Gun laws don't work on people who break the law

I have heard more comments in the past few days that people "don't need assault rifles" than I have heard in the last several years combined! I still find it puzzling that someone can kill that many people and everyone jumps straight to attacking guns.

Why do we not scream to ban vehicles every time someone is killed by a drunk driver? Why are the penalties not harsher for people who drive a vehicle without a license? Isn't that the government's way of making sure people know how to handle a large piece of metal that can travel 100 mph. When this happens we blame the driver, not the car.

I am guessing the reason for this is because the car is ... driven and operated by a driver. It did not drive into someone on its own and it does whatever its driver tells it to do. A gun is no different. Some would argue that guns were made to kill people and cars were not, but I would argue that guns are made and it is up to the owner of each gun to decide how it will be used. If you look past the gun, you still come back to the issue many people want to avoid. Why are people going on killing sprees all over the country?

I am not convinced that a restriction on guns of the citizens (who follow the law) will keep anyone from killing people if someone is determined to do so. Murder is "prohibited" by the government and yet people kill. Stealing is "illegal" yet people steal every day. Not one person has ever been saved by a "no guns allowed" sign, and telling a criminal who wants to kill someone that he is not supposed to have a gun, will not keep him from getting a gun and killing someone.

We find guns on drug dealers all the time and very seldom is that gun purchased by the drug dealer. Why don't the drug dealers just buy a gun? Because felons cannot buy guns, and look how much that law has helped us. The mass media is focused on how the shooter bought a "legal" gun. Either way he got a gun and killed people. He obviously did not care about any laws so a law saying "no, no" to a gun would not have stopped him.

I am all for criminal checks being done before someone buys a gun from a gun dealer, but if a Vernon County "not so smart" drug dealer can get his hands on a gun, then anyone can. Even if all guns in America could be taken away, a would-be killer will just find some other way to carry out his will.

I have seen inmates in jail make dangerous weapons out of toilet paper roll inserts, empty shampoo bottles and deodorant sticks. Several years ago there was a detention officer killed in a county jail with a toothbrush that had been ground to a point, and then taped to the end of a newspaper using the barcode labels from deodorant sticks as tape. They have nothing but time on their hands, and the human mind can become very creative given enough time.

The truth is, no one can know for sure if someone is going to make the decision to kill another person. We can look for warning signs, we can attempt to deter by laws of punishment, and we can try and change a person's thinking by teaching, but we cannot control a person's mind. The person kills, not the gun.

What we do take away with a weapons ban however, is a person's ability to protect their family. And yes, I would say an AR-15 style weapon is included in that list of self-defense weapons. If you can say that all you need is a little pocket sized handgun to protect your family and the government will do the rest, then I have one question. If the government cannot even manage their bank account, then are you really willing to let them protect your family from every mad, crazy person out on the streets?