San Bernardino Doesn't Need Your Prayers, but America Needs New Gun Laws

Everyone is sick and tired of the damn-near weekly mass-shootings in this nation. People may disagree with the root causes, but no one disagrees there is a problem. Whether it's a school shooting with grade-schoolers, a shooting in the streets of Chicago, or a gunman shooting up a Planned Parenthood, the whole thing has become old. It's time for something to change. Your prayers after each shooting aren't doing much about the problem, which is kind of predictable. Obviously the average person can't do much more. Our legislators can change the laws of our nation though.

There are three main arguments that the pro-gun lobby and it's brainwashed public supporters cite as reasons to not pass gun control. They are:

1. Criminals don't listen to laws anyway.
2. The second amendment protects gun ownership.
3. Gun control wouldn't stop every shooting anyway.

Of course, their alternative is insane- arm more people. A "good guy" with a gun will stop the bad guys. Like they did in Columbine (Sheriff's deputies). Like they did at Fort Hood (it's a military base for God's sake). Like they did at Planned Parenthood last Friday (an officer ended up dead). A "good guy with a gun" at the Gabby Giffords shooting in Arizona a couple of year's ago almost shot the wrong person. This is nothing more than nonsense driven by an industry group that wants to escape scrutiny.

So let's take them at their own points for why not to do anything. Each one doesn't stand up to basic scrutiny.

1. By definition all criminals don't listen to laws, it's why we call them criminals. Are we going to get rid of murder, burglary, rape, or any other number of violent crime laws, because the criminals don't follow them? If you proposed this, you'd be laughed out of a legislature. It's just as stupid to say we don't need gun laws because criminals don't follow them.
2. The second amendment says, "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." That part about "a well regulated militia" is part of the amendment, not just the not infringing part. Your personal gun collection doesn't make you part of a militia. Now, I'm not saying ban all guns, but let's not pretend this amendment means guns-on-demand.
3. No, gun control won't stop all shootings, that's true. Anti-racketeering laws don't stop all racketeering. We don't hold laws up to the standard of having a perfect record of stopping crime. If the laws prevent a few crazies from getting guns, and save a few lives, they are worth it. Perfect is not the enemy of the good.

The truth is, it's easier to get a gun than a car in most of the United States. That really shouldn't be. Until we address that, we're going to be accepting this as the new norm. This should not be a norm. This should be stopped.