Why restrictive gun control is a bad thing for law abiding citizens.
The founder of the University of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson, understood the harms resulting from the type of policy created at Virginia Tech. In his “Commonplace Book,” Jefferson copied a passage from Cesare Beccaria, the founder of criminology, which was as true on Monday as it always has been: “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.”
The excerpt above was taken from this PDF from the Wall Street Journal. Read the PDF from the Wallstreet Journal. It’s rather amazing. It dives into why gun free zones aren’t a good idea in all cases.
This PDF is for private, non-commercial use only
April 19th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
My wife is from a “gun free zone” (Japan) and sometimes complains about the small arsenal I utilize that is under my bed. After the VT shootings I will never forget her waking me up after reading about it to ask me if I heard about it. Still in shock she told me that she wont complain about my guns ever again. She said if I want to get more guns its fine by her.
I think she realized that there are other people like the VT shooter here and it could happen to us. And the only way to stop him is by being prepared to shoot him.
April 20th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
The Problem with gun control laws is that as a private citizen, I can sell a gun to anyone without a wait limit as long as a get and address and a copy of the driver’s license.
I do not own a gun, but I would never be willing to tell someone else they shouldnt have one.
April 23rd, 2007 at 2:07 pm
Slightly related.
That sounds a bit bloodthirsty to me. Are we just pussies nowadays? I can’t imagine a real armed uprising in the States today. Was Jefferson using hyperbole and I’m missing the point?
April 24th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
The Problem with an uprising in today’s time, is the Military is too strong. No One could possibly assemble a miltia that couldn’t be squashed quickly. T. Jefferson lived in a time where citizens did revolt from the state and carried out those plans, of course that was from half way around the world. The Founding Fathers did not want guns to be taking away from its citizens. Problem is why are we extending that right to non-citizens who live in this country(VA Tech Guy), especially to ones with a history of violence.
May 1st, 2007 at 11:35 am
Maybe we are looking at the threats a bit wrong. What if we end up in a political situation where the US Goverment is so divided it is basically paralized from using the Military due to a bitter partisan divide and a new president that is a weanie.
Maybe our enemies seize on this situation and decide to infiltrate and attack small cities along the mexican/canadian borders to utilize them as staging zones for other things. To make this more beliveable lets say drugs are involved.
Now thats a situation that is not too far fetched and one an American militia/ Neighborhood could take on.
How many people you know with “illegal” hi tech assault rifles? I know quite a few. One of my neighbors has hand gernades!