Every time a person uses a gun to do violence, we are inevitably barraged with people seeking to use it to trample our right to self-defense. This is irrational and it is w-a-y past time for us to get past this. The gun is not the problem — period! The problem is always the person: either the one using the gun to harm others, or the one using that shooting to do so. Yes, that’s correct: if you use a shooting to push for gun control, you are as morally culpable as the shooter, maybe more so (because you are harming many times more people).
A gun is an inanimate object. I can load one and leave it in the street with the safety off and, so long as no one touches it, it will not fire — ever! And if it never fires, it will never hurt anyone. So, if you are afraid of guns, that is a phobia, and a phobia is irrational. There is nothing inherently wrong with having a phobia — unless you cannot control it. If you have a fear of elevators, you do not suddenly develop a right to push society into eliminating elevators. The same applies to weapons. A fear of firearms does not give you a moral imperative to attack them. In fact, it is just the opposite: attacking the right of other people to own firearms is a moral wrong! This is because you are attacking their right to defend themselves, which is an indirect attack on their very life.
What’s more, the empirical evidence is undeniable: gun control does not work — period! No, it does not, and it is time for reasonable people to stop arguing against factual reality. If gun control worked, Chicago would be a utopia, but it isn’t. If gun control worked, we would never have a shooting in a ‘gun free’ zone. So, to all those out there who still insist that gun control is the answer to human nature: GROW THE HECK UP!
The simple truth of the matter is it takes a person to harm another person. If a person is intent on doing harm, they will find a way to do so. I like to use the example of a science fiction book I once read. A mercenary is marooned on an artificial planet. At the center of this planet is an artificial intelligence that will not allow weapons. Soon after he arrives, the mercenary gets into a fight and picks up a chair to use as a weapon. The AI takes away the chair. Next, the mercenary uses a pipe or something like that, and the AI takes the pipe. After a few such instances, the AI realizes the weapon is the mercenary, himself — and it takes him away.
And now you understand the reason behind the death penalty: to remove the evil from among society, and warn those who would consider doing evil of the consequences of doing so…
The Oil for Your Lamp 