[Vision2020] Guns in Greenleaf

[Mike Finkbiner]

If I understand it correctly, Greenleaf is considiring an ordinance to 
encourage gun ownership and training, not require it.

Personally I figure the 1st Amendment is far more dangerous than the 2nd.  
There are a lot of folks out there who shouldn't be trusted with a quill 
pen, let alone a web site.  More people have been killed by ideas than guns, 
but that's the price we pay for living in a free society.

Everything has tradeoffs.  Far more kids are killed in car accidents than by 
firearms every year, but we work to improve rather than ban, because cars 
are useful.  If you are going to use a dangerous tool, learn how to do it 
right.

Guns are also useful tools.  Here's one aspect - there have been many 
studies done by people on all sides of the political spectrum which show 
that private citizens in the US use guns hundreds of thousands of times 
every year to prevent crimes.  Most of the time it's something like the old 
man responding late at night to the sound of breaking glass by getting out 
of bed, grabbing his shotgun and racking the slide, followed by the sound of 
footsteps running away.

There are also incidents where shots are fired and people are injured, but I 
have a hard time being sympathetic to people who get hurt while trying to 
rob and steal.

See http://claytoncramer.com/gundefenseblog/blogger.html for examples of 
stories that made the news around the country.

We aren't going to reduce violence by restricting guns, we just put weaker 
people at the mercy of the strong.  I prefer to live in a community where 
crooks realize that breaking into a house might find them facing a shotgun, 
or the woman they attack might pull a .38.

Both England and Australia have tried to reduce violence by banning guns.  
Since those laws have gone into affect, the number of home invasion 
burglaries has gone up.  Crooks now know they won't be facing a gun.  For 
more info see -

http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/shared/readmore.asp?sNav=nr&id=570

The police can't be there to protect you when crimes occur.  I think the 
idea of encouraging more people to get the training needed to be safe and 
responsible gun owners is a good idea.

MF


The longer you wait to confront reality, the fewer options you have -

                              Larry Bossidy