Eliminating guns is not the answer
The tragic massacre at the Colorado theater rocked the country. Helpless patrons were held in the grip of panic and confusion as the senseless slaughter played out.
Following the articles published the next morning, I saw the inevitable cry for gun control screaming from the pages of nationally syndicated papers like The San Francisco Chronicle. Of course! That’s the answer, make it illegal for private citizens to buy and posses firearms and prohibit the sale of ammunition. That’ll do it, end of story … wrong.
There is a reason our Founding Fathers wrote the Second Amendment, right after the First Amendment for free speech. They saw vulnerability in a populace that was disarmed by their government. George Washington wrote:
“A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government.” This was written shortly after the colonies were liberated and might seem radical for our modern society to some anti-gun thinkers.
Ronald Reagan said, “You won’t get gun control by disarming law-abiding citizens. There’s only one way to get real gun control: Disarm the thugs and the criminals, lock them up and if you don’t actually throw away the key, at least lose it for a long time. … It’s a nasty truth, but those who seek to inflict harm are not fazed by gun controllers. I happen to know this from personal experience.”
To disarm or attempt to register 300 million people’s guns is impossible and ludicrous. Weapons will still be in the hands of crazies like the Colorado shooter while law-abiding citizens will be the ones at risk from freedom robbing gun control.
“This year will go down in history. For the first time, a civilized nation has full gun registration. Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient, and the world will follow our lead into the future!” ~Adolph Hitler, 1935, on The Weapons Act of Nazi Germany
R. BRUCE JOHNSON
Sandpoint