Gun control, ha!

I'm quite thankful for the Supreme Court's recent decision on District of Columbia v. Heller to reaffirm an individual right to bear arms. It was important because:

It was the first Supreme Court case in United States history to address directly whether the right to keep and bear arms is a right of individuals or a collective right that applies only to state-regulated militias.

Simple logic shows that the first part of the amendment has nothing to do with the National Guard. Why, would such a right for government need to be enumerated in the Constitution anyhow? The militia in colonial times was ALL of the able-bodied men of the community. If you eliminate that historical context, it's easy to see where some would be misled into thinking the Founders wanted an armed National Guard, not an armed citizenry.

So I was flipping through the channels last night and that 30 Days documentary series on FX was on, done by Morgan Spurlock, director of the anti-fast food documentary "Super-Size Me." The episode was an, ahem, interesting take on the gun control debate. This 39 year old aerobics instructor from the People's Republic of Massachusetts, Pia Lalli, is sent to live with this gun enthusiast straight from central casting with his triple-wide mobile home, ridiculously large collection of firearms (you could have a few guns and use the rest of the money to get a REAL house) and son who seemed brainwashed like he was in some sort of religious cult.
From the show's description on the FX site:

After Pia learned that her friend had been killed by a schizophrenic man wielding a gun in 1996, she became a gun control advocate who has fought to pass stricter gun laws in the U.S. Pia believes that the world would be free from gun violence only by prohibiting the sale of guns to anyone outside of law enforcement and armed services.

For 30 Days, Pia will live in the heart of gun culture in the rural town of Leesburg, Ohio with gun enthusiast Ken Ekermeyer, 39, and his 15-year-old son Zach. Ken is an avid gun collector and rarely leaves home without his gun strapped to his side. Ken believes carrying a gun is his right guaranteed to every American by the Second Amendment. As Pia struggles to understand the Ekermeyer's beliefs and somewhat isolated way of life, she will work at a local gun store and experience what it is like to carry a gun in public, learn to handle and fire weapons and will introduce Ken to other gun control activists who have lost loved ones to gun violence.

Find out more here.

Pia fires a gun and immediately starts bawling. I know why, but it still was tragicomic. She said that every time she heard a gun go off, "she thought of a child dying." Oh Lord.

Also, the two gun control activists tried to browbeat Ekermeyer and put the blame on him and his hobby for the loss of their loved ones.

But the one question these folks, who tried desperately to pawn themselves off as only seeking sensible gun control laws, failed to answer is: who does these laws affect? It certainly isn't Ekermeyer, who follows the laws. It's criminals. It's amazing how this simple bit of logic eludes most liberals.

There was one thing she brought up that I agree with: the honor system on the background check application should not be used. Even though privacy concerns would probably prevent this, I'd like to see an extended stay in a mental institution appear on an FBI background check.

I'd also like to see increased penalties for gun store owners who don't follow the law when it comes to the selling of firearms and for those who purchase guns for others, who then go and commit crimes.

But these people never stop at just that. Reasonable is not what they seek. Pia wants only the government and the military (and by default, criminals) with guns. But in the cities where there is a near-complete ban on firearms, there is a correspondingly high rate of murders and property crime. It's either be a victim or take responsibility for your own self-defense.