To anyone in the government considering increasing the power of gun control laws, I would implore you to reconsider. I understand your time is valuable, so I am going to keep this short and appeal to simple logic. I could go on all day about how weapons that would be legal under any assault weapons ban are not any less lethal in the hands of a determined attacker, but that’s a moot point. The fact is that gun control does not work to prevent crime, and interferes with the rights of law-abiding citizens.
The biggest reason gun laws do not prevent crime is because criminals do not obey the law! I find it very hard to believe that a criminal prepared to commit armed robbery or murder is going to be deterred by a gun law. These people want to commit evil, and they will commit evil unless stopped. They may use an illegal weapon, or they may use other means available. If gun control miraculously prevents criminals from using guns (considering 85% of guns used in crimes are already illegally obtained, I’m not inclined to think that will happen), they have access to gasoline, kitchen knives, and bludgeoning instruments with which to enact their crimes.
On the other hand, there are millions of law-abiding gun owners in the United States who do nothing wrong with their guns in decades of gun ownership. What gun control laws do to these law-abiding citizens is take away our Second Amendment rights, and force us to prove our innocence every time you want to purchase a firearm or accessory. This is the only industry in America where you are not innocent until proven guilty. In addition, there are several small-business manufacturers that will have their business crippled by any weapons ban, which is not good for the American economy.
So I ask you to do the hard thing: don’t blame the tool, blame the person. Instead of applying a band-aid to the papercut that is “gun violence”, let’s look at the gaping wound in our society of violence in general. Let’s look at methods to fix our prison overpopulation, mental health, and social programs to deter and discourage crime, and encourage legal and community-building enterprise. It won’t stop all violence, but in reality nothing will completely eschew violence. However, it will make America not only a safer place to live, but by helping at-risk youth become upstanding citizens, we will help strengthen our economy and education system.
I am a gun owner, and I am an upstanding citizen. I believe in avoiding violence if possible, and stopping violence if needed. I am willing to work towards a less violent America. I vehemently believe that if we stop arguing about guns, and our Second Amendment rights are preserved, we can move forward together with a discussion on what to do with the endemic lack of respect for our fellow American that leads to these vicious attacks. As such, I will not support any politician, regardless of party lines, who supports stricter gun control laws. Work with the gun rights activists instead of against us, and we can focus on the real issues.
Thank you for your time.
