| "Common Sense" Gun Control |
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| Opinion |
| Written by Daniel White |
| Thursday, 18 December 2008 07:11 |
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Every time some anti-gunner proposes a new gun control measure, they always want to call it a "common sense" measure. As if anyone who didn't see things their way was stupid. "How can you oppose this? It's common sense!," they claim. And they always talk to you in their best Morgan Freeman voice, explaining how they have no intention of infringing on your rights, they just want people to be safe. Just look at these statements in recent articles: "Their lobby fights even the most obvious common sense controls in favor of pushing for enabling legislation that would encourage people to carry more firearms in more public places." - (NRA is losing its firepower) "Many gun owners believe that the Democrat's support of commonsense gun control could mean a crackdown on everything from ammunition to pistols to assault rifles." - (Tester says more gun control unlikely) "Some called the proposed administrative rule a common sense regulation to keep Seattle safer." - (Many blast Seattle city building gun ban plan) Maybe I'm getting jaded, but every time I hear "common sense gun laws", I start tuning people out. Because I know common sense has nothing to do with the agenda at hand. After the November 4th elections, the Brady campaign issued a statement that "We know of no candidates at any level, in any race, who lost because they supported sensible guns laws." Common sense would tell you that is because none of those candidates were talking about their support for new gun laws. That's the new campaign strategy of the anti's... shut up until you're in office while trying to garner endorsements of anti-gun organizations masquerading as pro-gun organizations (like the American Hunters and Shooters Association). If the gun rights movement truly is as neutered as they claim, why have the media outlets been saturated with stories about gun sales spiking as citizens from all walks of life prepare for what they fear will be a gun grab by the new administration? Real common sense would tell you that is because there isn't any broad support for new onerous restrictions. Look at what happened in Seattle when Mayor Greg Nickels announced his plan to ban guns from city buildings and parks. More than 150 people showed up at City Hall, with the vast majority sporting fashionable anti-Nickels buttons provided by the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms... Sounds to me like Mayor Nickels' version of "common sense" is different from the majority of Americans. Common sense dictates that when the Supreme Court of the United States dictates that the Second Amendment guarantees a fundamental individual right to keep and bear arms, that you back off and stop infringing people's rights... not that you try to twist it into meaning that severe gun restrictions are ok as long as you don't completely ban. Common sense tells you that when masked gunmen rob a sports cafe despite the ban on firearms in Ohio where alcohol is being served that the "ban" only affects law abiding citizens in the first place. It's only common sense that an armed female is able to easily fend off a knife-wielding attacker, and that had the law disarmed her, she would not have been better off for it. Laws disarming citizens truly only affect those persons inclined to follow the law in the first place. A "no guns allowed" sign is no more of a deterrent to a criminal than a "no robberies allowed" sign. That's real common sense. |