A gun ban is not the answer

      Over the past few months, we Americans have been repeatedly shocked by random, senseless mass shootings.  Some deranged individual gets his (it's always a "he") hands on a gun, goes to a public place, and just starts shooting people.  And as sure as the sun rises in the east, the calls come again for the government to "do something" about it.

      I really hate to have to keep pounding it over and over, but the simple and irrefutable truth is that government legislation is not the solution to this, nor any other problem in our society.  We already have zillions of laws on the books and programs and swarms of agents and bureaucrats controlling and micro-managing nearly every aspect of our lives.  Adding more layers of government will not help make life better for any of us.
      But that, of course, does not stop the government-worshippers, who cling to the idea that if government restricts ownership of gun, then gun violence will diminish.  It doesn't work like that.  The law has always said it is a crime to kill or harm somebody.  These lawbreakers clearly don't obey THAT law, so by what logic would they obey a gun ownership ban?
      Aside from calls for gun ownership restrictions, other proposals currently making the rounds are the so-called "red flag" laws, and background checks.  The former says that if you observe somebody with violent or anti-social behavior that raises a "red flag" in your mind, that you should report this person to the authorities for further investigation.  It doesn't take much imagination to figure out how such a law could be horribly abused.  Let's say you have an argument or disagreement with a friend, relative, acquaintance, neighbor, or that guy who cut you off in traffic.  You could then just report them, saying he raised a "red flag" and you are afraid!  Background checks are also a futile endeavor because there is not much correlation between what it might uncover, and someone's propensity to kill.  Most of the gun-wielding mass murderers these days are friendless loners and anonymous Internet posters, thus it's unlikely that their behavior could be observed or traced back to them.
      The anti-gun crowd likes to say that guns are rarely used in self-defense - but that statement is just plain wrong.  According to this article from the Foundation for Economic Freedom, people in the United States use guns to defend themselves quite often:  between 69 Thousand and 1.5 Million times a year, depending on which agencies numbers are more accurate.  (It's difficult to put a hard number on these types of events because they are rarely reported.)  However, there is no disputing the fact that gun violence, especially mass killings, get a lot of attention from the news media.
       And so, the anti-gun crowd continues in its misguided efforts to turn our entire nation into a gun-free zone.  But every violent criminal knows that "gun-free" simply means that nobody there will stop him.  Come on in and fire at will!  It's been said before, and it needs to be said again:  The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.
      And yes, even some SCHOOLS across the land have gotten the memo, and allowed their teachers to arm themselves.  In the ensuing years, the news from these armed schools has been … pretty quiet.  See my article "Warning: your teacher is armed!"

      Meanwhile, what else CAN we do as a nation to reduce these mass killings?  Well, there is a very troubling aspect from the recent event in El Paso, Texas.  It seems that the shooter is a far right-wing racist from Dallas.  Evidence is mounting that he drove to El Paso for one very specific, bizarre reason:  to kill Hispanics.

      There's a lot of racist animosity flying around our great nation of immigrants these days, and a good chunk of it is directed at Hispanics.  And Muslims.  From when does it arise?  Look no further than our illustrious President Trump.  As a leader, role model, and image of our great nation, he should be working hard to unify us and encourage cooperation and civility.  Unfortunately, since his campaign began, he has done just the opposite, sowing the seeds of hate, racism, and white nationalism.  And it's spreading.  The suspect in the El Paso shooting admitted that he "praises Trump".  Hispanics living in south Texas feel like they have a "target on their back."  See also this article on Rawstory.com. 
      However, Trump is not the only bad actor here.  On the other side of aisle, you have your black race-baiters like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, and groups like Black Lives Matter.   They never miss an opportunity to blame white people for all the problems that their race faces.  (In a way, Trump is sort of a backlash against it all.)

where citizens do not own guns

      For this very reason, the founding fathers of this great nation sought to codify the right to own guns right there in the Constitution.  The 2nd Amendment sent a strong message to the government: Warning - the citizens of this nation are armed!  If you government swamp-critters get too big for your britches, then the people are ready, willing, and able to resist. 

      No, no, no, I am not advocating an armed revolt against the government - even though one could argue that yeah, it HAS gotten much too big.  No, the ballot is the "weapon" we all must use to shrink government back down to size.  And keeping the right to own guns has always been part of the plan, too.