We need gun rights because men aren’t angels

But you don t have to be crazy about guns to recognize that no law could make the 400 million firearms in America disappear. Even making it illegal to own a gun wouldn t prevent a criminal or madman from carrying out the malevolent deed to which he has committed himself. Robust policies to prevent legal gun ownership only translate to guns being overwhelmingly possessed by those willing to break the law that is, criminals.

Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, is a gun-free zone, as is almost every place that has become a target for mass murder in recent years. Connecticut, where the Sandy Hook tragedy occurred, has some of the strictest gun laws in the country. None of the measures at the top of gun control advocates agenda such as banning so-called assault weapons (ordinary rifles with certain cosmetic features such as pistol grips or bayonet mounts) and closing gun show loopholes would ve averted these shootings. The Newtown killer stole the pistols he used, and the Las Vegas concert murderer passed all background checks with flying colors.

We d be much better off focusing on improvements we can make in identifying and treating mental illness, the common factor in most of these incidents, and ensuring that disqualifying records make it into the database used for background checks (which would ve stopped the shooters at Virginia Tech and the Charleston and San Antonio churches). The Parkland, Florida, high school killer had a long record of mental health and behavioral problems, but none of them stopped him from passing several checks. The Buffalo shooter from earlier this month had had a mental health evaluation last year but was released after just a day and a half.

There are problems with dispossession statutes too. Not every felony is violent why should we stop Martha Stewart from owning guns? while some misdemeanors are.

That s not to say that we shouldn t have any gun regulations. Cracking down on straw purchasers (buying a gun for someone who s not allowed to have one) is a good idea, and military weapons such as rocket launchers and hand grenades have no place in civilian life. Red flag laws, which allow police or family members to petition for the removal of firearms from people who may be dangerous to themselves or others, can catch mental health problems that otherwise fall through the cracks but must be narrowly drawn to prevent abuse and over-aggressive policing.

On the other hand, it s reasonable for someone to have a gun to protect herself or her family. That s why the Second Amendment is so important: Americans cherish their life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness so much that they instituted a government that protects their right to defend against anyone who would threaten them.

After the 1999 Columbine shootings, Colorado passed a series of laws that should serve as a national model. Some of them consist of what people call gun control, while others are in the gun rights category. The most important one was the Concealed Carry Act, which has saved countless lives, including at an Aurora church where an off-duty police officer in 2012 killed a career criminal who was targeting congregants three months before the more famous massacre at a movie theater in the same town, which the killer chose for its status as a gun-free

via www.washingtonexaminer.com

Ilya Shapiro.