SmallGovTimes.com

By: Steve Adcock | Published on 04/17/07    

The recent tragedy on the campus of Virginia Tech has once again put the spotlight on stricter gun control laws in the United States, but Americans need to be aware of the dangers that lurk within these proposed laws.

Gun control laws are analogous to throwing money at a problem and hoping that it goes away. That, unfortunately, is what Congress does best. Our politicians cannot expect a further restriction on the America people's constitutional right to bear arms to provide any relief from violent crime. In fact, it may perpetuate it.

While the Virginia Tech student who shot more than 30 students purchased his guns legally, criminals always find ways to obtain the resources they need, whether that be guns, knives or explosives. Legal or not, criminals lie, cheat and steal their way into possession of these kinds of items that assist them in violent crime.

Gun laws, then, mainly restrict a law-abiding citizen's ability to return fire. The case in Killeen, Texas more than 15 years ago highlights this simple fact. A total of 29 people were killed in Killeen as a maniac wielding a gun shot at diners in a restaurant. None of those diners could return fire, of course, because gun laws restricted their ability to carry firearms.

The state of Virginia opposed a law more than a year ago that would have provided students with the ability to carry concealed weapons on campus. Those who opposed the law hailed the decision, arguing that it made campuses more safe.

A disarmed society is a deeply vulnerable society. If Congress removes the constitutional right to bear arms from the American people, it leaves the people open to relentless attack from criminals who refuse to obey those laws. None of us deserve to live in a nation where the only people who carry firearms are criminals and law enforcement officers.

Gun control is a politically correct idea that manages to systematically disarm the American people. It needs to be understood that criminals do not obey laws. Otherwise, they would not be criminals. Controls on guns give criminals a leg up when committing violent crime, as no equal retaliation is possible when the victim does not possess a gun.

Gun regulations make the American people an open target to violent crime. It strips people of their constitutionally-guaranteed right to bear the necessary protection to protect their families. It means the American people are open-season to any criminal who needs assurances that their victim cannot possibly fight back with equally deadly strength.

Oppose legislation that makes the American people less safe. Oppose legislation that removes constitutional rights from the American people, and oppose legislation that does nothing more than deepens the cesspool of political correctness that we already live in.

Do not let politicians use the Virginia Tech tragedy to strip your constitutional right to bear arms.

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