Well Said!

Quote from the Washington Post:

While the ruling caught observers off guard, it was not completely unexpected, given the unconscionable campaign, led by the National Rife Association and abetted by the Bush administration, to broadly reinterpret the Constitution so as to give individuals Second Amendment rights. Indeed, the D.C. lawsuit, by six residents assisted by the Cato Institute, was filed in 2003, just months after then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft said gun bans are unconstitutional.

The NRA predictably welcomed yesterday's ruling. According to its myth, only criminals have had guns in the city and now law-abiding citizens will be able to arm themselves for protection. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) counters that argument with the sad record of what results from a proliferation of guns. As he points out, more guns mean only more violence, and the city already has too much of both. It is important to note that the ban on handguns will stay in effect while the city considers whether to appeal.


Response from Matt Haught on 10-8 Forums:

This editorial disgusts me. Have you even read the ruling? Can you comprehend the legal philosophy behind the majority opinion? This institutional prejudice against the right of citizens to arm themselves against threats of violence is a relatively new thing in this nation. There was a time when self-reliance was considered a noble goal, but I suppose the lazy people who expect the government to sustain their every whim cannot fathom such a thing.

Why, if the DC handgun ban was so effective, is there so much 'gun crime' there? Could it be that gun control is not the panacea that it is purported to be? Could it be that guns are not the problem, but rather people? Some naive souls do not wish to hear that, believing in the innate decency of human nature. Well, take a look out into your streets and you will see the results of the worst of human nature. Humanity is capable of attaining the loftiest heights of civil society, but it is also capable of perpetrating far more grievous wrongs than any animal. Utopian pipe-dreams do nothing but make the situation worse. That's what gun control is: a utopian pipe-dream.

The solution to crime isn't gun control; it's self control. You have to change your societal priorities to emphasize civic duty and goodwill. You can't build a society based on the morals expressed in gangster rap music, just as you can't build one based on the rantings of a 1930s Austrian dictator. You need to have respect for your fellow man, and the ability to defend yourself against him if he doesn't respect your right to live.

The NRA's campaign is not 'unconscionable'. Ensuring the forced helplessness of the citizenry at large is 'unconscionable'. Why should politicians and actors have armed bodyguards while the people huddle in their apartments at the mercy of the very criminals you cannot seem to control? How 'democratic' an idea is that?

If you can answer those questions, then perhaps you will see the light. But then again, you can lead a fool to knowledge, but you cannot make him think.