Gun Control? How About Crime Control Instead?

The second amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees every American the right to bear arms. Has any law ever been so ambiguous? What are arms? What does it mean to bear them? At least with the first amendment we know exactly where we stand: Freedom of speech. It couldn't be any clearer. But, the right to bear arms leaves the second amendment open to different interpretations. We need gun permits to carry a concealed weapon. Do we need knife permits? No. Yet both can, and often do, cause death. We can own a gun, or a rifle, or a sub-machine gun, or a machete, and dozens of other tools to kill, even our own bare hands. So, gun control is a debate in our country that makes no sense unless you broaden the ban or acceptance to include all instruments of death.

According to Population Stats, www.xist.com, America has the highest crime rate in the world. Everyday 30 people in the United States are murdered by a gunshot. That means 11,000 people. However, there are more than 25,000 murders each year in the United States. In other industrialized countries, Germany has 381 each year, France 255, Great Britain 68, Australia 65, and Japan 39. Based on population to make it a fair assessment, it turns out to be guns in America murder 1 out of 25,916 people every year. Compared to Canada where the amount is 1 out of 190,387, and 1 out of 864,546 in Great Britain, and only 1 out of 3,254,508 in Japan, America is the killing field of the world.

Gun expert Robert J. Spitzer, political science professor at SUNY Cortland and author of the book The Politics of Gun Control points to America's 'mixed ethnicity.' "Our diverse cultural background, composed of many different ethnic, religious, social, and other groups leads to inter-group rivalries, suspicion, hatred, fear, and sometimes violence,' Professor Spitzer said. "Most other Western nations, by comparison, are more homogeneous than the U.S."

Which brings us back to the thesis that America does not need a gun control law; it needs a crime control law.

The number one concern in America today is safety: Safety from terrorists, safety from drugs and violent drug dealers, safety from gangs, and safety from those whose evil ways affect our lives and our children's lives everyday. However, we have no safety of which to speak. Our police departments are as overwhelmed by the size of the enemy as are our troops in Iraq. Without safety, we are prisoners of our own society. Safety and security are more important than any other issue, for, without it, we cease to live. We merely exist. We must first feel safe, and be safe, before we can think about curing our other ills. With 14,000 of the homicides each year being committed without guns (11,000 with), we must look at the bigger picture.

We must build more maximum-security prisons. Enough so that everyone convicted of first-degree homicide, or of a felony three times, is sent there for the rest of their life, without any chance of parole. (There is no reason to spend millions of dollars on each death row prisoner's appeals that last ten years or longer when it has been proven not to be a deterrent and when housing them is substantially much less expensive.)

Within a federal partnership with select American manufacturing companies, these companies for the work they would be required to do would pay these prisoners minimum wage. The product they create would then be infused into mainstream American commerce. In return for these jobs, the prisoners would pay the government for their room and board, and any security, medical, and utility fees. If the prisoner has any dependents, their paycheck would reflect that deduction. Cut off from society, these prisons would be a society of their own. Away from us forever.

Crime control, rather than a gun control, is a stricter and more effective deterrent than the failed alternatives. It would not just deter murder with guns, it would deter murder with any type of weapon, as well as rape, aggravated assault - ALL felonies. It would reduce crime and get these criminals off America's streets once and for all, saving the American taxpayer substantially in law enforcement: Money that will instead be used to build and staff these new prisons. Our safety is what we have to take care of - what we must take care of - before we do anything else. We owe it to our children.

We teach our children to have pride in America. We teach our children safety first. We teach our children about good and evil, right versus wrong. What must our children be thinking when they see murder after murder on the news, and walking the streets with the fear of a drive by shooting, or of being abducted? We are raising a society born of fear and mistrust. This is why we need a stricter crime bill. This is why we must - we have no other choice - take back our country from these criminals.

Yes, Americans should be able to have handguns in their home for protection, as long as it is responsibly locked up and away from children. Yes, Americans should be able to have rifles to hunt for food. However, these are still weapons of destruction and they must be registered with personal background checks. There is absolutely no need or reason for any person, other than law enforcement and the military to have assault weapons that are aimed to violently kill masses of people. We must compromise through common sense. We must understand and follow the true intent of our forefathers when they penned the second amendment to the Constitution.

