11/03 Another Gun Ban Needs To Expire

Another Gun Ban Needs To Expire In Peace
by
Larry Pratt

Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) has introduced a bill to renew the ban on plastic guns. Unhappily, so has House Judiciary Chairman, Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI).

A plastic gun is harder to find than a Senator who can swim the turbulent coastal waters off the Massachusetts coast.

There never has been a plastic gun; there is no such gun at this time; and if there were one sometime in the future, the Senator’s law would do nothing to keep thugs and terrorists from obtaining such a gun.

If someone were to build a plastic gun, firing it would convert the gun into a handful of useless, plastic rubble.

Those in the anti-self defense crowd such as Senator Kennedy believe that gun bans will keep guns out of the wrong hands. The island of England has a near-total gun ban and now has more crime committed with guns than at any time in recent history.

Sen. Kennedy’s ban on plastic guns sends the wrong signal, as does the claim that such actions will keep us safe from terrorists. Rather than banning non-existent guns, the Senator should join forces with those trying to get the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) to arm pilots. This will do more to stop terrorists than would the Senator’s anti-gun posturing.

The Senator might also work on getting the TSA to hire Nathaniel Heatwole, the 20-year old college student who embarrassed the TSA by repeatedly carrying various weapons through “airport security.” He seems to know a bit more about security than do the “pros.”

When Mr. Heatwole gets the TSA into shape, he should proceed on to Capitol Hill to work on the “security” procedures there. Consider that a couple of gals in Halloween garb with a plastic toy gun recently made it through security and caused a lock-down of one of the office buildings of the House of Representatives. Had they put their plastic toys under their garments they would have gone in without a hitch. Maybe they could have squirted Sen. Kennedy since he seems to be so adept in water.

Had the trick or treaters had one of the non-existent plastic guns Sen. Kennedy and Rep. Sensenbrenner are worried about, it would have been a lot more reassuring to the staff if they were able to pack their personal pieces while at work. Obviously, depending only on the police and “security” is not enough.

We do not need a false sense of security which is the only benefit of passing gun control legislation. We need an armed people able to defend themselves. That is true homeland security.