Weapons seizure by Kim Siever, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0/Original

As I reported earlier today, one, possibly two assailants opened fire at the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival, killing 3 people, one a six year old boy. 15 others were injured, no word as I write this as to how seriously. (From ABC News.)

Local police who always have a heavy presence at this event, responded in about a minute, killing one suspect. At this time, local authorities are engaged in a manhunt for a second suspect.

Here’s the part that enrages me. California legislators have enacted some of the most draconian gun laws in the United States, almost all of which are Constitutionally suspect. Yet mass shootings still occur there. Why? I’ve explained in detail previously here.

For the purposes of this article, I’ll give you the short version. It’s all about time. The old saw that “when seconds count, the police can be there in minutes,” also applies here. In the Gilroy incident, the stalwart law enforcement officers, heeding their calling, ran to the sound of the gunfire, exceeded the standard, arriving and engaging the shooter in about a minute. Nevertheless, he still had time to shoot 18 innocent people, taking time to reload while he did so.

Once the shooting starts, there is only one important factor: time — How soon can a good guy with a gun get there? It’s just that simple. By passing their draconian, ineffective and unconstitutional gun laws, California legislators precluded the very possibility that a law abiding citizen might stop the carnage sooner.

The shooter is of course absolutely responsible for all the deaths and injustices. But the State of California owns a piece of that too. No law can prevent that first shot. We need to eliminate laws that keep us from stopping the second.

Mike Ford, a retired Infantry Officer, writes on Military, Foreign Affairs and occasionally dabbles in Political and Economic matters.

Follow him on Twitter: @MikeFor10394583

You can find his other Red State work here.