Yet another killer who killed others. We have a shooter in Jacksonville, FL., who killed two and wounded others. Already the leftists and socialists are calling for more gun control and disarmament. Interesting, however, that it was a “gun free” zone where the 24-year-old killer shot his victims. In Chicago a week ago, there were 61 shootings over the weekend. This, in a city and a state where gun control is among the toughest in the nation. Over and over again, it is proven that gun control fails miserably at controlling guns.
The guns fall in the hands of criminals who would use them. They are not law-abiding, so how could any sane person expect them to obey gun control laws? This is a people problem, not a gun problem.
A friend read me a brief story the other day about gun control. I don’t know if the facts are right, but the point is well taken. It said that American citizens privately owned over 300 million firearms and more than a trillion rounds of ammunition. The tagline was that if law abiding gun owners were the problem, America would know about it. The vast majority of those who own guns are law abiding and would never want to use them to inflict harm on someone.
According to the real-time data of deaths in America since January 1, 2018 as reported by the Centers for Disease Control—abortion is the leading cause of death at 713,565; Heart Disease is next at 401,441, followed by cancer at 386,642. Murder by guns is 23rd at 7,510—essentially 1% that of abortions. Drunk driving kills three times as many people as do guns.
The gun control crowd’s appeasement is that they respect that the 2nd Amendment guarantees the right of citizens to own guns for hunting and sport shooting. But we know that’s not the left’s true position.
Of the dozens of quotes by Madison, Jefferson, Adams, Lee and more, perhaps Noah Webster said it best in his 1787 “An Examination into the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution”:
“Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom of Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any bands of regular troops that can be, on any pretense, raised in the United States.”
In 1788, Richard Henry Lee wrote, “To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms, and be taught alike especially when young, how to use them.”
The Founders wanted to guarantee that any standing army would be regulated by citizen armament organized into militia. This was the only way to protect and defend personal liberty.
Even Jesus believed in personal defense. He instructed his disciples to purchase the common weapon of his time—the sword:
“And he that has no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one (Luke 22:36).”
The leftist cries to undermine the right to protect and defend oneself and one’s family against the opponents of liberty—whether they be thieves or governments or both—are rooted in tyranny rather than empathy.