(21 years ago, I wrote a book, titled ?I Hold These Truths.? It went through four printings. I read it last weekend for the first time in 20 years I guess, and was surprised at how correct I was 21 years ago. It has 90 chapters! Each one my opinion, on 90 different subjects. For the next few columns, I am going to reprint one of these chapters. I’d appreciate it if you think I should re-print it! This is Chapter Five).
The Stockton California shooting of children in a school yard by a deranged misfit, prompted a national outcry against so called ?assault? weapons, such as the AK-47, and others of its type. Outlawing these weapons, supposedly will cripple psychopathic efforts to maim innocents. A case in Littleton Colorado resulted in deaths, rape, and injuries by a 20 year old miscreant who used an automatic weapon he had stolen from a home at the beginning of his rampage. In October 1991, at Killeen Texas, a mad drove his late model pickup through one of the plate glass windows of a Luby’s cafeteria, calmly got out and began shooting, killing 22, and wounding 20. He used a legally obtained, registered, non-automatic weapon, was the son of a doctor, and had no evidence of mental illness. All three of these sprees ended when one of the offenders committed suicide.
The problem is not guns, but criminals. Not machinery, but humans who operate it. Outlawing certain types of guns, or all guns, won’t eliminate or lessen crime. If outlaws weren’t on the streets, they couldn’t commit crimes, no matter how many guns were out there. The problem could be solved by simply replacing inept judges who release criminals, and eliminating parole boards who decide when criminals are ?rehabilitated.? There should be no parole of any kind, at any time, and the very existence of a ?parole board,? should be a crime. (See the chapter on parole and insanity
pleas.)
The most troublesome problem is judges releasing criminals or
suspending sentences after apprehension by diligent police work. Police work so hard, only to have their efforts totally debilitated, by inept, fearful judges. The Stockton and Littleton animals should have already been behind bars with the key thrown away when they committed their dastardly deed. Outlawing machinery used to commit crimes will not stop crime, or even slow it. Equipment used to commit crime, runs from the hands and feet to various sharp objects, rocks, automobiles, telephones, and anything the human brain can concoct, the numbers and variations of which are endless. The way to stop crime is to require the citizenry to be armed, put away criminals, and eliminate parole.
Are the calamity howlers forgetting the Swiss, who are required to own automatic weapons, and where crime is punished? A gun is a compact, ever ready defense needed by civilized people. The old adage is really true: ?When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.? Judges have a societal duty and obligation to protect the citizenry from criminals, by keeping them put away, and the gun screechers are merely avoiding the real issue, which is the judicial system, not guns of any size.
Outlawing certain types of guns is comparable to outlawing certain sizes of cigarettes or whiskey bottles. Since a huge number of deaths occur in showers or bathtubs, simply making bathing illegal would certainly save lives. While 42,000 lives are being lost on highways each year, no one is touting legislation making automobiles illegal. A gun is an inanimate object, which can only operate when handled, aimed, and shot by a human. In our society, the ?good guys’ outnumber the ?bad guys,’ probably 100 to 1, and the ?bad guys,’ always obtain whatever they need to be such, with little effort. I haven’t heard of a criminal who had any trouble getting a gun! Gun controls, simply makes it extremely difficult for the law abiding citizenry to protect itself from the non-law abiding.
The certain Midwest town that outlawed all guns, comes to mind, and I won’t dignify it by naming it, except to say it is the darling of all gun haters. Crime there has skyrocketed, since criminals know they won’t be shot at when they break into homes and businesses. In May 1982, Kennesaw Georgia did the opposite, by requiring every household to own a firearm. Crime decreased by 16% the first year, something like 60% the second year, and now it is almost non-existent! Nothing strikes fear into a criminal’s heart more than a nervous householder or shopkeeper pointing a gun at him while he is committing a crime. Laws should REQUIRE owning a gun, and not FORBID it.
If gun ownership had been required in Killeen, the chances of a few guns being carried in the crowded Luby’s are extremely high. It is almost certain one of these guns would have been used to quickly end the rampage before 42 people were wounded and killed. In just one instance, required ownership of guns by citizens, would have saved lives. If gun ownership were required in America, crime would almost instantly become non existent. What criminal would want to chance a holdup or burglary if he knew everyone had a gun to protect themselves with, even if they were a poor shot. The poor shots would be just as much of a threat as a crack shot. Imagine a burglar suddenly being confronted by a householder holding a loaded gun in a shaking hand. He first sentence might be, ?Now lady, be careful with that thing, it might go off. Why don’t you just call the police, and I’ll be still.?
Government insists on seat belts and all sorts of other protections, such as inane E.P.A. rules, but denies us the right to protect ourselves from crime. We should be required to own a gun.
What is the first thing a dictator does to his subjects? Look at history, and you will see it is first to register, and then collect all guns. Would the Soviet Union have gone on for 70 years, if the citizenry had been armed? Would the Hungarians and Czechs have perhaps won when the Soviets invaded them, if they all had guns? An armed citizenry is the best possible defense against total government. Nothing is as feared by an oppressive government and bureaucracy, as is a totally armed citizenry.
Legislators at all levels, who continually scream for gun controls, as usually the ones that vote for higher taxes and more government. These dregs want to remove responsibility from the people, and invest it in government, which they can control. Power is a terrible thing, and gun control is just another form of political power. I urge all readers to immediately become life members of the National Rifle Association, and obtain several guns. There may come a time when you will need them. Hopefully not, but it could happen here as it has happened in every other part of the inhabited world.