Is it finally time to ban cars?

Carnage. There's no other word to describe it. Each year 40,000 Americans lose their lives on America's roadways. Approximately 95 every single day. Of that 95, at least 5 are children under the age of 15. That means that the death total of the Newtown school murders is achieved every single week via an automobile. Yet there are no protests to ban cars, limit the amount of cars a person could own or reduce the number of cylinders a car should have. After all, who really needs a 350 horse power engine, right? I checked the Constitution. There is no mention of the right to keep and bear a motorized vehicle. A ridiculous comparison? Well, you may think so but if the real reason behind gun control is to save lives and not disarm a responsible gun owning populous, we should be seeing massive protest in favor of "car control". But we're not.

An adult or child is far more likely to be injured or lose their life in a car accident than by a firearm. That's not an opinion, it's a statistical fact. So if the fact that a child is more likely to drown in a bucket in their own home, than injured by a gun. 30 children a year die this way. What are we to do? Limit the width and liquid capacity of buckets? Almost 1000 kids a year will drown in various ways. Most within their own home. Tragic? Of course. But we already have a ton of federal, state and municipal laws enacted to keep children and adults safe from drowning. Laws don't save lives. Only common sense and personal responsibility can do that.

Some are willing to accept the fact that accidents do happen. And that no matter how hard we try, innocents will die in car accidents, boating accidents, drownings, falls and various other ways. I'm one of those people. We can and must try to limit such deaths. But we must also admit there is a limit as to how much success we'll have. Common sense and acts of God cannot be legislated. Dissolving or altering the Constitution cannot wipe away human error or change the human heart. We have to live in the real world not a theoretical one. The theoretical world would tell us that banning all firearms would make us safe from gun violence. But reality would suggest that banning or making certain activities illegal don't work. Prohibition failed miserably. Even today, though cocaine, marijuana, heroin and prostitution are all illegal - all of them can be had within and 20 minutes of where you live, no matter where you live.  Laws? Those who engage in such activities don't give a damn about laws. You think they're going to follow gun laws?

We live in a dangerous world. Acts of insane violence cannot be stopped by well meaning, though ineffective laws anymore than speed limits or stop signs reduce car accident deaths. Human nature and human error will interfere with the best of our intentions. Just as selfish drivers will blow through stop signs, exceed speed limit or tailgate at high speeds - so will those bent on destruction use a firearm to inflict carnage. It is not popular to use these analogies, but it is correct to do so. And because I know there are those who will use such weapons in their efforts of destruction, I choose to remain armed. For the same reason I purchase car insurance hoping that I never have to use it, I buy guns. Disarming or limiting my capacity to defend myself does not keep you safer. But going after those who would be dangerous to both you and I, would. That is where our efforts must be focused. Happy motoring.