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Gun buy-ups the
REAL insanity
Commentary
by Charles Riggs
The natural
assumption among adults living in this Commonwealth is that when we
formulate public policy that affects the lives of all our citizens
we'll be guided by facts and knowledge as adults should be, and NOT
by emotions or childish fears. This is, after all, what adults are
supposed to do.
But when the
talk turns to anything related to guns, too many supposedly adult
people turn childish, as evidenced by the editorial of 1/9/01, Assault
on Sanity in this paper. In that piece they find themselves
confronted by legislation that threatens their world view, so they
resort once again to the name-calling that comes so naturally, it
seems, to those who oppose your right to self-defense.
The assumption
on their part is that gun buy-backs (more properly called gun
BUY-UPS, since you can't buy back what you never owned) are good
things, and that only heartless, heedless idiots and maniacs would
oppose them.
Those of us who
campaigned for Kentucky's concealed carry law in 1996, and for the
several improvements in it since, would like to take this discussion
away from the emotion-driven tone that the Herald-Leader and their
pals persist in and offer you, the citizen, just a little reality to
guide your decision on this public policy issue.
First, gun
buy-ups don't work. Much to the dismay of the hoplophobes (from the
Greek, meaning a fear of tools, therefore: one who fears guns) in
this state, even scholars on the Left who enthusiastically support
any and all laws that restrict your right to possess arms have
studied the issue and concluded that gun buy-ups have no meaningful
impact on crime or on criminal behavior. Where buy-ups have been
deployed crime has NOT lessened.
Academics on
both sides have done multiple studies that demonstrate that buying
guns from the elderly in housing projects doesn't disarm the crack
dealers or the gangbangers who infest those squalid environments.
All it does is deprive those trusting souls of the one tool that
might save their life some dark night, in exchange for a pittance
that won't buy flowers for their funerals. Calling 911 has never
worked like having that little gun in your fist when some thug
intends to bash your head in, but the cheerleaders for gun buy-ups
want you to believe that it will, even if the facts plainly show
otherwise.
One question
for you adults out there: do you REALLY believe that some young thug
is going to give up the $500 handgun he bought with earnings from
drug sales in exchange for $50 or some certificates from fast-food
joints?
Even the total
abolition of handgun ownership doesn't ensure safety. Look at
Britain, the shining example of gun control once so enthusiastically
applauded by the gun banners. Guns have successfully been banned
from private citizen hands there, and with what result? Violent
crime in England is at an all-time high, most of it committed by
thugs armed with illegal guns! Of course, the populace is unable to
do anything about it, having given over the control of their lives
to the police and the state.
Is that what
the people of Kentucky, long known for their tenacity and courage
and self-reliance, want to let the frantic phobics foist upon us?
Let's spend
money where it will give us a return on our investment, and NOT on
gun buy-up schemes that are nothing more than feel-good salves for
the souls of those who are afraid of fending for themselves and want
to drag the rest of us down with them into their hiding holes.
Putting criminals in jails, enforcing the laws we already have, is a
proven winner. Funding gun buy-ups with money that's supposed to
provide housing for the needy is a proven loser. The facts are plain
to see. Gun buy-ups are a flop.
So the next
time you read in this paper about gun nuts and fanatics,
please understand those epithets for the code words they really are.
They're the desperate cries of folks who've lost the intellectual
battle and are forced to resort to vulgar name-calling. Don't let
their childish spleen affect your adult decision-making about this
vital issue. Your life may depend on it.
Charles Riggs -
Orange Gunsite - DVC!
"Stop Crime-Be Armed-Fight Back!"
Past 1st VP KC3 IDPA(KY) - GOA - NRA |
