Emotionalism vs "common sense" gun laws

Here's the fact – bad people are going to have guns. And if you've ever smoked a joint, you are disqualified from arguing that prohibition works. -- Kurt Schlichter

Legislation that relies on emotion to get enacted is always bad legislation (eg PATRIOT Act). It is never "reasonable nor "common sense." This can be seen more easily in gun control than perhaps any other area. Much of federal, state, and local gun law is based on emotion and is therefore ineffective in accomplishing the purported goal: to control violent crime. The only people who are really affected by gun laws are those who obey laws. That compliance leaves the good people defenseless against those who, by definition, disobey the law: criminals. (If you have ever smoked a joint or if you have consumed alcohol or tobacco while under-age, you cede to me the argument that prohibition does not work.) The misinformed and uninformed seem to believe that the best way to fight gun crime is to make it harder or impossible for the good people to fight back. That's hardly reasonable nor common sense.

Those who seek to advance gun control know that a substantial portion of the nation is ignorant on the Constitution in general and gun rights in particular, the criminal's mind, causes of crime, crime deterrence, self defense, and gun safety. Typically, those who seek to further regulate firearms and ammunition are, themselves, ignorant in these same issues. This sinister combination is extremely dangerous to liberty and to innocent life.

If anything is to be done about guns, it must be to reasonably reevaluate the infringement of the gun rights of responsible Americans. For example, so-called "gun-free" zones can be found in and around schools, post offices and other government buildings, churches, businesses, and even military installations. The vast majority of these "gun-free" zones provide no substitute for the responsible individual's self-defense firearm. Very rarely is there any security screening and effective armed guard to counter a violent criminal attack. Over and over again, these unreasonable "gun-free" zones have proven to be extremely dangerous places. "Gun-free" areas must be abolished in all cases where effective security screening and armed protection are not provided by the entity creating the "gun-free" zone. Government "gun-free" zones such as post offices and other government facilities must set the example by restoring the reasonable, common sense, and clear intent of the Constitution: "The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed!"

Another common sense step that politicians must take is to fully honor the Constitution by restoring the right of all responsible adults to conceal and carry the common sense and best means of self defense -- a gun. States that adopt reasonable "shall issue" legislation or policies typically see an almost immediate drop in violent crime. "Shall issue" must become the law in every State and territory, including the District of Columbia.

It is troubling that a lawfully armed and responsible adult can cross invisible political boundaries (ie from one county to another or from one State to another) and suddenly find himself in violation of the law. This infringes of the right of Americans to freely and safely travel around the "land of the free and the home of the brave." Where is the "common sense" or "reasonableness" of that? Therefore all federal, state, and local jurisdictions must honor the right of all responsible Americans to travel freely throughout the nation and its territories, including the District of Columbia, with a concealed firearm.

Yes, we need to have a discussion about guns. The discussion must be about restoring our gun rights! Reasonable Americans reject and condemn any and all efforts to increase gun control. Instead, it is common sense to take aggressive steps to push federal, state, and local gun laws back to what great minds like Thomas Jefferson knew and advocated:

No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." — Thomas Jefferson, Proposed Virginia Constitution (1776)

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." — Cesare Beccaria (On Crimes And Punishment, 1764) (Quoted by Thomas Jefferson in Commonplace Book, 1774-1776, p 298-316)

Yes, we need reasonable and common sense gun laws. As America's premier gun law, the Second Amendment meets those standards. Prohibiting violent people from having guns presumably also meets those standards, although such laws are typically ineffective, because violent people will usually get guns anyway -- or employ another mode of violence. Very few of the 20,000 federal, state, and local gun-control laws meet the standard of "reasonable" or "common sense." They must be abolished!

Americans must reject and oppose the irrational emotionalism that always follows human tragedy, fanned by self-serving politicians and so-called "news" reporters. No new gun control! Instead, push it back! There must be no compromise!