As the push for stricter gun control by virtually all of the Democratic presidential candidates continues, the very important issue which isn’t part of the discussion is so-called “Gun Free Zones”, and the very real threat they pose to everyone in this country. I have written on this subject before. I can find no possible reason to allow any venue to arbitrarily declare that it is “Gun Free”, and thereby lull individuals into a false sense of security while there. Whether is is a school, restaurant, retail store or entertainment venue, unless there is a mechanism in place to properly scan people for weapons prior to entering, the concept of a location being “Gun Free” is ridiculous on its face.

There is an old saying that “Locks only keep out honest people.” That certainly applies to most “Gun Free Zones” as well. It has been shown time after time that terrorists, criminals and mentally disturbed people are not deterred in the least by the posted signs which declare an area to be free of guns or other deadly weapons. Only honest people, who are entitled by the provisions of the Second Amendment to “Keep and bear arms” for self defense, and in many cases have gone through the additional background checks and training to obtain a Concealed Weapons Permit, are deterred from entering such a venue while armed.

The mass shootings which we have witnessed recently generate great public concern as they should. However, the fact that many of them have occurred in “Gun Free Zones” is ignored by many politicians and the majority of the media. The shooters gravitate to these places because they are virtually assured there will be no one to stop them for those crucial minutes required to execute helpless unarmed people.

What leftist politicians seem to want to ignore is that you cannot legislate moral behavior. It didn’t work during American Prohibition, and it hasn’t worked during the “War on Drugs” first proposed by Richard Nixon in 1971. Unless you eliminate the root causes of antisocial behavior, the problem just continues, or indeed gets worse. When President Obama directed the DOJ to eliminate programs which identified and removed students who were disruptive or exhibited violent behavior in the classroom, because he felt the programs unfairly targeted minorities, he opened up a Pandora’s Box. This act caused people like Parkland shooter Nickolas Cruz to have their records of violent, antisocial behavior expunged when they reached the age of 18, thereby allowing him to pass a background check and purchase the weapon used to murder 17 people and injure 17 others. If you go back to the original school shooting at Columbine High, through Sandy Hook and others, including Parkland, in each case the perpetrators exhibited violent and bizarre behavior which should have been investigated. Instead, it was mostly ignored by authorities. 

In the case of most gun violence, strong measures means making the penalty for using a gun in the prosecution of a crime so severe that it actually deters people from doing it. I would propose a swift death penalty for anyone involved in a second criminal gun use incident. No years of appeals. A quick review of the decision and then two strikes and you are OUT!  That would serve to eliminate most gang violence, which is the cause of most of the gun related deaths in this country, not caused by suicidal individuals, who account for most of the “Gun Violence” deaths each year.

Then, remove all the armed protection provided for various government officials. Their lives are no more sacrosanct than the rest of us. Let them obtain CWPs and protect themselves. Finally eliminate all gun free zones which aren’t protected by armed law enforcement and electronic screening devices such as what are in place at various government buildings, courthouses and airports. Gun “Buybacks”, a misnomer, since the government never “owned” them in the first place, or outright gun bans will never work. The bad actors will never turn them in, and it will only make criminals out of honest citizens who refuse to relinquish their guns, and create an underground economy for weapons, just as occurred with liquor during the Prohibition era. 

Stop the political correctness and allow properly trained Americans to defend their lives, and the lives of others. We must identify potentially dangerous individuals, but guard against the “Star Chamber” practices of the Spanish Inquisition, which allowed anonymous accusations to be used to destroy the lives of guiltless individuals. That is exactly what will surely happen if the proposed “Red Flag” laws are passed. The possibility no, probability, of that result is self evident. Common sense in these matters simply must prevail.