Guns Are Not to Blame

September 29, 2009

Delaware Online

By Bill Stewart

After a terrible tragedy like the murder of Georgetown Police Officer Chad Spicer, gun-control advocates usually come out in force. The gun that Officer Spicer was murdered with was not registered. It wasn’t purchased by a citizen with proof of identity.

Almost every household in South Dakota legally owns at least one gun. In our nation’s capital, gun ownership is illegal. Both populations are about 650,000. Yet Washington’s crime rate is nine times higher than South Dakota’s and its murder rate is 35 times higher. This is in spite of the fact that Washington’s police force is five times the size of South Dakota’s.

Guns don’t equal crime. Criminals equal crime.

Why don’t the anti-gun advocates look at Australia and England, which have banned all guns for the last 20 years? They are now first and second on the violent crime scale, far outranking the United States in those areas. If the anti-gun lobby has its way, soon the U.S. will be the leader in violent crime.

Gun bans simply make the crimes easier, make the law-abiding citizens defenseless prey and give criminals the upper hand.

Government fails to protect us, especially from repeat offenders. In our present environment, to be unarmed is to be helpless. Why should we allow criminals to hurt us or to end our lives?

Gun control would force us into that situation. An armed populace helps to keep the felons away, especially in times of high crimes or terrorism.

Benjamin Franklin said, “If you make yourselves sheep, the wolves will eat you.”

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