“Personal Experience” obtained via John Hinckley Jr.

There seem to be at least two sides to the gun control debate.  The first side accepts limitations on guns such as bazookas and howitzers, but thinks assault rifles should be allowed.  The other side thinks all guns are bad and if we could only pass laws strong enough, all gun crime would evaporate.

A friend of mine posted something on Facebook today that got me thinking:  he mentioned how public schools are “gun-free zones” except for when the President goes into a school.  I started to wonder: if the President truly thinks that our schools would be safe if we just passed better laws restricting firearms, then why does he allow his Secret Service detail to carry firearms? I mean, if it’s good enough for our kids to be protected by nothing but laws, then why not him?

I say this tongue-in-cheek, obviously, because the idea of the President of the United States going anywhere without an armed guard is ludicrous.  There are too many wackos out there that would take advantage of the fact that his guards have no guns.  I submit that these wackos are taking advantage of the fact that OTHER people don’t have guns either.  The fact is that if someone in the Sandy Hook school would have had a firearm with them last Friday, there would be far fewer dead right now.

So I have a question, Mr. President: why do you think guns are effective against the people who want to harm you, but they aren’t effective against the people who want to harm our children?  Hmmm?

And for those of you on the “pass better laws” persuasion, I have a question for you too.  Where do you think the line should be drawn?  Are single shot rifles ok? Are any handguns ok? What about rifles that hold more than one cartridge? What about shotguns? These guns are all used in violent crimes as well as the “machine guns” and “assault rifles.” Maybe a better question would go like this:  What would make you think we’ve done all that we can do regarding guns? Would you think we had arrived if we repealed the second amendment and made gun ownership totally illegal? Do you think gun crime would disappear then? I really want to understand your position, but so far it seems like all I hear is “we need to do more” and “there need to be fewer guns.”