Shortly after the Las Vegas massacre, I declared that all firearms should be banned. I’ve thought a lot about it since writing that and I’ve changed my mind. I don’t think we should ever ban firearms, at least in my lifetime.
In a perfect world, guns would be obsolete
Don’t get me wrong, in a perfect world, we wouldn’t need guns. The problem is, we don’t live in a perfect world. Do I think things would be better if people didn’t have access to deadly weaponry? Yes. Do I think things would be better for future generations if Americans didn’t live in a country full of high-power weapons? Yes. Do I think guns should be banned now? No.
My problem is this: as long as the government refuses to enforce our laws, Americans will need to have access to firearms.
The 2015 Baltimore Riots
I was thinking recently about the 2015 Baltimore riots. The police stood by and did nothing while Black Lives Matter inspired thugs destroyed everything. We have laws against smashing windows and burning down innocent drugstores, yet the Baltimore police did nothing to stop it.
The police are allowed to pick and choose what laws they will enforce. If people assemble into a mob and decide to do harm against you, and the police decide not to do anything about it, there’s a very good chance the mod will kill you.
I have a real problem with that.
I’m a huge fan of the life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness clause of the Declaration of Independence. It’s hard to enjoy life and liberty when you’ve been murdered by a hate-fueled, racist mob. It’s hard to pursue happiness when you have to worry about law enforcement not doing their duty.
I don’t blame the individual police officers for not doing their job. In Baltimore, they were ordered to stand down and not do anything. I don’t blame the police for not upholding the law in Baltimore any more than I blame Border Patrol for not enforcing our immigration laws. Not enforcing our laws comes from the top.
Not enforcing our laws comes from the top.
I was wrong about banning guns
In closing, I want to set the record straight. Even if our elected leaders enacted sweeping gun control legislation, making individual ownership of guns illegal, the chances those laws would be uniformly enforced is about zero. No matter what the law said, some people would be allowed to own guns and others would not.
That’s just the way the system is.