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No Guarantees
by Susan Callaway
[email protected]

Special to L. Neil Smith's The Libertarian Enterprise

The "news," blogosphere, and almost every forum on the internet is ablaze with speculations and pontifications regarding the latest mass murder in Aurora, Colorado. The sheer volume of statist and self serving posturing, jumps to conclusions absent facts, and plain old stupidity are almost as staggering as the actual death toll.

I don't know exactly what happened there. Until a careful and impartial investigation is completed, nobody is likely to know any more about it than I do. And that includes all of the people who were actually there. Whether or not there can BE any impartial and honest investigation remains to be seen, of course, but the lack of it has not stopped the speculation and hype in the least.

One thing I do know...

There are no real guarantees in life. There is no place on the planet where safety is 100% guaranteed, except maybe in the graveyards. Those are the only folks who can no longer be harmed by anything.

For the rest of us, life is risky. ALL life is risky, no matter where you are or what you do. Some places and situations are simply more risky than others. It would seem wise to spend some time actually thinking about that and doing what is possible to mitigate that risk by our own reasoned actions and choices, rather than foolishly thinking any and all risk can successfully be legislated into oblivion.

The theater in Aurora might have been set on fire, killing as many or more than died by gunfire. Would all of those now loudly calling for ever more victim disarmament (otherwise known as "gun control") be calling for background checks and "waiting periods" for match purchases? Would they think arson could be prevented if they could just force everyone to "register" and "license" their BBQ lighers and Bics? Would they campaign to make campfires, BBQ grills, and home fireplaces "illegal?" Would they really think there was any hope of stopping the next arson with those "laws?"

I doubt it, because only the most completely deluded or dishonest person believes it is possible to legislate safety, morality, intelligence or anything else that causes people to act—by controlling (or attempting to control) the tools they use. The tool is not the cause of the action. All of the tools in the world, guns included, are inanimate objects and incapable of acting on their own.

The "laws" can certainly be used after the fact to punish people, legitimately or not, but they play little or no part in preventing actual crime. Why is that? Because the criminal is already happy to violate the laws against murder and everything else, so a prohibition on buying (or owning) a box of matches, or a gun, is immaterial to them. As always, criminals are quite happy to steal the tools they wish to use - and there are already plenty of laws against theft.

I'm told that there were obvious "no gun" signs in place, as well as laws that prohibited carrying guns into the theater in Aurora. Why do you suppose the shooter ignored all those signs and laws? Did Aurora or Colorado simply need to legislate larger signs or more ponderous laws?

Disarming the rest of the population, even if it were possible in America today (a different essay), only creates more and more relatively helpless victims for criminals to kill—both freelance and those hired by governments around the globe. The horrible and inescapable fact of the Aurora incident is that the place was filled with unarmed, helpless victims—and the signs at the door advertised this fact clearly. The shooter knew he would face no real resistance at all.

Think about that.

Others have written about the horrific history of disarmament over just the last century, but if you doubt the importance or relevance of that, I urge you to see "Innocents Betrayed", a video put out by the Jews for The Preservation of Firearms Ownership. (jpfo.org)

Innocents Betrayed

Sit and watch for just 58 minutes. You'll see the photos, the footage, the people, the faces. You'll read the laws and hear the proclamations. You'll witness just enough horror to understand how easy it is for armed killers to slaughter the disarmed, the powerless, the innocents.

Genocide examples from all over the world: Russia, China, Germany, Cambodia, Guatemala, Uganda, Rwanda and more. Examples showing how disarmed people in America have suffered persecution, mass murder, slavery, and terrorist attacks.

A fast-moving, modern production, Innocents Betrayed presents the entirely true accounts of how civilian disarmament made possible the killing of millions.

Will the people of America allow this and similar incidents to stampede them into even more insanity—accepting political lies of safety instead of taking responsibility for themselves? Will the massacre at Aurora become the new 9-11 horror that robs people of their common sense and brings on the destruction of what remains of individual liberty and justice? Will the BATFE become an even greater monster than it already is? Will a new "TSA" arise to tuck us all into our imaginary bubble wrap each night—after being suitably molested and humiliated, of course?

Or will the people of America see through this latest act by statists and socialists, dancing in the blood of innocents, as a calculated and, perhaps, deliberate new attempt to gain ever more control over the lives and property of everyone.

And, more important, what would they do about it?

Susan Callaway is the Editor of The Price of Liberty.org

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