"GUN CONTROL ISN'T ABOUT GUNS, IT'S ABOUT CONTROL"
My reasons for being against gun control are based on the statements
of our Founding Fathers and what has happened historically once a
government has been able to disarm the citizenry.
Start disarming the citizenry the least bit and you have let the
camel get his nose under the tent. Soon you will have a tent full of
camel. Adolf Hitler said,"The first thing you have to do is disarm the
people. A disarmed public can't fight back"
Mahatma Gandhi was no fan of gun control. "Among the many misdeeds of
the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving
a whole nation of arms as the blackest."
History has proven that every nation which has disarmed its citizenry
has ended up with a dictator and a police state with countless and
horrible atrocities. It is so true that we either learn from history
or history will repeat itself.
What good does making laws banning guns do to prevent crime anyway?
Criminals don't obey laws. Only law abiding citizens do. All you end
up doing is disarming people who wouldn't use guns to commit crimes
anyway. The bad guys already have tons of weapons and they aren't
going to hand them in no matter what the law says.
Bad guys don't give a rat's rear end about gun control laws for
themselves. Actually, they are just hoping more laws like that will
pass so they don't have to worry as much about getting shot while they
ply their criminal trade.
Guns in the hands of criminals facilitate crime, but in the hands of
innocent victims, prevent it. A couple of cases in point are used by
Stephen Chapman in a column in the Thursday, January 26, 1995, Chicago
Tribune titled, "Make My Day." Chapman says, "Whoever killed Nicole
Brown Simpson didn't need a gun: He was (or they were) strong enough
to dispatch two healthy adults with only a knife. But if she had been
carrying one, she might be alive today. Texas has an example that is
less hypothetical: a woman who left her pistol in the car when she
went into Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen, and then had to watch as an
armed man killed 22 patrons, including her parents."
If just one person standing around waiting for the Long Island Rail
Road Commuter Train that December day when Colin Ferguson shot all of
those people would have had a concealed weapon, Ferguson might have
shot two or three. He would not have been able to unload a full clip
into people, reload, and do it all again, while the unarmed New
Yorkers just cowered and hoped he'd run out of bullets.
Thomas Jefferson had strong feelings on the subject. "Laws that
forbid the carrying of arms...disarm only those who are neither
inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Such laws make things worse
for the assaulted and better for the assailants, they serve rather to
encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be
attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."
Some statistics are in order here:
"Since Florida has enacted their concealed carry law, the Florida
murder rate has dropped by 29%. Nationwide, the murder rate rose 11%
over the same period..."--1994 FBI crime data from ABC News 3/12/95.
"Justice Department studies show that armed citizens are much less
likely to suffer losses or personal injury from thieves"--Washington
Post 1/7/92
Guns in the hands of law abiding citizens clearly prevent crime.
In Florida, where they have the most lenient conceal-and-carry law in
existence, native criminals don't very often pick on motorists with
Florida license plates. They know that any car they come upon with
Florida plates might be driven by a fellow Floridian with a legally
concealed weapon.
Criminals in Florida choose to pick on motorists driving rental cars
away from airports. The reason is that they know the driver isn't
carrying a concealed weapon. Guns can't be carried on airplanes and so
out-of-towners leaving airports in rental cars are easy targets. (If
you're planning on a trip to Florida, you might want to drive.)
The Clintons, Kennedys, and Bradys of this world really believe that
gun control laws are the answer to crime, but nothing could be further
from the truth. Rep. Bill Brewster, D-Oklahoma, quoted in the January
31, 1995, "USA Today" article, "Gun Laws are No Answer" states the
Washington DC statistic that since guns were banned there in 1976 the
murder rate has risen 200%. And according to a CBS poll, 64% of
Americans rightfully understand and don't believe gun control laws
reduce crime anyway.
In the same article Brewster points out that, "More than 2 million
times a year, citizens use lawfully owned firearms, including
semiautomatic firearms, to defend themselves and their families from
criminal attack, according to Florida State criminologist Gary Kleck."
George Washington certainly felt that guns prevented crime in his day.
"The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains
evil interference--they deserve a place of honor with all that's good"
Thomas Jefferson explained the greatest need for an armed citizenry
was to insure freedom. "The strongest reason for the people to retain
the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect
themselves against tyranny in government."
Jefferson was actually quite prolific when it came to his feeling that
common citizens needed to be armed. "When the government fears the
People, that is Liberty. When the People fear the Government, that is
tyranny." And,"The beauty of the second amendment is that it will not
be needed until they try to take it." And, "The price of liberty is
eternal vigilance...No free man shall ever be debarred the use of
arms."
Jefferson certainly wasn't alone in believing such things either.
Here's none other than George Washington again."Firearms are second
only to the Constitution in importance; they are the people's
liberty's teeth." John Adams also said, "Arms in the hands of citizens
may be used at individual discretion...in private self-defense." To
argue for gun control is to argue with our founding fathers on the
issue.
Steve Chapman in the afore-mentioned "Chicago Tribune" article
addresses liberal's fears,..."that America will come to resemble the
Wild West, the Independence Institute says we should be so lucky:
Homicide was almost unknown in Dodge City and other gun heavy places."
Another reason that guns are a necessary deterrent to crime is that
help from calling 911 when facing a criminal doesn't arrive fast
enough to prevent many thefts, rapes, and murders. Countless times the
police are not able to get to you quickly enough to protect you. I
have seen a welcome mat with a picture of a gun on it and it says,
"Criminals Beware: I don't call 911." I like that. (If anybody knows
where I can buy one, let me know.)
As I see it, "We have four boxes used to guarantee our liberty: The
soap box, the ballot box, the jury box and the cartridge box."(I wish
I knew who said that originally so I could give them credit for it
here.) The cartridge box is absolutely no less important than the
other three.
Perhaps a quote from the good old Bible would be in order here."When a
strong man *armed* keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace." (Luke
11:21-22 KJV)
************************************************************
Mark E. Howerter author of "The Other Side" conservative
opinion on the net:http://www.cris.com/~dhathaw/otherside/
Originating from the rural cornfields of Monmouth, Illinois
************************************************************
"The Constitution may not be perfect, but it's a lot better
than what the government's using these days." anon
-- (
geocities.com/capitolhill/lobby) (
geocities.com/capitolhill)