The 18th Amendment to our Constitution, commonly referred to as the “Volstead Act”, set the starting date for nationwide “prohibition” for January 17, 1920.  After that date, the production or sale of alcoholic beverages in the United States was prohibited by law.  The law was rigorously enforced in some areas, and virtually ignored in others.  One of the “unintended consequences” of the Act was to create tens of millions of “criminals”.  These were citizens who felt their freedom of choice had been denied them due to the actions of a relatively small minority of very active and vocal individuals, like the “Women’s Temperance League” and others. They continued to imbibe, even though it was against the law.

The countries thirst for a cold beer, glass of wine or drink of whiskey had not magically ceased the moment the President signed the Volstead Act.  That fact created a booming business in the production or importation of now illegal beverages, and created a new and violent group of gangsters who fought amongst themselves for territories where they could distribute the illegal substance.  Unfortunately, many innocent citizens died as the result of these so-called “Gang Wars” during the 1920s and early 1930s.

All this should have ended with the passage of the 21st Amendment in December of 1933, but unfortunately a criminal underclass, the Mafia, had grown enormously during the era of Prohibition, and merely changed it’s illegal products to illicit drugs.  The huge profits from those substances have attracted gangs from Mexico, Central and South America and their efforts have drastically increased drug related deaths from various opioids being brought into our country mainly across our southern border.  The “War on Drugs” has failed just as the “War on Alcohol” failed during prohibition.

Now another “Cause Celebre” has come to the fore.  The issue of “Gun Control”.  The ban on so-called “assault weapons” signed into law by then President Bill Clinton in 1994 after it had been proposed by Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) ended in 2004 due to it’s “Sunset Clause”.  Studies have shown that it did virtually nothing to affect shooting deaths in the country. However, due to the high school shootings in Parkland, FL, that concept is back on the table.  We once again are to be persuaded that we can legislate moral behavior at the stroke of a Presidential pen.  It doesn’t work.

If we focus only on the results and not the causes of “Gun Violence”, we will never come up with a solution.  If the laws already in place had simply been implemented and common sense applied, Parkland probably wouldn’t have happened.  The same can be said for San Bernardino, Sandy Hook, Orlando, Fort Hood and others.  The warning signs were there.  They were simply ignored, and there were no consequences for those who failed to do their jobs.  Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel still has his job.  Why?  The FBI officials who ignored the warnings about the Parkland shooter are still there.  Why?  The prohibition against most military personnel  being allowed to be armed on base is still in place.  Why?

Instead, we allow a group of well meaning youths to stir up a storm against “assault weapons”, and indeed the Second Amendment to our Constitution, based on faulty information and claims.  The National Rifle Association is portrayed as a terrorist organization.  Responsible gun owners are called knuckle-dragging thugs.  Illegal aliens are elevated to the status of heroes, and politicians pass clearly un-Constitutional laws permitting “Sanctuary Cities” and even states, in the case of California.

Is there any reason for the general public to believe that more “Gun Control” laws, or “Gun Free Zones” will indeed make them safer?  Absolutely not!  In fact, virtually all the “mass shootings” have occurred IN “Gun Free Zones”!  It is said that locks only keep out honest people.  The same could be said of “Gun Free Zones”.  They only disarm honest people, making the “Zone” a “Safe” place for a potential shooter.  What WILL make us all safer is to identify the groups and individuals who ARE threatening the population. Even TOUCHING a firearm should be a capital offense for an illegal alien.

Major drug dealers SHOULD be executed, and the same for recidivist criminals.  We must stop giving a pass to law breakers, excusing their deeds due to “extenuating circumstances” such as race, religion, or national origin. The “poor” in our country would be considered rich in many areas of the world.  Poverty is not an excuse for lawlessness.  It wasn’t in our past, and it shouldn’t be now.

So before we are stampeded into draconian “Gun Control” measures, we should look to the recent past.  Prohibition and the “Assault Weapons Ban” didn’t solve our problems.  They just succeed in creating more “criminals” out of otherwise law abiding citizens.