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Real Answers™
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Copyright: ©2009 James J. Jackson
580 words

WAR ON CRIME FOCUSES ON THE WRONG WEAPON

By: James J. Jackson

The United States Constitution gives meaning and substance to our republic and our rights. 

The Second Amendment states:  “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."  A pretty straight-forward statement on the right to bear arms, isn’t it?  Depends on one’s perspective, apparently.

Some people opine that the intent of this amendment allows only militias, such as the National Guard, to keep and bear arms.  My reading is the amendment clearly states that ‘the people’, meaning, ‘the citizenry’ have the right to bear arms.

Whenever a high profile or mass shooting occurs, the primary focus is often on the weapon used in commission of the crime.  Many cities have a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to gun possession, rendering the possession of a gun by any private citizen illegal.  New York Giants football star, Plaxico Burress was recently sentenced to two years in jail after accidentally shooting himself in the thigh with a gun he illegally carried into a bar.

Burress could have been sentenced to community service, helping youngsters avoid such problems by changing their minds and hearts, rather than sitting idly in a jail cell.  But, those who insist they can rid cities of all guns with strict laws felt that it was more important to make an example of Burress than to make him use his experience to help others.

It is interesting that cities with the most strict gun laws also have the highest gun crime rate, instead of the other way around.  Could it be that the certainty that an intended victim is unarmed emboldens criminals, while the possibility that the intended victim is armed serves as a deterrent?

Chicago, IL, with some of the harshest gun laws in the nation, is on track to the dubious distinction of Murder Capital of the U.S. for the second year in a row.  More than 500 gun murders have already occurred this year.  New York, Washington, D. C. and Los Angeles, which also have ‘zero-tolerance’ gun control laws, follow close behind in murders.

The recent ruthless murder of an honors student in Chicago by a group of thugs who used sticks, bricks, fists and feet reflects clearly that the focus is on the wrong weapon in the fight to reduce violent crime.  The seldom used phrase, ‘guns don’t kill people, people do’, illustrates a profound truth in this instance.  The weapons (boards, fists and feet) used to kill this young man did not formulate criminal intent in the murder.  The real deadly weapon used in all crime, including murder, is the human heart. 

All the stringent gun laws imaginable can be enacted, but until we focus on changing the hearts and minds of our youth, there may be no easing of the crime statistics.  The Bible says, in Matthew, Chapter 15, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander…”.

A change of heart is the one thing that can dramatically change crime statistics, but society all but forbids teaching children the concept of moral living.  God and morality are being forced out of many schools.  Young hearts will be filled by one of two concepts; either evil, which urges us to follow selfish, wanton ways, or God’s love and His rules for living — loving  and respecting others.  Trying to rear children without Him is at our peril – and theirs.

"Real Answers™" furnished courtesy of The Amy Foundation Internet Syndicate. To contact the author or The Amy Foundation, write or E-mail to: P. O. Box 16091, Lansing, MI 48901-6091; amyfoundtn@aol.com

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