Peenie Wallie

“Several city supervisors want to ban handguns in San Francisco on the mere presumption that such a law would prevent crimes, accidents and suicides,” said SAF Founder Alan M. Gottlieb. “Well, it is an absolute certainty that closing the bridge would prevent suicides, and perhaps many accidents, as well. And just for the sake of argument, one seriously might question whether any of the more than 1,300 fatal falls from the bridge since 1937 were cleverly-concealed homicides.”

As gun rights groups and activists, including many gay gun owners, began putting momentum to their efforts to defeat a gun ban initiative, Gottlieb turned his attention to the bridge and its horrendous body count. USAToday reported that suicides have tarnished the bridge’s reputation. The newspaper recounted how the San Francisco news media created a macabre circus atmosphere in the 1970s and again the 1990s as the body count approached 500 and then 1,000 victims, respectively.

“Social do-gooders have gone on the warpath repeatedly against firearms for the most tenuous of reasons,” Gottlieb stated. “The Golden Gate Bridge is a proven killer, and media fascination with jumpers is sickening. It has inspired hundreds of people to end their lives. Anyone can simply walk out there and jump, or be pushed. There are no barriers, no waiting in line, and there is nobody assigned to the bridge who can check the mental and emotional history of bridge visitors. It’s far easier to walk out on the bridge and jump to your death than it is to purchase a firearm in California. At least when a person buys a gun, he or she must complete a background check and endure a waiting period. But nobody screens possible Golden Gate jumpers. Unlike a gun, you can’t even use the bridge to defend yourself against a criminal.

“The only way to prevent future tragedies,” Gottlieb said, “is to close the bridge. We need to stop the growing body count. It’s up to the Board of Supervisors to act, and they should do it immediately. If it saves just one life, closing the Golden Gate Bridge is the right thing to do.”

If it saves just one life, isn't it worth it? Isn't it the right thing to do? Support sensible bridge-control laws...for the children.