New Prohibition for a new generation

May 28, 6:39 AMCleveland Gun Rights ExaminerDaniel White

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Courtesy of Oleg Volk

“Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” - Sir Winston Churchill

From 1919 to 1933 there was a great social experiment in the United States. Due to continuing pressure from the Temperance Movement, the United States congress moved to pass legislation banning the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcoholic beverages. It was thought that this ban would solve issues of drunken violent and reduce crime. It failed.

As we all know, bootlegging and speakeasies became rampant. People wanted alcohol and if they couldn't buy it legally, they bought it illegally or made it themselves. Many believe that this illegal alcohol trade was directly responsible for the rise in power of the Mafia and other forms of organized crime. Finally, in 1933, the failed experiment came to an end, but the damage done would last for decades.

The gun ban movement is following a similar track. They blame the object instead of working on the social ills that are the true cause of crime. They attempt to indoctrinate the children into their beliefs through negative portrayals in movies and on television and liberal teachers bring their bias into the classroom. While many gun grabbers are content to try to ban one type of firearm at a time, others make it clear that the endgame is a complete prohibition on civilian ownership.

We need only to look to other countries who have already enacted sweeping gun bans to see that the effect is no different than that Prohibition had here. Illegal trafficking skyrocketed, those who fully obey the law become easy victims for those who don't, and ordinary citizens are legislated into being criminals. A letter to the editor describes the situation in Canada and the effects of their gun ban.

It virtually eliminated the legitimate firearms market, drowning it in a sea of government regulation and red tape, which is where things began to unravel. It provided a vacuum into which a fledgling black market in firearms was able to rapidly take over and expand. Legitimate storefront firearm businesses were replaced by car-trunk businesses and back-alley dealings.

For other parallels, we need only to look at the illegal drug trade in our own country. Despite a complete ban and stiff penalties that have lead to hundreds of thousands of incarcerations, illicit drugs still run rampant and criminal enterprises turn a huge profit.

Fortunately, public sentiment towards repealing the Right to Keep and Bear Arms has swung away from such dangerous ideals. Firearms and ammunition purchases continue at a record rate, and gun rights lose decades ago are being restored slowly but surely. Perhaps we have learned from the past after all.