Vice-President Biden surprised reporters by saying something that actually makes sense, unfortunately the administration intends to do something else. Here is the rational part of what Biden said, “Nothing we’re going to do is going to fundamentally alter or eliminate the possibility of another mass shooting or guarantee that we will bring gun deaths down to 1,000 a year from what it is now.”
Here is the part that differs from what the administration intends to do, “But there are things that we can do, demonstrably can do, that have virtually zero impact on your Second Amendment right to own a weapon for both self-defense and recreation that can save some lives.”
Yes, there are things that could cut down crime and have virtually zero impact on the Second Amendment rights of law abiding people. Here are a few things they could do:
– Start more strictly enforcing current laws against criminals who use guns.
– More severely punish criminals who use force of any kind.
– End early prison releases for criminals who used weapons in their crimes.
– Have the police focus on youth gangs, which account for most gun violence, and take away their illegal guns.
– Hold parents, as well as the child, responsible for their child’s crime.
– Stop providing excuses for criminal conduct, including for young criminals. A victim is still harmed and equal justice is required even if the criminal is a child, a minority, or from a poor, a rich, or a broken home.
– Prosecute all applicants who lie on the paperwork they provide for background checks (currently there are few prosecutions).
– Make it easier for law abiding people to quickly get the guns they need to protect themselves, including concealed carry permits. (Let’s stop the murders of women with restraining orders being killed while waiting for their gun permits to be approved.)
– Get rid of “Gun Free Zones” which are the equivalent of an attractive nuisance to certain criminals.
– President Obama should more actively prosecute existing gun crimes (prosecutions have dropped 40-45% from President Bush’s level).
Unfortunately, the anti-gun crowd is unlikely to do the above sensible actions. What Biden and the rest of the anti-gun crowd will do is to promote restrictions on law abiding citizens. These restrictions will have no impact on criminals except to create a safer “work environment” for them by making people (at least middle income and poor people) less able to defend themselves.
President Obama’s and Senator Feinstein’s gun control proposals will just create more innocent victims, more raped women, more beaten or murdered men, women, and children.
