Kathryn Steinle

Sarah McKinley

Have you noticed how some people use a phrase or a proverb to support their position on a specific subject, but then they totally ignore that same phrase when it applies to another subject with which they disagree? No one is 100 percent consistent. But past a certain point, inconsistency becomes so great that it destroys all credibility.

Take the phrase, “If it will save just one life.” Proponents of strict gun control – that is, gun confiscation – delight in repeating it as if it were a mantra. And even here, the phrase sounds nice but is counter-factual. It is undeniable that if no private citizens possessed guns, there would be no accidental deaths from guns. But it is equally undeniable that there would be more deaths of unarmed victims of violent criminals.
Sarah McKinley.
Eighteen-year-old Sarah McKinley was home with her three-month-old son on New Year’s Eve 2013. She lived in the rural community of Blanchard, Oklahoma, and police response times tended to be long. Her husband was not with her; he had died of cancer on Christmas Day.
She saw two men attempting to break in. She recognized one as a man who had been stalking her since her husband’s funeral. Apparently he was looking for drugs in the cancer victim’s home. She gave the baby his bottle, then retrieved a shotgun and a handgun and barricaded the door. She phoned 9-1-1 and asked what to do. She was told she could not shoot unless they came through the door. But the 9-1-1 dispatcher, who was a woman, added, “You do what you have to do to protect your baby.”
Sarah was on the phone with 9-1-1 for 21 minutes, and the police still had not arrived when the men broke down the door. The first man, the stalker, came at her with a 12-inch hunting knife. She fired the shotgun, killing the man. His companion fled, quite possibly breaking the Olympic 100-meter record. He later turned himself in to police.
Later Sarah explained:

I knew that I was going to have to choose him or my son, and it wasn’t going to be my son, so I did what I had to do. There’s nothing more dangerous than a mother with a child.

If we truly want to “save just one life,” we must remember Sarah McKinley and all those like her. We must read the work of Dr. John Lott, especially “More Guns, Less Crime,” which shows that violent crime decreases when more law-abiding citizens are armed, after background checks and suitable training. We must read the work of Dr. Gary Kleck, especially “Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America,” which shows that guns are used more often to defend against violent crime than to promote it.
Kathryn Steinle.
Unless you have been comatose – as was, apparently, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson – you know the name Kathryn Steinle.
San Francisco declared itself a “sanctuary city,” so that illegal immigrants would be reported to Immigration only if they commit violent felonies. The supremacy of federal law is a concept that seems to have eluded San Francisco officials. In fact, in the last 18 months, more than 10,000 illegal immigrants have been released from custody in California without immigration officials being notified. In fact, about 39% of the federal prison population is composed of illegal aliens, of whom over 25,000 were arrested for homicide.
How well this program works was recently illustrated with striking clarity. A namesake of the city, Francisco Sanchez, age 45, is an illegal immigrant who had been deported five times. If you are deported and return, you have committed a felony, so Sanchez was guilty of four felonies before he even got started.
Not satisfied, he then accumulated at least four arrests on drug charges in three states. Sanchez stated that he came to San Francisco because he knew it was a sanctuary city, and he would not be deported again. He was correct. He was arrested again (a fifth time) on drug charges, and Immigration put a hold on him, so he could be deported again when he was released from jail.
But San Francisco authorities followed their policy and refused to honor the hold, because Sanchez had not committed a violent felony. Sanchez was released, and obligingly committed a violent felony. He shot 32-year-old Kathryn Steinle, who died in her father’s arms at a tourist attraction on Pier 14. She had worked for a medical technology company. Of course, Sanchez will not receive the death penalty, because California no longer has one.
Her last words were, “Dad, help me, help me.” But her dad couldn’t help her. It was up to us to help her by keeping the streets as safe as possible. We didn’t. We used up all our sympathy on those who don’t deserve it, leaving none for those who do deserve it.
Summing up.
Gun-control proponents, as well as climate-change alarmists and other liberal activists, often resort to the mantra, “If it will save just one life.”
Even in the case of gun control, excessive regulations are more likely to cost lives than to save them. If you doubt this, just ask Sarah McKinley. How else did you expect the young mother to defend herself and her baby against two intruders armed with a large knife? What did you expect her to do when the police had not yet arrived after 21 minutes? If she didn’t have that shotgun, she would probably be dead, as would her baby – if he were lucky.
Here, gun-control activists with their “If it will save just one life” actually would have cost two lives.
But when it comes to illegal immigration, as well as to other policies liberals favor, the proponents never seem to remember their beloved mantra. If our border were more secure, and if our immigration laws were more conscientiously enforced, and – most of all – if San Francisco hadn’t declared itself a “sanctuary city” – then Kathryn Steinle would still be living her life, working at the medical technology company, interacting with her close-knit family, and charming others with her infectious smile.
Here, “If it will save just one life” should have been applied. Tougher enforcement of immigration laws would in all likelihood have saved the life of Kathryn Steinle.
“If it will save just one life” actually can save lives if it is applied where it should be, rather than costing lives if it is applied where it should not be.

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