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Many years ago, while being interviewed for a job, I asked my future employer if there was much crime in the surrounding community. Wearing a flamboyant cowboy hat, he smiled and told me that theft and property crime were virtually non-existent. “Everyone here,” he explained, “has a gun, and you never know who is standing on the other side of the door.”
He was right of course, because during the three years I lived there, I never once worried about locking my car doors or apartment. I walked everywhere, anytime without fear of becoming a crime statistic, and I don’t recall hearing or seeing any reports of burglary, assault or murder anywhere in the county. Unlike many in that small town, I did not own a gun. I never have and probably never will. That doesn’t mean however that other responsible citizens should not possess firearms if they wish, within reason.
There has been a lot of controversy about handgun registration and reinstating the federal ban on assault weapons. I’m not at all convinced that anybody really needs to own an assault weapon, and I sure don’t believe registration will stop criminals from using guns in the commission of crimes. Criminals don’t care much about laws and regulations, so making honest, responsible citizens jump through hoops using that argument is bogus. If on the other hand, we favor registration because it will insure that anyone carrying a weapon in public is trained in its use, that seems much more reasonable to me.
The latest talking point about the outflow of American weapons to Mexico is baloney as well. Factcheck.org has an informative article on the subject here , where you can see the figures for yourself. Once again, the weapon or its origin is not the problem, but rather the criminals using the weapon. If Mexico was serious about rounding those people up, the gun trade would soon fade away. Tightening US restrictions however, will have little effect at all since many of those weapons appear to have come from legitimate sales to the Mexican army and police forces . Over the last several years, there have been instances of unimaginable carnage committed with firearms. Some with stolen or illegal assault rifles, some with legally registered hand guns. You see, the weapon does not cause the crime. Those actions are spawned inside a twisted mind we can’t fully understand. Will banning such weapons eliminate these kinds of atrocities? Not likely, since we have seen the power of a simple box cutter to facilitate mayhem beyond anyone’s expectations.
In situations where it is one deranged person out to kill as many as possible, I believe that the presence of other citizen firearms could change the outcome substantially. In most instances, a citizen, teacher, principal or security guard in possession of a handgun and trained in its use, could lessened or stop the bloodshed. In general, our city state and federal officials believe that widespread citizen gun carry is risky business and are constantly trying to limit or outlaw it. Risky business maybe, but I’ve seen it work in that town where I lived, and when some maniac decides that today is the day, the saving of even one life is worth all the risk in the world.
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