The recent massacre at the Pulse Club in Orlando, Florida has brought out the demand for stricter gun control laws. Such a reaction is expected, but it does not mean it is the proper solution to the problem. Those calling for greater gun controls fall into two camps: One camp is demanding tighter regulations regarding background checks and who should be allowed to purchase weapons. The second camp wants a complete prohibition of all gun sales. Period. Either approach is doomed to failure.
History tells us that prohibition never succeeds. For example, heroin has been prohibited
for the past hundred years, yet we keep hearing about the heroin epidemic infecting this country and that millions of Americans are regular heroin users. How can that be possible when the drug is illegal and prohibited? Likewise, back in the 1920's, the Feds initiated alcohol prohibition.How well did that work? As we know millions of Americans continued to drink, speakeasys flourished, bootleggers grew rich, and mafioso like Al Capone grew powerful, influential and rich.
Why do we think a prohibition on guns would be any more successful than the banning of alcohol and drugs? Let us not forget we have been fighting this "war on drugs" since Nixon was president in the early seventies. Over forty years later we are still fighting it. To emphasize this point we need only to look over at France. They have some of the most restrictive gun laws on the planet earth, yet in 2015 and 2016 they were victims of two vicious and bloody terrorist attacks in which dozens of innocent people were gunned down.
Even if there was a complete and total ban on all guns, this wouldn't solve the problem because it is estimated that there are already 70 to 100 million weapons in the US.
Denying citizens their constitutional rights is never the proper solution. Someone once said those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. And one more point to remember. Those who seek to commit immoral acts pay no heed to the laws that restrict law abiding citizens, and will always find a way to achieve their ends.
