Keep Your Guns

The opinions on yesterday's Supreme Court ruling in the Heller case are all over the map. Politicians are freaking out, especially on the local level in places like Chicago, where Mayor Daley went on a rant about the ruling. Mostly because it will probably lead to a challenge, and dismissal of Chicago's own handgun ban.

Liberal columnist Eugene Robinson from the Washington Post hates the idea that he believes the court got it right. His convoluted logic on the law that was struck down is laughable though;

"...Given all the handgun killings in the city, was the ban really having any beneficial impact?

But come on, it's not as if the law was making gun violence in the city any worse -- and it's not as if striking down the law, and perhaps adding hundreds or thousands of weapons to the city, will make things any better. The law was flawed, but it was a lot better than nothing."

Unknowingly, Eugene got to the heart of the problem with the gun law. The thugs, gangbangers, pimps and crooks have been ignoring it for years. As the court pointed out, the only people disarmed by the law are those who follow the law. They become defenseless against those who don't follow the law.

If you ask a politician who is in favor of such bans as Chicago, San Fransciso or DC's the question "what percentage of gun crime is committed by lawful gun owners?" they'll dodge you like a deer in the road. The don't want to answer that question because the percentage is so horribly low.

Instead, they point to the convoluted logic of 'Johnny buys a gun, leaves it at home, and his house is robbed while he's on vacation, and the robber gets the gun. Then the robber uses it to commit another crime. Therefore, we should restrict legal gun purchases to keep them from being stolen and used illegally'.

Considering that there are more people killed by drunk drivers than guns every year, and over 100 times as many injured by autos, maybe we should apply that logic to the purchase of a new car. If we don't let folks buy cars, they can't drink and drive, right?

Here's a novel idea. Instead of abridging the rights of the law abiding, to reduce the temptation for criminals, build bigger jails, and keep the criminals locked up. It's much harder to steal a gun and kill someone while you are in prison.