Gun free zones don't work -
especially in turbulent areas. We should take note of this and make sure that we tell our legislators that we want our students to be able to protect themselves.
NAIROBI — Gunmen stormed a university in northern Kenya on Thursday, taking nearly 600 students and staff members hostage. At least 21 people were killed and 65 others seriously wounded, officials said.
Heavy gunfire was reported at the Garissa University campus as the Kenyan military tried to end the siege. The Somali-based al-Shabab terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack.
Kenya Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery said 533 students are being held hostage and 282 have been rescued. The total number of students at the school is 815. Sixty staff members, including the principal, are also being held.
These are the same guys that killed 67 at another gun free zone (a mall) a couple of years ago.
Al-Shabab has carried out several attacks in Garissa and across Kenya in the past few years, including the 2013 attack at the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi that left 67 people dead, and others on mosques in Mombasa, a coastal city in the east.
Nairobi-based security analyst Abdiwahab Sheikh said the incident highlights how the government has failed to shore up security in the country.
"The government has not learned anything from the Westgate attack," he said. "How do you allow terrorists to take students hostage for more 10 hours? I think our security forces need to learn from the past."
Recall that carrying at all is prohibited in Kenya, so the entire country is a gun free zone. It's no wonder that terrorists can act with impunity there.
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