Gun Control

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Gun Control: the Real Issues
“Misuse or theft prohibited by law”. This was the
warning printed on a milk-carrying container at the
local grocery store where I work. The use of the word
“prohibited” intrigued me, so when I got home I looked
it up in Reader’s Digest’s Great Encyclopedic
Dictionary. I found two definitions: “1. To forbid,
especially by authority or law; interdict.” and “2. To
prevent or hinder.”. (1077) Now, which definition was
being used in the warning? Was is possible to forbid
misuse or theft by passing a law? Certainly it was.
Was is possible to actually prevent misuse or theft by
passing a law? Well, not totally. If somebody was a
moral, upright, and law abiding citizen he would
probably not misuse or take the container. In fact,
such a person would probably not have misused or taken
it in the first place. On the other hand, if the
person in question did not have such a desirable world
view, if he, in fact, did not care if it was right or
wrong, or if he had malicious intent, then a law would
not necessarily prevent him from misusing or taking
the carton. He might be dissuaded if he knew he would
get caught and would suffer consequences. If, however,
he did not think that he would get caught, or he knew
that he would not suffer any consequences, then why
would he care?

On this thought I would like to turn your attention to
the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United
States of America and the directly related and very
relevant subject, that of gun control. I think that
you will see a connection.

Let us begin with the question, “What does the
amendment mean?”. It was concerning this question that
award-winning author, president of SoftServ
Publishing, and founder of the Committee to Enforce
the Second Amendment, J. Neil Schulman contacted Roy
Copperud. (Shulman 4) Roy Copperude is, among other
things, a 30 year veteran newspaper writer, a 17...