Beyond Politics: Let’s go shooting

"Banning guns addresses a fundamental right of all Americans to feel safe." Unfortunately, California Senator Dianne Feinstein's misguided view on firearms is a sentiment shared by many Americans.

Here in Montana, guns are an established part of our tradition and culture. Every Montanan is expected to own guns and support the Second Amendment. But why?

People who advocate for strict regulations — like Senator Feinstein — either fear guns or rest their arguments on wishful thinking.  Fear of guns stems from a lack of education — the clichéd "guns don't shoot people, people shoot people," applies well here. After all, when was the last time you saw a gun jump off a table and shoot somebody?  (Note to the idiot who shot another person on campus earlier this year: Be safe and use common sense when handling firearms).

The logic that people would be safe if guns were banned or highly restricted is not only flawed, it is dangerous. Take an extreme example: say all firearms were outlawed tomorrow. Who would turn over their guns to authorities? Law-abiding citizens. Who would ignore the law and keep their weapons? Criminals. The idea behind gun-control is keeping firearms away from dangerous people, but a gun ban would only disarm law-abiding citizens, leaving them at the mercy of criminals who already break other laws. After all, law enforcement rarely shows up to the scene of a crime before a crime has been committed. And a police presence after you've been victimized is poor consolation.

Granted, not all gun regulations are bad. Some things, like restricting people who are mentally unstable from buying firearms, are common sense. We should focus on enforcing existing, good rules, not creating new restrictions based on flawed ideology.

Besides, we already have too many laws restricting citizens' fundamental right to self-defense. For example, felons are prohibited from owning firearms, but felons' crimes vary widely. Did you know that you can get a felony for making a sparkler bomb or using a fake ID that doesn't have your own name on it? It doesn't make sense to take away the same rights from a 20-year-old college student buying beer at a gas station and a serial killer!

"If guns are outlawed, only the government will have guns. Only the police, the secret police, the military, the hired servants of our rulers. Only the government — and a few outlaws. I intend to be among the outlaws."  Edward Abbey's quote illustrates what history has repeatedly shown through events like the Holocaust and those that occurred in Soviet Russia — that an unarmed citizenry is defenseless against a tyrannical government.

If our basic right to own firearms was ever taken away, you can bet there would be more than a few outlaws in Montana, myself included. And Senator Feinstein, I feel much safer being armed than defenseless. Now, who wants to go shooting?

kyle.schmauch@umontana.edu

Kyle Schmauch is a writer for the blog Treasure State Politics and works on Corey Stapleton's gubernatorial campaign.