Columns

January 16. 2013 11:16PM

Another View -- Larry Jones: After these 'common sense' gun restrictions, then what?

LARRY JONES

Linked articles:
Obama vows to fight for assault-weapons ban, other controls on guns

The politicians say we need to enact a "common sense" ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. But recently a criminal used a shotgun in another "gun-free zone" school shooting. So should the politicians be successful at infringing the right of good people to own an ugly gun, i.e. the purposely and deceptively misnomered "assault rifle," and at confiscating them and all the high-capacity magazines, won't the next "common sense" law be to ban and confiscate all shotguns?

Then a madman will kill 20 or 30 defenseless students in a "gun-free zone" school using multiple semi-automatic handguns (like the killer at Virginia Tech) and multiple "low-capacity" magazines, changing them in 1.5 seconds or less. So if they're successful at getting the aforementioned bans, won't the next "common sense" law be to ban and confiscate all semi-automatic handguns and low-capacity magazines?

Then, will not a madman enter another "gun-free zone" school and kill 18 or 30 defenseless kids with three or more six-shooter revolvers by drawing a loaded revolver when one empties or using speed loaders? So should they be successful at enacting the previous bans, wouldn't the next "common-sense" law be to ban and confiscate all six-shooter revolvers and speed loaders?

If this were a perfect world and the politicians successfully banned and confiscated all the above-mentioned guns (an estimated 200-300 million) and prevent the smuggling of others across our notoriously porous borders, could not another madman take a car and steamroll it through a playground in another "gun-free zone" school, killing 20 or more defenseless kids while the teachers, helpless to stop him, watched in horror?

The mass murderers never choose a gun store, gun show, gun range, NRA convention or a police station. When will the demagoguing politicians and their delusional supporters abandon their murderous insistence that our kids be defenseless? When will they demand the real common-sense measure of having armed teachers or administrators, guards, police officers or volunteers in our schools?

Larry Jones lives in Peterborough.