Excessive compromise in the gun debate

One of the great things about our society is that we are able to have a free exchange of ideas on various subjects. Many of these subjects are banal and others are much more important. The subject of guns and gun control has long been a hot button topic for many across the political spectrum for decades. I wrote about the Left’s long game yesterday. If you missed it you can read that article here.

Today, NOQ Report’s editor Steve Berman laid out an interesting plan on gun control, based on the model Israel uses. Now I have a great deal of respect for Steve, not only as a fellow writer but as a friend and an ally who I usually see eye-to-eye with. I respect the fact that Steve was trying to walk the line on a tricky issue that many feel very passionately about and to find some sort of compromise, however I have to respectfully disagree with his ideas.

My disagreement is not simply a knee-jerk reaction to any more gun control, it is taking the totality of the circumstances into account. There are several points that Steve made I must counter. He said that there are 3 planks to sensible gun control, and I will post those next and respond to each in turn.

1. Determine who can and cannot possess a gun.

Well, we already do that. The 2nd Amendment protects the right for all citizens (the militia, defending the free state against all, even their own government). Not a lot of people want lifelong violent criminals owning guns. Not me, not the NRA, and not anyone I know want this. It’s already illegal for violent offenders to own a gun, and yet many do by buying them illegally on the black market.

2. Determine where guns can and cannot be carried.

Well, it depends on WHO is doing the determining in this case. The government has no right to infringe and yet they do already. Even in my home state of Texas there is a list of places you can’t carry, including government meetings, schools, and polling places on the day of election. This of course is insanity. Demented shooters usually like to pick gun free zones to make their attacks because they know no one will be able to stop them. Why else do so many attacks happen at schools? And yet, despite its utter failure, the Left wants MORE of this.

Further, businesses here in Texas can place the proper signage up and they make it illegal to carry in their establishment. I actually support this. A private business SHOULD be able to determine if patrons can carry firearms inside, just like they’d can determine if employees can exercise their right to protest on company time. Now, ask me if I spend my money at the businesses that tell me I can’t defend myself and my children in their establishment.

3. Controlling how guns can and cannot be used.

Again, we already do this. You can’t just fire your guns randomly in the streets. Murder is illegal in the United States in many cases, and in all cases with a gun. It is only legal when it fits the Liberal agenda (looking at you Planned Parenthood).

On top of these three things, the Federal government already severely restricts automatic weapons and, bizarrely, other accessories which have nothing to do with the functionality of the weapons, like suppressors.

We’ve already compromised on gun control. A lot. It doesn’t work. Either domestically or internationally. Those saying Europe doesn’t have as many of these types of shootings ignore certain facts that don’t fit their narrative. For example, Britain has always enjoyed relatively low violent crime rates. However, those went from 1.1 per 100K people before their gun ban to 1.8 after their gun ban. Still lower than ours, but also a significant increase.

Switzerland and Honduras have roughly the same population. Nearly every Swiss home has a fully automatic ACTUAL assault rifle. Honduras has strict gun control. Switzerland has very little violent crime. Honduras has one of the highest murder rates in the Western Hemisphere.

Liberals like to argue that’s if we applied gun control uniformly across the country places like Chicago wouldn’t be so bad because their gun control could have more effect. I’ll remind you, these are the same people who want a wide open border from which drug, humans, and yes, illegal guns, already pour across.

Fully automatic machine guns were readily available for purchase in the earliest part of the 20th century and we didn’t have this problem. People murder with all kinds of instruments. They have for millennia.

The problem isn’t guns. We DO have a serious cultural problem. We have hearts and souls without God. We have lost respect for the value of human life. We have men who father children and then are completely uninvolved in raising them. If the Left wants fewer shootings then they should work to solve these problems, but they won’t, since not only are they uninterested in solving them, they are oftentimes the cause.