There's a report in the New York Times today that there are over 30 states that have 007, License To Kill, Stand Your Ground laws. Most of the rest have been prodded into loosening their concealed-carry laws. There are now over 8 million Americans with concealed guns on their person. Eight million! Wanna be James Bonds.
Just how many Americans need to carry concealed guns before all of America feels safe? Half of all Americans? Will that be enough? Will we all feel safe then? What if everyone had a concealed gun? Would we feel safe then? Or would we have to begin to carry two guns apiece? Must General Motors begin building armored personnel carriers for their next year's lineup of Chevrolets? Then maybe Chrysler might begin to offer the Family Sized Abrams tank.
I suppose we could save the cost of maintaining a military that way, but would you really feel safe knowing that nutcase down the street actually has a Glock? Look, when states actually make it possible for professional killers and barroom brawlers to get away with murder by claiming they felt threatened, it doesn't make you safer. Not even the cops. It might make more sense to just abolish all laws pertaining to killing and turn the whole country over to vigilantism.
Please don't get me wrong, if you genuinely and legitimately feel threatened, you ought to be able to carry a gun, provided you train with it regularly. Otherwise, leave it home. If you're out and feel threatened, do the smart thing and back away or throw your wallet at them and run. But having 8 million, or 180 or 380 million people with guns just isn't the answer. Take the money you would spend on a gun and give it to your local police force to train, equip and field more officers. Then demand the government start working together to develop plans to make us safer. We really do need to calm down.
No comments:
Post a Comment