This weekend 100,000 women are expected to visit
Washington to push for new gun-control laws, as
part of the "Million Mom March."
I understand their desire to make the world safer
for their children. But, unfortunately, their
proposals would make their children -- and
themselves -- less safe.
There already are 20,000 federal gun laws and
regulations on the books. If those laws haven't
made America safe by now, why should we think
20,001 laws will suffice?
We shouldn't. Instead, we need to recognize that
those 20,000 laws are a principal cause of the
current violence in society. They have made our
children and all innocent adults much less safe --
by disarming innocent citizens and encouraging
armed criminals to take advantage of us.
So it's time to face reality and repeal these
laws -- all of them.
By definition, law-breakers don't obey laws.
Hardened criminals do whatever is necessary to
evade identification and arrest. So they don't buy
guns that can be traced; they buy them in the
underworld or simply steal them.
Thus the gun-control laws don't apply to criminals
or stop gun violence. They simply make it much
harder for innocent people to defend themselves --
encouraging criminals to take advantage of us.
In other words, gun-control laws make the world
safer for criminals and less safe for you.
Stripping Away your Safety
Let's take a brief look at how the various kinds
of gun-control laws make you more vulnerable.
Waiting periods: A waiting period means that a
woman being stalked will have to remain
defenseless for a few extra days. Will her stalker
refrain from assaulting her until the waiting
period is over?
Safety locks: Although safety locks might prevent
a child from accidentally firing a gun, they also
can slow you down when you need a gun in a hurry
to defend yourself. Imagine a woman attacked by a
rapist in a parking lot. Will she be grateful for
the time it takes to unlock her gun? And, of
course, if her adversary is carrying a gun, it
won't have a safety lock.
Registration of handguns: What would this achieve?
Nothing positive. Evil-doers won't register their
guns; only law-abiding citizens will. And once
your gun is registered, you'll have to be afraid
that some future President whose heart isn't pure
will use that registration to confiscate your only
means of defense against armed criminals.
Licensing of guns or gun-owners: Since criminals
won't acquire them, gun licenses won't help find
the perpetrator of a violent crime. They are
simply a gratuitous invasion of your privacy and
that of other innocent citizens.
Background checks for purchasers: No one wanted by
law-enforcement agencies is going to buy a gun in
a way that requires a background check. He'll get
his gun from another criminal or steal it. So the
only achievement of a background check is your
inconvenience.
But don't background checks catch people with
criminal records?
If someone is wanted by the police, he certainly
isn't going to undergo a background check. On the
other hand, if the gun-buyer is an ex-convict who
has paid his debt to society, he should have the
right to defend himself from predators -- just as
you or I do. Or should his criminal record also
prohibit him from buying food or clothing?
Require guns to be locked up: If the law requires
guns to be kept out of reach of children, how will
the law be enforced? Will the police invade your
house periodically to verify that your guns are in
safe places? If not, what's the point of the law?
If yes, this is another gratuitous invasion of
your privacy.
Ban some types of guns: At first glance it might
seem reasonable to ban such things as assault
weapons or mortars. After all, _you_ don't need
such a weapon.
But some people do.
During most riots, the police have been
outnumbered and have intentionally stayed clear of
gangs that were looting and vandalizing. Suppose
your life savings are invested in a store the
gangs are about to loot. And suppose you have
little or no insurance because your store is in a
poor and dangerous section of town. How will you
defend the store against the looters? With a
knife? With a handgun against a dozen attackers?
Or with an assault weapon?
If you prevent innocent citizens from acquiring
assault weapons, criminal gangs will still have
them -- even if they have to smuggle them into
America from thousands of miles away. So why pass
laws that disarm only the innocent?
You might be able to imagine the perfect law that
allows just the right people to own just the right
types of guns, while prohibiting other people from
owning inappropriate firearms. But remember,
you're only imagining such a law; it will never be
a reality. Once the issue is turned over to the
politicians, it will be decided by whoever has the
most political influence -- and that will never be
you or I.
A Sane Crime Policy
The only effective crime policy is to have no laws
regulating the ownership of guns, but to prosecute
anyone who intrudes on the person or property of
another -- with or without a gun.
You really have only two choices. Either:
* Politicians will decide what you can own -- and
they will never stop their prohibitions at the
point you believe best.
* Or people will decide for themselves what they
can own.
Any apparent middle ground between the two
actually grants the politicians the power to
choose for you.
And all such choices will be made by whoever has
the most political influence. So attempts to limit
gun ownership will do more to promote the
political interests of well-connected people than
to reduce crime.
A Safe Society
Disarmed citizens encourage crime and violence.
Armed citizens encourage criminals to find a safer
line of work.
The National Rifle Association and Republican
politicians have recently urged that today's
20,000 gun-control laws be enforced -- no matter
how bad those laws.
Libertarians easily see the folly in this.
Libertarians know that those laws are, at best,
useless -- and, at worst, highly dangerous.
Libertarians want all the counter-productive gun
laws to be repealed immediately.
This year there will be 2,000 Libertarians running
for federal, state, and local offices -- all the
way from President of the United States to
municipal offices. All of them support your right
to defend yourself -- without qualification.
They provide the one avenue by which you can
register your unqualified disapproval for today's
gun-control climate.
For safety sake, we must repeal all the gun laws.
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