms.



Aren’t you afraid that children might shoot these guns in the classroom?

I have carried a firearm more than 20 years now, and my kids are all in their 20s so that means I’ve had guns around my children all their lives. My kids have never touched a gun without authorization from an adult in the house. Responsible people do responsible things.



It seems the all the guns the shooter used were all legally purchased. Shouldn’t it be more difficult to buy them?

There’s nothing that could stop that tragedy. If he wanted to get a gun, there’s 350 million firearms in the United States. The anti-gun side wants to say all the time that if we’d just eliminate the guns — that’s never going to happen. There’s too many guns out there. Were not like other countries. We’re totally unique. We have an entrenched gun culture here, and that’s not going to change.