In 1983 when President Reagan ordered the deployment of missiles in Europe as part of his peace through strength strategy to counter the Soviet Union the very liberal town of Takoma Park Md. declared itself a nuclear free zone. City officials passed an ordinance known as The Takoma Park Nuclear Free Zone Act which said ...work on nuclear weapons is prohibited within the city limits...
If North Korea follows through on its threat to nuke the United States (or had Russia in the 80s launched a nuclear attack) Takoma Park would not be nuclear free for long but the ordinance made some people feel as though they were doing something constructive something meaningful about the nuclear threat and wasnt that their point?
Today the Democratic governors of Connecticut and Maryland who must be seen to be doing something important about gun violence are congratulating themselves for passing some of the toughest gun laws in the nation. These states already have tough gun laws which in the case of the Newtown shooting last December did not deter Adam Lanza from grabbing his mothers legal weapons murdering her and then killing 26 people most of them children. Tough gun laws in Maryland have not deterred the mentally ill or criminally minded intent on getting guns especially in Baltimore and Prince Georges County where reports of gun crimes often lead each nights local newscast.
Downplayed in this national debate and in efforts by the Obama administration to get Congress to pass tougher federal gun restrictions is a conversation about human nature including better laws that allow for involuntary commitment or mandatory treatment of the mentally ill and tougher sentencing for criminals. But if laws alone were effective in regulating criminal behavior prisons would be empty.
Life has become cheap and things are now expensive but I remember when the reverse was true. Today we seem to value stuff more than human life which is why public storage units are full. Many began losing their moral compass years ago when anything goes began to replace a respect for the law and other people.
Authorities in Connecticut have revealed that Lanza spent a lot of time researching potential targets before his murderous rampage. He picked Sandy Hook Elementary were told because it appeared to him to be an undefended soft target. The question that should suggest itself is this: Suppose Lanza knew Sandy Hook had an armed guard and other security measures? If that were the case he might well have gone elsewhere or not committed his evil acts at all.
The new tougher gun laws in Maryland and Connecticut appear to be the result of high emotion not logic and clear thinking. We all ache for the parents and loved ones of the Sandy Hook victims but the Newtown tragedy shouldnt be used as a prop for anti-gun proponents the most extreme of which want to register or ban all weapons except those for police and certain security people. What will more gun laws really accomplish? Will they keep one criminal bent on carnage from a single school door?
In 1995 Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) a leading force in the failed 1994 assaults weapon ban told CBS 60 Minutes that: If I could have gotten 51 votes in the Senate of the United States for an outright ban picking up (every gun) ... Mr. and Mrs. America turn em all in. I would have done it. Then what? Do we ban knives next? No law no ban no restriction will ever stop evil.
What will happen in Connecticut and Maryland when there is another shooting at an undefended target? Will politicians call for even tougher gun laws? There is much debate and anecdotal evidence about whether concealed carry laws deter criminals but logic would seem to suggest they do. Isnt that why many homes have burglar alarms and security systems as well as guns? If a burglar knows a home is defended doesnt logic suggest he might try a house that is unprotected?
Guns can never be completely outlawed and human nature cant be changed by politicians. More laws arent the answer. Perhaps as the old saying goes The best defense is a good offense.
Cal Thomas is co-author (with Bob Beckel) of the book Common Ground: How to Stop the Partisan War That is Destroying America.
In 1983 when President Reagan ordered the deployment of missiles in Europe as part of his peace through strength strategy to counter the Soviet Union the very liberal town of Takoma Park Md. declared itself a nuclear free zone. City officials passed an ordinance known as The Takoma Park Nuclear Free Zone Act which said ...work on nuclear weapons is prohibited within the city limits...
If North Korea follows through on its threat to nuke the United States (or had Russia in the 80s launched a nuclear attack) Takoma Park would not be nuclear free for long but the ordinance made some people feel as though they were doing something constructive something meaningful about the nuclear threat and wasnt that their point?
Today the Democratic governors of Connecticut and Maryland who must be seen to be doing something important about gun violence are congratulating themselves for passing some of the toughest gun laws in the nation. These states already have tough gun laws which in the case of the Newtown shooting last December did not deter Adam Lanza from grabbing his mothers legal weapons murdering her and then killing 26 people most of them children. Tough gun laws in Maryland have not deterred the mentally ill or criminally minded intent on getting guns especially in Baltimore and Prince Georges County where reports of gun crimes often lead each nights local newscast.
Downplayed in this national debate and in efforts by the Obama administration to get Congress to pass tougher federal gun restrictions is a conversation about human nature including better laws that allow for involuntary commitment or mandatory treatment of the mentally ill and tougher sentencing for criminals. But if laws alone were effective in regulating criminal behavior prisons would be empty.
Life has become cheap and things are now expensive but I remember when the reverse was true. Today we seem to value stuff more than human life which is why public storage units are full. Many began losing their moral compass years ago when anything goes began to replace a respect for the law and other people.
Authorities in Connecticut have revealed that Lanza spent a lot of time researching potential targets before his murderous rampage. He picked Sandy Hook Elementary were told because it appeared to him to be an undefended soft target. The question that should suggest itself is this: Suppose Lanza knew Sandy Hook had an armed guard and other security measures? If that were the case he might well have gone elsewhere or not committed his evil acts at all.
The new tougher gun laws in Maryland and Connecticut appear to be the result of high emotion not logic and clear thinking. We all ache for the parents and loved ones of the Sandy Hook victims but the Newtown tragedy shouldnt be used as a prop for anti-gun proponents the most extreme of which want to register or ban all weapons except those for police and certain security people. What will more gun laws really accomplish? Will they keep one criminal bent on carnage from a single school door?
In 1995 Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) a leading force in the failed 1994 assaults weapon ban told CBS 60 Minutes that: If I could have gotten 51 votes in the Senate of the United States for an outright ban picking up (every gun) ... Mr. and Mrs. America turn em all in. I would have done it. Then what? Do we ban knives next? No law no ban no restriction will ever stop evil.
What will happen in Connecticut and Maryland when there is another shooting at an undefended target? Will politicians call for even tougher gun laws? There is much debate and anecdotal evidence about whether concealed carry laws deter criminals but logic would seem to suggest they do. Isnt that why many homes have burglar alarms and security systems as well as guns? If a burglar knows a home is defended doesnt logic suggest he might try a house that is unprotected?
Guns can never be completely outlawed and human nature cant be changed by politicians. More laws arent the answer. Perhaps as the old saying goes The best defense is a good offense.
Cal Thomas is co-author (with Bob Beckel) of the book Common Ground: How to Stop the Partisan War That is Destroying America.
