We often hear politicians, both left and right, wrongly tell us that we live in a democracy. We do not. Our nation is a representative republic. In a democracy, the majority rules. If this were a democracy we would be voting constantly on every issue that comes to the attention of the public, and on matters of national policy. We do not do that. We instead send representatives to Washington DC to speak for us, but the thought that we may have some kind of direct participation is comforting. Some have proposed direct voter participation via the Internet. At first blush that may sound like a good idea. But consider how the citizens will be informed of the various issues. Because there are so many (some would say "too" many) news sources, an official government information agency would need to be established. Once provided with the official, government approved facts, the people would thus be equipped to make an "informed" instant vote, via the Internet. We know how we can trust the government, don't we?

The majority of our fellow citizens do not care to "rule." They are too busy to get involved. Not only that, they are lazy, complacent, ignorant sheep. As long as they (we) can maintain their (our) economic status, drive their trendy cars, and can drive thru their favorite coffee dealer and get their double latte mocha delight, they are content. They ignorantly believe they live in a "safe zone" where they are somehow immune from crime. How many times have we heard someone interviewed following a major crime say; "I never thought that something like that could happen here." As if "here" was somehow immune from crime, for no other reason than that is where they live. Or if they live in an affluent area, that somehow magically, no one from outside would ever think to trespass and bother them. Nope, most people are not touched by crime on a personal basis. When they see a police car, they think speeding ticket or DUI, not violent felony crime. So they continue to pay their taxes and feel warm and fuzzy when some politician tells them they will put 100,000 more cops on the streets. This past week, Al Gore promised even more cops. They buy that, without thinking about how that will be accomplished or paid for (so far it has not). Average Joes "feel" more safe and secure. Their perception is that they are somehow safer with more and more armed government agents. If there is a problem all they have to do is call 9-1-1 and they are totally safe.

They will gladly pay more and more in taxes for more and more government intrusion into their lives. They hear about "13 children a day" being killed by "guns." They say tsk, tsk, and support more gun control. The liberal news media ignores the facts that the definition of children in those reports includes 19-20 year old inner city drug dealers and purposefully choose not to report that. Oh sure, they have grand dad's old deer rifle in the closet and dad's old .38, is.....somewhere around here. They know they are not criminals and would never think about using a gun in crime, but there is no reason for all of those "other" people to have so many guns. It's all of those "other people" who are the problem. All of those other people need gun locks, but "my kids know better than that."

When the NRA challenges those popular misconceptions, or lies, they (we) are dismissed as right wing extremists. Because that dismissal comes from the government and the major news media, it is given credence. Many swallow that line without question.

They support more "common sense gun safety" (the latest code words for gun control). After all, "we must keep criminals and children from buying guns," both already prohibited by laws on the books. They believe that licensing and registration will solve the crime problem. Despite the fact that in those jurisdictions where registration and licensing has been on the books for decades, not one crime can be found that was solved by licensing and registration. Not one. The news media purposefully chose not to report that. This despite the fact that licensing drivers and registering cars has not had an effect on cars involved in crime. The news media purposefully chooses not to report that.

They believe we must do "something" about "gun violence," as if knife violence, club violence, baseball bat, and kicking and hitting violence is okay. They somehow defy real common sense and believe that felons will surrender their weapons, and by doing so will be providing the government with evidence of a new felony to charge them with. They think that felons will register their guns, despite the fact that the US Supreme Court says they do not have to. (Haynes v. U.S., 1968.)

When told by politicians that 55,000 felons have been prevented from buying guns, each instance at least one more federal felony, most folks don't wonder why there were only 7 prosecutions. They choose to ignore the fact that the vast majority of the "denials" were later rectified as errors, or the computer system being down. I have personal experience with that. I was "delayed" when buying new guns, twice. Both times, within an hour I was approved, but the initial delay is scored as a denial.

Where is all of this going? The politicians do not want this problem solved. Why not? Because to some, the issue is what is important. The issue needs to be kept alive to attack their opponents. Finally, after all of these new laws are shown to not work, there is only one "logical" step left. Confiscation. The anti gunners will cry they have tried and tried to solve the issue, but no matter what, they have failed. They will say although they never wanted to, there is no choice left but to take all of the guns away from private citizens. They really do not want to, but golly, nothing else seems to work, so we have to try this. For the children.

Refer to the two quotations above. And then these from more recent times.

"We can't be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans ..." (President Bill Clinton, USA Today, March 11, 1993, Page 2A)

"If the personal freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution inhibit the government's ability to govern the people, we should look to limit those guarantees." (President Bill Clinton)