Quote:
Originally Posted by Carl in Tampa
Every time there is a mass shooting, the same old sides divide up and expostulate about their proposed solutions for preventing future shootings.
Today, I hope to bring a degree of rational realization about the real world to the Gun Ban crowd.
But first, let us play a "what if" game. Pretend with me that I have a magic wand that will allow me to simply wave it and at Noon tomorrow every gun in America that is not possessed by a law enforcement officer or a member of the military will disappear forever.
That's at Noon. By Midnight there will be thousands of guns in criminal hands across America, and a thriving Black Market for the sale and purchase of these guns will be in place.
How can this happen, you ask. It's simple. Individual police officers will be assaulted, knifed, of killed, in order to take their sidearms, and their cars will be broken into to obtain their rifles or shotguns.
Also, National Guard Armories will be burglarized to obtain weapons of war, and rogue military custodians of similar articles will be selling them. (There is a Black Market for hand grenades.
Now, enough of fantasy. Assume that a law were to be passed banning personal possession of firearms, which is so unlikely that it might be considered fantasy. But, if such a law were to be passed, there are multi-millions of firearms that would not be turned in for destruction. They would enter the underground Black Market economy and there are not enough police officers in the United States to effectively monitor or enforce such a ban.
So, face it --- you cannot rid America of guns.
Aha, the anti-gunners respond. At least we can ban “assault weapons” and “high capacity magazines.” We can make the remaining guns be less effective killing machines.
Well, not really.
Did you ever hear of Sgt. Alvin York? While a Corporal in World War II, he was credited with killing at least 25 German soldiers in a confrontation where they were trying to kill him. He was armed with a bolt action rifle adopted by the Army in 1903 and capable of firing only five rounds before being reloaded.
And, in addition there is still that pesky Second Amendment. People are entitled to own firearms as a right of the individual. The Supreme Court says so.
SO, please put your brains in gear and start thinking of some creative ways to prevent shootings at schools, or to mitigate their effects when they do occur. No solution is going to be 100% effective, but we need to work together in developing new ideas for school security.
Gun bans is not the answer.
|
Extremely great post.
The problem is that most people want the simplest, cheapest solution, which is gun control. They gasp at the thought of putting more armed LEO's in school; they gasp at the thought of spending the money (aka taxes) to fund systems (locked doors w/ key card access and/or metal detectors, etc.) at schools; they gasp at the thought of putting armed school personnel in schools.
What parents really need to be doing is telling their kids they must say something if they see or think someone is doing something wrong.
Gun control, new gun laws and most definitely, gun bans is not the answer.