Safer Streets 101: stopping outlaws and not freedoms.

November 8, 10:34 AMLA Gun Rights ExaminerJohn Longenecker

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The substance of the second amendment isn't in the concept of guns per se, it is in the concept of being the sovereign in America and, as the sovereign, having the legal and moral monopoly on all lethal force here. The key word is sovereignty.

When we think of safer streets, we often make that same mistake in concept (what do you mean we Kemosabe?) Many believe that our major cities' streets are unsafe due to so many guns on the street, but there are just as many guns on the streets in right-to-carry states without the high crime rate. What gives? What is the subject of gun control missing here?

The answer is that it is not that major cities have too many guns, the major cities have too many Outlaws. Major cities in RTC states have fewer outlaws because they have more guns, not fewer guns. The real difference is not measured in guns, but in fewer laws. That is to say, less gun control becomes more crime control.

The thing that makes the safe streets in RTC states isn't any number of guns, but in the freedom of the citizens. Specifically, trained citizens who are armed wherever they have a right to be.

Let's go back one step to outlaws and not choice of weapon. Many outlaws – violent criminals – choose their weapon, and we know that they can get their hands on any gun they like no matter what gun law we write (what do you mean we, Kemosabe? I never wrote a gun law.) They also use brute force, numbers of thugs, knives, bludgeons and vehicles to subdue their prey and long before a request for aid can be sent. Sometimes the very object is murder and not subduing anyone. Abductions are on the increase, haven't you noticed?

So, it's not really important whether they have a gun or an abduction vehicle or gloves or anything else when violence is committed; it's the outlaw who needs to be stopped, not the weapon. You won't likely stop outlaw violence by concentrating on guns or knives or brute force, but by concentrating on meeting outlaw violence the moment it strikes. You won't get back to safer streets by concentrating on guns and ignoring the asset of the citizen and their legal authority to act. You won't see safer streets by interfering with citizen authority by unreasonable gun control, and you won't see safer streets by telling the targets of violence that their willing and legal resistance is futile.

Adult citizens need to be educated in their legal authority to act, whether it is a workplace, college campus or military installation. It's not so much about volunteers, since such citizens are not designated responders, per se; we are just average citizens. Leaving violence entitrely to the civilian law enforcement or the MP's to the exclusion of the willing citizen is like frustrating first-aid while waiting for the Paramedics, and we didn't see that at Fort Hood: we saw immediate medical care from people in the immediate vicinity. It is reported that soldiers are taught this, and why not? They are not designated persons per se, they are simply there and willing. The concept is clear: you don't wait for the Medics when seconds count, you act with training and authority if you happen to be there.

Less gun control becomes more crime control.

In forty-eight states, the armed citizen operates on the same principle. In forty-eight states, odds are high that citizens are armed, certainly higher odds than in gun ban states. These forty-eight don't seem to have the same outlaw problems college campuses or workplaces have of late; unstopped violence. Abductions.

Naturally, every active killer knows that the local response time of assets is more than enough time to complete their deadly mission. Individuals trained in armed personal response – should they be willing – must be utilized as an asset of the community safety and not vexed for some illusion of community safety. They must be encouraged in large numbers such that they improve the odds that an active killer will likely encounter one anywhere on campus. This is a very powerful deterrent.

With some expert suspicions that such active killers will be on the increase soon, the odds of their being met and stopped by an armed citizen or armed soldier nearby can greatly improve their community safety.

The answer to outlaws is to get to safer streets by way of more liberty, not more restriction.

Be sure to register for my Safer Streets Newsletter.
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The second amendment is not about guns, it is about adult burdens and how we carry them so that government will not attempt to substitute itself for citizen power and authority. Safe Streets In The Nationwide Concealed Carry Of Handguns, (Hardcover), is now available online as an e-book.