Political Placebo

       

The health and welfare of kids is important to us all.  The shooting at a Newtown, Connecticut elementary school by a mentally sick individual makes everyone emotional.  I hear comments like, “We have to do something.  We have to try.”  I agree.  Let’s do something, but let’s do something that can actually make a difference and not just a political placebo.

I hear comments that we have to make assault rifles like the Bushmaster AR-15 and large capacity clips illegal.  This type of legislation has zero chance of doing any good.  Current demand and sales of these items have skyrocketed.  People are now buying guns that never would have considered owning a gun before.  A law banning them will just drive them underground creating a new market for criminals just like drugs, and booze during prohibition. 

This type of legislation will make many law-abiding citizens criminals just as prohibition did.  My maternal grandfather never drank to excess until prohibition.  He said, “Nobody can tell me that I can’t have a drink.”  He drank until he was committed to the state mental hospital for “Alcoholic Psychosis”.

Many semi-automatic guns can be easily modified to be fully automatic, and banning large capacity clips is a joke as these clips are not high tech and will be made in many home works shops.  Additional legislation banning certain types of guns has zero chance of success unless the real objective has nothing to do with public safety, and is actually about increasing the size and control of the federal government. 

I think almost everyone except the criminal element in our society wants to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally disturbed.  This can make a difference, so let’s concentrate on that and forget about specific weapons. 

We should start by examining and enforcing existing gun regulations.  I don’t think many honest citizens buying a gun of any kind will object to a background check to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill.  Some holes in this check like gun shows need to be closed, but this requires very little legislation. 

What is required is a pro-active police department, and an involved public, that does not worry about being politically correct.  We can’t have situations like the Fort Hood shooting where most people in contact with Major Hasan knew he was an Islamic extremist and a potential danger, but were afraid of speaking out and being perceived as politically incorrect.  The public must assume personal responsibility and get involved.  

There are some things we know don’t work.  Gun free zones don’t work.  We know most mass shootings occur in gun-free zones, and the perpetrators only stop when guns arrive on the scene.  Does this mean we should eliminate all gun-free zones?

Chicago has some of the strongest gun laws in the country, and the highest gun deaths in the country.  Makes sense, when only the criminal element have guns.  Criminals don’t care about the law.  Some kids in gangs have a Glock before I got my first Red Ryder BB gun. 

Australia tried to eliminate guns in the private sector with horrible consequences.  Violent crime is up significantly.  These are facts, but how we interpret these facts is something else. 

Some people say let’s ban assault rifles and high capacity clips anyway.  What can it hurt?  It can hurt a lot.  It may be an infringement on the Second Amendment.  It increases the size and control of the federal government.  It provides a new market for criminals, and criminals will now have an armament advantage.  As novelist Robert B Parker said, law enforcement has Glocks, and the drug gangs have low air support.

The biggest problem with talk of banning specific guns is that it is a political placebo that has zero chance of reducing violence and takes attention away from things that can actually make a difference in gun violence.  It also is a political football that takes attention away from other serious problems like government debt and spending.  This debt will seriously affect and hurt all our children and grandchildren.  I thought we were concerned about the future of kids, or is that all just BS political and media hype?