By Steve Davis
The people who steadfastly believe in gun control live in a fantasy world. A place no more real than Skittle-crapping unicorns, winged fairies and dope-smoking caterpillars. Pretending Alice in Wonderland is true doesn’t make it reality.
Let us examine some of the most common gun control fables.
The world would be a better place without firearms.
I just read a guest editorial on this theme in my local paper. The writer came from the 1960’s counter-culture. You know, the dope-smoking, peace, love and harmony generation. I could almost hear the Youngbloods singing, “Get Together” in the background as I read his simple-minded missive.
In fact, there was a time without firearms. We call it the Dark Ages. In those times, strong young men freely ran roughshod over the weak, the young and the elderly. Back then, men took what they wanted from women. And the lone person lived at the mercy of the gang. It was a time of superstitions trumping science; barbarism over civility.
Few intelligent people today would want to return to the Dark Ages, and for good reason.
The police will protect you.
Tell that to the parents of the dead kids at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Yes, our law enforcement officers generally try hard to protect and serve. But the simple fact is they can’t be everywhere all the time. While cops are still minutes away, protection can be in the palm of your hand in the form of Sam Colt’s great equalizer.
Once again, even if the police are present, they may not protect you from evil. Sometimes they might wait outside. Recall the Pulse nightclub fiasco, where police waited outside for hours before storming the club. And Columbine. And now the Parkland school massacre. Each of these dramatically proves my point.
I am safer in a “gun free” zone.
Nowhere is the odor of burning marijuana stronger than on those who repeat this fantasy. Never mind that literally 94 percent of massacres have occurred in gun free zones.
Magic spells and wishful thinking can be hazardous to your health.
Spree killers who survived have admitted seeking out gun-free zones to avoid armed resistance. These losers want to victimize the helpless.
If you believe a paper sign will protect you from someone willing to kill, then you might be high as a kite.
Concealed carry equals blood in the streets.
Gun-hating leftists love to repeat this hackneyed cliche. Maybe it’s true in a world where leprechauns guard pots of gold at the feet of rainbows. In the real world though, it never comes to pass.
What’s more, CCW holders represent the most law-abiding in society. In the State of Florida, concealed carry holders are six seven times less likely to be involved in an illegal violent act than police officers.
Furthermore, in states where teachers and armed staff have been allowed in schools, there have been few injuries and zero deaths from accidents. More importantly, those states have not suffered any school shootings.
It’s true: everywhere concealed carry is allowed experiences a drop in crime. Whether Alice the Snowflake wants to believe it or not, the facts are the facts.
Good guys carrying guns does not result in blood in the streets, schools or anywhere else.
The Second Amendment is outdated.
The framers of our Constitution were afraid of tyranny and excesses of central government. They recognized that citizens had the right to bear arms to resist tyranny.
Has mankind and the central governments improved since 1791 such that the Founders fears are unjustified? Well, Stalin, Hitler, Mao ZeDong, and Pol Pot killed approximately 100 million of their own citizens in the last century.
More recently, the Rwandan government watched as savages butchered a million of its citizens with machetes. As Matt Bracken has succinctly pointed out, it’s a lot easier to load us into boxcars when we’ve been disarmed.
Conclusion
Denying reality has no survival value, nor will it make anyone safer. Instead of living in a child’s world of make-believe, prudent and thoughtful people will consider the facts while sober. From there, intelligent people make sensible decisions based on facts, not fiction.
The author is a retired attorney, firearms instructor and immediate past president of Guns Save Life.