Tragedies and Ill-conceived Gun Laws

Early last night I sat and watched Dr. Suzanna Hupp's testimony to Congress on gun laws after the tragedy at Luby's October 16, 1991, in Killeen, Texas.

Sadly, there was another shooting tragedy in Aurora, Colorado late last night, near another preventable tragedy: Columbine.

I am sure that many will call for increased gun laws, but as always these are hollow and fail to take into account the reality that criminals will not heed laws, that is their nature. More gun laws only negatively impact the liberties of law-abiding citizens. Calls to ban high-capacity magazines and assault weapons were proven to increase violent crime during the Assault Weapons Ban of 1992. There is a reason the Brady Campaign failed to keep the AWB on the books; it was a failure, a solution to a problem it created itself.

As Hupp correctly suggests, when a person commits these sort of acts, it is an illness, a mental problem that compels them. No law will prevent their intended actions, only the dedication of law-abiding citizens to protect each other in these situations. Violent criminals like these examples are like rabid dogs. The focus needs to be on those politicians willingly legislating away the right to defend ourselves from them.

Law enforcement's duty is to respond, by which time the tragedy is usually over. Many courts have ruled that police have no duty to protect, which can only lead us to understand that we have to defend ourselves. If this means breaking bad laws, so be it. A right the judicial body will never disclose is that of nullification. A jury can set a precedent and strike down a bad law simply by failing to convict a defendant of a charge.

It is statistically proven that allowing citizens to arm themselves decreases crime rates. All we need to do is consider the increases in violent crimes in places like Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, even the United Kingdom and other locals to see that the solution is obvious if only we would consider reality instead of relying on emotional arguments and opinions. Gun control encourages criminals to commit violent crime.

Remember this the next time you consider abiding by a poorly-conceived gun law and ask yourself if it makes you and your loved ones any safer. As Suzanna Hupp put it, I would rather be charged with a crime, defending the lives of those I love, than to adhere to bad laws and have to bury them. This is why the Second Amendment was worded the way it is:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.