Blood on the Hands of Gun Controllers

A great article by John Lott on the "Life and Death Costs of Gun Control" (Hat tip to David Codrea of the War on Guns.)

I have said that I don't want to discuss the "utilitarian argument" against gun control, because that inevitably leads to bickering over what is a "fact." For example, I have seen cases in which someone arguing for gun control included people up to the age of 24 in their count of "children" in order to beef up their numbers. I have seen numbers of gun homicides that include people committing suicide by gun for the same purpose. While suicide is a homicide, keep in mind that many of the people who are feigning outrage over the numbers are the same folks who pushing for assisted suicide to be legalized. But I digress.

John Lott makes excellent cases that had the people of Mumbai been allowed to have guns, the outcome there might have been different. He makes the principled case that Plaxico Burress should not be made a criminal simply for possessing a gun, absent malicious intent to use it. He makes the case that the police can not be there to prevent crime. In fact, the only person that has a chance of preventing a crime is the potential victim himself.

I do not mean to imply that merely having a gun will always save you. You must be aware, and prepared to act. But, if having a gun makes a difference, then being denied a gun by law means that those who pushed for and passed such laws are complicit in murder. In a just society they would be tried as accomplices and punished as appropriate.