The Undiscovered Country

Taking the Good with the Bad

I had an online conversation with someone named Nick on Yahoo news yesterday with regard to gun violence. He said that he's more than willing to abolish the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution as a way to eliminate gun violence.

His thinking with the rash of mass shootings lately, gun violence is on an exponential rise and guns need to be taken away.

I tried to argue with him several ways:

Taking away guns will not eliminate gun violence. There is a lot of evidence to support this; the cities and states with the highest rates of crime also have the most stringent gun laws.

I also asked him to think like a criminal. If there is a chance your prospective victim is armed, you'd think twice before attacking.

Gun proliferation is not the singular cause of gun violence. It's the evil in man's heart not the gun in a person's hand that is the cause. Do we blame the fist for committing assault?

If we give up a means of protecting ourselves and our communities, the chances of becoming victims becomes greater.

So I have to ask a question. If guns are the root cause of violence, why have we not seen a single instance of mass killings at gun shows, gun/outdoor shops, NRA conventions, or at shooting ranges? No. They've all happened at places where people were more likely to be unarmed as armed.

If we're really interested in saving lives, let's outlaw cars, knives, baseball bats, steel-toed boots, fists, martial arts, boxing, pillows, shovels, matches, gasoline, alcohol, bicycle chains, and ice-picks to name a few.

We should also look at the main reason we have the 2nd Amendment in the first place. It wasn't merely for self-defense, but defending against a tyrannical government. A government is less likely to suppress its populace if they have a physical means of saying, "No."

I fear for my country when I run into people like Nick. They are more than willing to give up freedom for the naive and fleeting belief that our safety is someone else's responsibility.

I have to ask one who believes guns should be outlawed: If someone threatens you or your family with a gun, how do you defend yourself?