I thank Rev. Kevin Fisher for his military service and offer my heartfelt commiserations for his loss. But I don’t think that gun control is the answer he’s looking for. While it’s horrible that his uncle (also a Reverend) was murdered, the fact that the killer violated the sixth commandment using his uncle’s gun against him is irrelevant. Setting aside personal responsibility for handgun retention (out of respect for the dead), if it hadn’t been that gun, it would have been something else. Or not. Who knows? The Mayors Against Illegal Guns think they do. The killing “proves” their point that it’s safer not to have a gun than to have one. Which is just plain wrong. And not a little disgusting. As for Rev. Fisher’s mother’s murder at the hands of his father [via shotgun] . . .
Same thing. Does Reverend Fisher really believe that his father wouldn’t have taken his mother’s life if he’d been prohibited from owning a shotgun? Does the man of the cloth consider his own story the last word on gun control—discounting 1.2 million defensive gun uses per year—to argue that outlawing specific types of gun (or all guns) would make this country a safer place? Yes. Yes he does.
As for Reverend Fisher’s “Demand a Plan” placard, why are all these people so scared of saying what their plan is? Why does the Mayors Against Illegal Guns website ask you to sign their petition before telling you the plan?
Maybe it’s one of those “pay no attention to that plan behind the curtain deals” that simply wouldn’t survive the cold light of day. Well here it is, in bullet form:
- Require a criminal background check for every gun sold in America
- Ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines
- Make gun trafficking a federal crime, including real penalties for “straw purchasers”
Number one insinuates the federal government into the private sales of firearms, raising the specter of gun control and confiscation.
Number two removes the most effective self-defense rifle available to law-abiding American citizens who have a Constitutionally-protected right to keep and bear [their choice of] arms. And limits Americans’ ability to use that rifle and other firearms effectively.
Number three is a done deal. Providing a felon with firearm is a felony. Lying on form 4473 (a.k.a., “straw purchasing”) is also felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and fines.
Worth contemplating.