"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 naive 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.
Copyright Susan Stamper Brown. Stamper Brown is an opinion page columnist, motivational speaker and military advocate who writes about politics, the military, the economy and culture. E-mail Susan at writestamper@gmail.com or her website at susanstamperbrown.com.
Dale Whiting posted at 3:26 am on Tue, Jul 31, 2012.
Susan,
Do you have any children? If so, do you also have a cookie jar? When I told my children that they could not have any cookies until after their chores were done, sometimes, particularly when the smell of fresh baked cookies tempted them to cheat, they took cookies anyway. I had hoped that those smells would encourage them to do the chores. But it did not always work out that way.
Boys like toys. And for many boys [and some girls, too], guns are toys. When the toys are easy to obtain, the boys are happy. That's why the second amendment still stands. But some boys, criminals, like toys for other reasons. And the cookie jar is just too easy to open.
Now Susan, rethink your piece, again and again. It's login is seriously flawed.
Mike McClellan posted at 6:16 am on Tue, Jul 31, 2012.
Ms. Brown writes, "Therefore, gun control laws do not work. They are based on the erroneous assumption that criminals will obey the law."
Two problems with that:
A. All laws, then, if we take Brown's premise to be true, are based on the "erroneous assumption" -- thus, why have any laws?
B. Access to assault-type weapons can never be eliminated, but making it more difficult to obtain those by outlawing their sales will make it more difficult for those to be used by the folks she describes as "maniacal." As we know, currently those weapons and magazines can be easily obtained off the internet.
chuckles3 posted at 8:46 am on Tue, Jul 31, 2012.
Mike, your laws arguments are flawed.
Burglars need tools to break into houses. The tools are legal and easy to obtain.
Breaking and entering is against the law. So is shooting someone(at least not in self-defense)
By your argument, screwdrivers and prybars should outlawed or restricted and hard to get.
Arizona Willie posted at 9:34 am on Tue, Jul 31, 2012.
I'm far from being anti-gun ... but this last tragedy is an example of a case where having people " packing heat " would not have been a good thing.
It's possible that someone in the theater WAS packing but had the good sense not to open fire.
But, the theater was dark, the movie was still blaring, the bad guy had set off smoke bombs, people were running every which way trying to get away. The gunman was dressed all in black and wearing a complete suit of body armor plus a gas mask.
And individual with a handgun had virtually no chance of stopping him.
And what would an individuals liability be if he shot one of the innocent people?
If ballistics revealed his gun shot someone innocent, not the bad guy?
How would that individual deal with that for the rest of his life?
There are times when a hand gun is great. Someone breaks into your home or maybe you're an attorney or judge and criminals have threatened you. Or you take deposits of cash to the bank every night. Or you run a convenience store.
Indeed a hand gun can be the right thing in those and many other situations.
But some situations it is not a good idea to just open fire.
That theater in Colorado was one of them.
And, as has been pointed out many times, criminals are criminals because they ignore laws.
So a law against guns just leaves law-abiding people vulnerable.
Cerulean posted at 10:44 am on Tue, Jul 31, 2012.
chuckles, No.
Mike’s arguments are not flawed.
Do your remember the recent restrictions on spray paint and allergy products.
These examples restrict access to help curb crime
chatmandu002 posted at 11:52 am on Tue, Jul 31, 2012.
As a nation of 300+ million free people we must suffer the rampages of a small number of determined and willful miscreants. How much freedom are we willing give up in hopes that the government will stop these people of evil? How long might it take for the government itself to become the evil entity?
Cerulean,
Spray paint and allergy products are not listed as a right in the constitution, guns are. Although personally, I do believe that the government may have some right to restrict certain weapons and/or ammunition. That is where the conundrum arises, do I chose freedom with no guarantee of safety or do I give up rights to the government with no guarantee of safety. I'm more inclined to pick freedoms.
Mike McClellan posted at 2:49 pm on Tue, Jul 31, 2012.
chuckles, of course, you are correct -- those tools are indeed legal and easy to obtain, just like assault weapons and huge magazines. But should there be reasonable restrictions on assault weapons? While a tool can be used to commit a crime and even kills someone, the comparison to an assault weapon is slight at best.
Unlike what caht says above about restrictions, preeminent conservative justice Antonin Scalia believes that the Second Amendment is not absolute, and in a recent Fox News interview even cited "originalist" examples of restrictions on weapons.
onerebel posted at 7:42 pm on Tue, Jul 31, 2012.
60 minutes did a story years ago interviewing prisoners about what they feared most when robbing someone or breaking into a home. Mike Wallace asked if it was the police, longer prison time, a guard dog. The Prisoners all agreed what they feared most was an armed victim ! "No law ever written has stopped any robber, rapist or killer, like cold blue steel in the hands of their last intended victim."
-- W. Emerson Wright
Dale Whiting posted at 7:43 pm on Tue, Jul 31, 2012.
Mike,
So even Scalia is looking at ways to tighten the lid on the Second Amendment Cookie Jar!
VofReason posted at 12:56 pm on Wed, Aug 1, 2012.
Yup just ask Chicago how well that is working. I don't think assualt rifles are the problem there. Or are we just talking theoretically here?
Leon Ceniceros posted at 4:08 pm on Wed, Aug 1, 2012.
WHEN MIKE, ARIZONA "willie", CERULEAN (FOOTPRINT OF THE AMERICAN CHICKEN AVATAR) AND DALE SHOW UP....YOU KNOW THAT THE COLUMNIST MUST HAVE PUBLISHED A LOGICAL, SENSIBLE, TRUTHFUL COLUMN......SADLY, LIKE THE "GOOD BOOK" SAYS....IT'S JUST............"CASTING PEARLS BEFORE SWINE".
mrconservative posted at 11:16 pm on Wed, Aug 1, 2012.
Dale, in your first comment, you said "login". Am I right to assume that you meant "logic"?
sharpshooter posted at 9:25 am on Thu, Aug 2, 2012.
@Dale Whiting: Using your logic, cars should be outlawed. Cars are "boys toys" as well.But, just like guns, cars don't kill.
davidflucier posted at 8:19 am on Sun, Aug 5, 2012.
This woman's whole line of reasoning is flawed from the start, but this is nothing new for Ms. Brown.
For starters, let's get rid of all the stop lights and stop signs in intersections because we all know that someone is going to run the stop sign or the red light.
And we regulate cars for safety reasons...should we get rid of drivers licenses because we all know that someone is going to use a fake license at some point.
Ms. Brown hasn't written anything lately that would pass a high school freshman's writing course in logic or reason.
This paper ought to consider getting rid of these sophomoric bloggers and raise the bar...at least just a little bit so it's not so insulting to most people's intelligence.
wangly posted at 10:00 pm on Fri, Nov 9, 2012.
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