Friday, May 03, 2013

The Second Amendment ... At What Price?

On most issues, I'm pretty liberal -- except when it comes to gun laws and stripping away our 2nd Amendment. I received the same email (link below) from the Obama campaign today, and was outraged. And YES, I am a member of the NRA. I recently joined the fight to help preserve our 2nd Amendment rights that are currently under attack.

Stricter gun control laws would have had NO EFFECT saving Greg Robinson or any other victim of violent crime. Gun control laws only make it tougher for LAW ABIDING CITIZENS to LEGALLY obtain guns. The CRIMINALS will still obtain/purchase their guns ILLEGALLY. That's right folks, exceptionally few criminals actually follow the LAW and purchase/obtain their firearms LEGALLY. I guess that's why they are called CRIMINALS, huh?

Passing gun control legislation to fight violent crime is like treating TB by suppressing the cough. It simply won't work -- you supressed the cough, but the disease rages on. You've only treated a symptom while ignoring the disease. Here's what I think we need to do ...

1) Enforce the gun laws already on the books.

2) INCREASE funding for not only mental health treatment, but expand Medicare coverage to ALL AMERICANS. End the "class warfare" when it comes to health care. Identify those who are mentally ill in our society and PAY TO TREAT the mental illness.

3) Come at the problem from another angle that's been largely ignored. If you want people to practice safe gun handling and storage, fund and provide easy access to firearm safety classes. Fear mongering among the population over fears of our gun rights being stripped away has had an opposite affect. It has PUSHED guns into the hands of people who otherwise might not own a gun. If you doubt me, go to any Bass Pro Shop and see how many firearms are there. Rather, look at all the blank spaces where firearms USED to be displayed, but are out of stock because of the panic buying.

I'd place money on the fact that many of these people who purchased guns out of the fear of losing their 2nd Amendment rights have NO IDEA HOW TO SAFELY HANDLE OR STORE a firearm. Unfortunately, and sadly, I can easily see this ending badly. When faced with the prospect of using those firearms, how many of those who bought their firearms in a panic will know how to safely handle those firearms? How many are going to end up shooting either themselves or a loved one, simply because they didn't know how to handle that firearm? How many family members or loved ones are going to be victims of accidental shootings because the purchaser of that firearm had no idea of how to safely store that firearm? How many of those who bought their firearms in a panic will actually take those firearms out to a range and practice with that firearm to become familiar and proficient with it?

Additional gun control legislation and gun control regulations aren't going to solve the problem of violent crime in the U.S. Treating the underlying mental illness, enforcement of current laws, and increased access to gun safety courses will, however, have a much larger impact. Punishing law abiding citizens by making it harder to exercise their rights will have little to no affect on violent crime. Giving up our right to own and bear arms, as they did in Nazi Germany, is NOT the answer.

Offensive email link:
http://m.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-campaign-uses-chicago-violence-push-gun-control_720602.html