There are a lot of reasons to oppose gun control measures, especially those imposed by President Obama by way of executive order. Not only is he attacking constitutional right, he is also endangering many people who would otherwise use a gun to protect themselves.
But I want to focus on an aspect of these proposals that really bothers me. It’s the government’s tendency to do something that does nothing.
Everyone was heartbroken by Newtown, and it’s understandable people felt the urge to see some sort of action taken. That’s a natural, emotional response. But good policy isn’t made solely in response to emotion. Good policy should actually make a positive difference. If you’re trying to solve a problem, or prevent a future calamity, your policy should actually do that.
Proposals that seek to limit who can get guns will not do that. That’s for the simple reason that criminals do not obey the law. All you have to do is look to Chicago, which has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the nation, but also has one of the highest levels of gun violence. Gun control doesn’t work.
And Obama knows this. He is taking these actions just so he can say he did something. But he’s doing something that does nothing. It doesn’t solve the problem. Just like his actions on the deficit don’t solve the problem, just like his tax increases don’t make anything better, it’s the same with everything Washington does. They do something that does nothing, just so they can say they did something. And usually they make things worse. Most of the time we’d be better off if they would just do nothing.
