Tuesday, July 31, 2012
“A well regulated militia being necessary to the security
of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be
infringed.” – The Second Amendment
Whether it is college campuses, Amish communities, or
other gun-free zones, bloodthirsty maniacal men will find a way to quench their
cravings. Therefore, gun control laws do not work -- because they are based on
the erroneous assumption that criminals will obey the law. They don’t and won’t;
hence leaving law-abiding citizens defenseless in the face of danger, as so
happened that tragic July evening at the Aurora, Colorado movie theater where
guns were not permitted, and a man who called himself “The Joker” went on a
shooting rampage.
In addition to the need for self-defense, our Founders
understood the bearing of arms was essential to protecting this country from
tyrannical governments. Fresh on their minds was the revolutionary clash
between the tax-happy British government and a population of armed and ragtag
citizens with the dream of freedom burning in their souls.
Much to the dismay of gun law activists who claim the
Second Amendment pertains solely to “militia” (military) service, and who
predictably crawl out from underneath their rocks after every mass shooting,
the 2008 Supreme Court Case, District of Columbia v. Heller, ruled the Second
Amendment indeed secures an individual’s right to possess firearms, regardless
of military service. Nonetheless, these activists continue their march ever
forward, in an endeavor to infringe upon that which “shall not be infringed.”
It is really about perspective. Every life is precious.
Each of the 12 lives snuffed out in that Colorado movie theatre is 12 lives too
many representing untold numbers of family members whose lives are forever
changed. No amount of gun control will bring them back nor will it stop the
next psychopath from taking his rage out on society. Zip. Zero. Zilch. If every
last gun was shipped across our borders fast and furiously, murderers would
still find a way to kill.
This conversation is not about gun control; it’s about
people control. Gotham City, er, Chicago, has one of the strictest gun laws in
the country--so severe, the laws were deemed as unconstitutional awhile back.
But that didn’t stop former Mayor Richard Daley and current Mayor Rahm Emanuel
from attempting everything in their power to maneuver through the gray areas
and around the red tape, God bless them. According to the Chicago Sun-Times,
over Memorial Day weekend 12 people were killed by gunfire and 45 were shot and
wounded. In the time it takes to play a major league soccer match (90 minutes),
13 people were shot. By mid-June, murder was up 35 percent from last year with
228 people killed. Statistically speaking, our troops are safer in Kabul,
Afghanistan than in Chicago. Where was that story in the national news?
Less might be more when it comes to gun regulation.
According to the Washington Times, violent crime peaked 25 years ago when just
“a handful of states” had conceal-carry laws. To no coincidence, gun sales have
increased over the past four years, and currently 41 states have differing
versions of gun-carrying laws, yet violent crime has decreased according to the
FBI in June. According to Pajamas Media, “States with the highest gun ownership
have the lowest firearms homicide rates” and “States with the lowest firearms
ownership average the highest firearm and non-firearm homicide rates.”
Gun control activists have it all wrong because they make
incredibly naïve assumptions about human nature. Given the chance others were
packing heat in theater number 9 at the Century 16 in Aurora, Colorado; the
story may have ended much differently for the cold-blooded killer.
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