All it takes is the determination, the moral strength of our elected representatives, to enact tougher laws, so we can finally take back our country and make it a safe haven once again for every American man, woman, and child.

Bruce Schwartz is a lifelong political activist. THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY, his novel on politics today, discusses this subject as well as others that affect every American. It is on sale oon the Web at http://www.thetwentyfirstcentury.com and at http://www.amazon.com. All of the author's royalties is being donated to the Alzheimer's Association.

---

Water at the Roots of Twenty First Centurys Conflicts

According to a postulate made by Ignacio Ramonet ecological resources... Read More

Watergate Scandal

On June 16, 1972, a security guard at the Watergate... Read More

Fuel Prices on the Rise

With gasoline prices at the pump climbing strongly into the... Read More

From Democracy to Omniocracy

Clint Eastwood recently plunged into the murky political pond with... Read More

Bushs Election Victory: Ethics, Morality and Religion Defeated War, Economy and Foreign Policy

President George W. Bush has unofficially won his re-election bid... Read More

The True Power of Terrorism

Those of us hundreds of miles from ground zero sat... Read More

An Environmental Voting Guide for US State Elections

In these times when states are suffering extreme downward pressure... Read More

Liberalism ? A Mark Too Low A Price Too High

After the dance the piper must be paid. To help... Read More

PATRIOTIC ARMAGEDDON... Can You Hear Me Now?

Each day the present geo-political reality confirms what The Tribulation... Read More

Ifs and VATs of Taxation in Macedonia - Should VAT be Applied in Macedonia?

To be justified, taxes should satisfy a few conditions:Above all,... Read More

Using a Meteor Shower as Decoy for ICBM Attack

In the event of that a threatening nation to the... Read More

California Car Wash Fundraisers and Environmental Law

Many non-profit groups are feeling upset that they are allowed... Read More

Sodomy

Sodomy is against the law, yet goes on every day... Read More

Immortality and Mortality in the Economic Sciences

Roberto Calvo Macias, a young author and thinker from Spain,... Read More

Are We Really Getting Along?

When you look at the news, immigrants are dying trying... Read More

Maryland Lawyers and Politicians Want More Regulations

We know that in Maryland, which some call "Merry Land"... Read More

Sarbanes-Oxley Reality Check on Bureaucracy

There is no doubt in hindsight that Sarbanes Oxley was... Read More

Some Farmers and Organic Growers are Upset at Monsanto

The organic farmers are angry that Monsantos terminator GM seeds... Read More

Water Conservation, Retention and Better Policies

As the populations expand in Colorado outside of Denver, Las... Read More

Great Melting Pot Indeed

An interesting conversation that I thought I must share with... Read More

We Are Turning a Corner in Foreign Relations, Thanks GW Bush!

Kudos goes out to the George Walker Bush's Administration and... Read More

How Futuristic Is Anarchy As A Way To Organize The State (I)

When organising a country or a group of people in... Read More

Joseph Campbell - Permanent Human Values

At the start of the US involvement in WWII Joseph... Read More

Electronic Commerce Taxaton: Emerging Legal Issues - Part II

UNAUTHORIZED HACKINGThe term "computer hacking" traditionally describes the penetration into... Read More

In Defense of the Feds Vs Katrina

I, too, am saddened by the disaster in New Orleans... Read More

Wealth Distribution and Inheritance, What Will They Buy? Cars

Wealth Distribution is often discussed at length in periodicals such... Read More

The Federal Trade Commission, reality check

Federal Trade Commission Owes Industry and Entrepreneurs an Apology. The... Read More

Preparing to Invade Japan

This is the fourth and final article in a series... Read More

The FTC Purports and Misrepresents Their Law Enforcement Experience as It Attacks Business

We should all give much kudos to the Federal Trade... Read More

The United States Government Owes Arthur Anderson 16 Billion Dollars

Since the court case was over turned against Arthur Anderson... Read More

Proven Risk Youth Vs At-Risk & High-Risk Youth

In the fields of juvenile justice policy and programming, there... Read More

The ?Manchurian Candidate?: Lee Harvey Oswald?

An American soldier is taken behind enemy lines and brainwashed... Read More

Rugged Individualism vs Human Nature

"Rugged individualism" is actually a euphemism for Thomas Hobbes' baseless... Read More