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Ignorance of the Left
Ignorance of the Left
by
Michael P. Tremoglie
Former Philadelphia Police Officer
Submitted
by the Second Amendment Police Department
The Democratic candidate for governor of New
Jersey recently said that gun ownership is a bad idea.
For more than twenty years now I have owned a handgun. Initially, I did so
because I was a police officer--my pistol was a tool of the trade.
On duty, the weight of the service revolver against my hip was a reminder of the
dangers of my occupation. Off duty, the bulk of the weapon concealed in the
waistband of my trousers reminded me of the dangers of modern society. In all
the years of being around handguns I still, to this day, do not feel comfortable
with them. I guess knowing, first hand, the havoc and carnage firearms can
create gives me an appreciation the average person does not have. Knowing the
types of people who illegally use firearms makes that appreciation much more
meaningful.
I do not like owning or carrying a handgun. They are dangerous, unsightly, and
uncomfortable. I would be perfectly content not to carry one. I fervently hope
that it will never be used. However, I feel it necessary.
I enthusiastically endorse the impassioned efforts of those who want to keep
firearms from those who are of a criminal nature or who are emotionally
unstable. They have a noble goal. They want to save lives.
Handguns save lives too.
According to experts, thousands of lives are saved each year by the use of
handguns.
It would be encouraging if the gun control fanatics were as zealous in their
opposition to releasing habitual criminals from prison. If they were as ardent
in implementing programs that actually prevent crime rather than social
experiments that offer the phantasm of total criminal rehabilitation.
It would also be encouraging if Democrats ceased exploiting this serious issue
for political gain. They use gun control as a wedge issue. Their expectation is
that demonizing gun owners and the NRA will cut funding and political support
for Republicans. (I am a registered Independent.)
Gun control should not be a politicized. Too many lives are at stake.
Those obsessed with gun control offer many fallacies. One is that access to guns
cause crime. If that were so then gun clubs would be the most dangerous places
on the planet. Does anyone have data regarding homicides at gun clubs or pistol
ranges? It is nearly nonexistent.
Another fallacy is that the Second Amendment is only to be used by
governmentally organized groups such as the National Guard. This is not only
vacuous; it is dangerous. The logic totally perverts the meaning of the Bill of
Rights. That anyone can believe this is incredible.
The Bill of Rights exists to protect the people from the government--not the
government from the people. The exercise of those rights need not be sanctioned
by the government. What would they say if one applied their logic to the First
Amendment? It would mean that only the media organized and sanctioned by the
government would be allowed.
The other fallacy is that the Second Amendment refers only to the National
Guard. This patently absurd. The Bill of Rights is a guideline for the
establishment of governmental organizations. The Bill of Rights protects
individuals. Is the Fourth Amendment only to protect against searches of
organizations? Of course not, so why does the Second Amendment only apply to
groups?
They should read about the Bill of Rights and its origins. They would learn that
the Second Amendment has its roots in Pennsylvania's proposal to have citizens
keep arms for defense of themselves and their state--or that Samuel Adams felt
that the Constitution should not be construed as keeping citizens from owning
guns. The word militia only means that the army is composed of citizen-soldiers.
Gun control advocates have some legitimate concerns. However, if they believe
that abolition of private gun ownership will eliminate homicides by shooting
they are wrong. Guns are inanimate objects. They are no more responsible for
homicides than Picasso's brushes were responsible for his paintings or Goodman's
clarinet was for his music. Guns are tools. They make homicide easier--that is
irrefutable. Nevertheless, they make protection easier as well--that too is
irrefutable. The Founding Fathers knew this.
Gun control advocates seem to believe that they are omniscient--when in fact it
is quite the opposite. They exhibit a lack of understanding of the purposes of
the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
They can never be credible because of this, which is why they resort to
demonizing gun owners.
Michael P. Tremoglie is a former Philadelphia
police officer now a freelance writer working on his first novel. He
writes for Front Page Magazine
www.frontpagemag.com.
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