Just like MADD realized, it’s not the cars that were killing people but the drivers; and it’s not the guns that are killing people, it’s those pulling the trigger…
Recently, State Senator Anitere Flores (R) from South Florida surprised everyone by coming out against individual rights (and Florida’s 1.7 million licensed concealed carriers) in ranting for five minutes in a committee hearing about how she is now for “common sense gun control” and that she would fight against Florida’s gun owners by trying to stop any more pro-rights legislation that might make its way into the senate. This was a surprise after her history of being very pro-firearms in the past.
What makes this notable is that “Moms Demand Action” is hailing Sen. Flores as a new ally in the fight against firearms rights. This became apparent when, after the committee hearing, Sen. Flores posed for a photo with the head of MDA Florida and posted it on her website.
The reaction and fallout was immediate and large. Pro-firearms rights groups went on the attack and started a social media storm against Sen. Flores, and MDA started the praise for their new savior.
But what I wondered was why people fail to see the issue of firearms rights for what it really is and what the solution is. It’s quite simple really, yet I can’t understand why most people cannot get past their fear and anger when you bring up “guns” or the “2nd Amendment.”
I was assigned to the DUI Task Force at the Broward Sheriff’s Office. It was our job to try and locate drunk drivers before they had a chance to crash and hurt themselves or others. We made many arrests, and after my time in the DUI Task Force, I moved on to the Traffic Homicide Unit, where I investigated fatal crashes, the majority of which involved drunk drivers—so many, in fact, that we started to work with a group called “Mothers Against Drunk Drivers,” or MADD. They were a grassroots group that worked on promoting tougher laws around drunk driving—the number of crimes, the amount of alcohol that was illegal, and so on. And it seemed to work! As the penalties got tougher, enforcement was increased, drunk driving arrests at first increased, then after peaking began to decrease. Fatal car crashes involving drunk drivers kill far more people than the illegal use of firearms do, but the end result is the same. Someone dies.
So here is my solution to all the gun violence. Just like MADD realized, it’s not the cars that were killing the people but the drivers; it’s not the guns killing people, it’s the people pulling the trigger. So let’s take a page from the MADD playbook and make the penalties for the illegal use of a firearm stiffer. Make it mandatory jail time, make it two strikes and you’re out—whatever it is decided on that makes it harder for people to be repeat gun offenders. Make the penalties for the theft of a firearm so stiff that even criminals will say, “Heck, leave it—it’s not worth 30 years in jail!” Make it a felony with mandatory jail time if you are caught illegally using a firearm—say a minimum 10 years if you use one in any crime. Fire one, it’s 30 years, harm someone with a firearm during a crime, it’s 50 years. Whatever it takes. But we have to focus on the people, not the inanimate object itself.
Banning firearms or restricting access to them would have been like MADD trying to outlaw certain cars. It just does not make any sense.
In the same breath, you can enable people to protect themselves and their families by allowing the law-abiding citizens who want to be able to carry to do so. Remove the restrictions and gun-free zones, remove the restrictions on concealed or open carry, and just allow people to carry whichever way they want. Cops carry firearms openly as a crime deterrent. The same applies to citizens who legally carry. If they want to conceal carry, that’s fine and they should be allowed, but if they wish to openly carry, that is also their right. And don’t try and push that “they become a target” thing; criminals who do not obey the law are always, no matter how you carry, going to be the ones with the advantage, because they do not have to react to another’s actions like defensive users do.
Sen. Flores, you are out with your family and someone decides to rob and rape you or harm your children. How are you going to protect them? Call the police? Wait the six or eight minutes for a fast response? What do you do in those minutes? Ask the criminal to wait? You have the right to defend yourself, and if you fail to do it, that is your choice. But you cannot and should not remove my right to do so.
So to Sen. Flores, I say you do not need to turn your back on the 1.7 million licensed concealed carry firearms owners and the other millions of firearms owners who do not carry. You can make everyone happy by simply learning from MADD. Make the penalties of the already existing crimes stiffer, and let your law-abiding citizens defend themselves. It’s a win for everyone and might even help reduce gun violence by stopping those who use them from getting a chance to use them again. It’s hard to shoot or rob someone if you are locked up in jail after your first or second conviction.
We need to stop blaming the objects. They do not think, move, or have any way of harming anyone, unless a human makes it that way. People need to stop losing their minds when people mention firearms or the 2nd Amendment. Stop letting fear or lack of knowledge rule your thoughts. What people need to do is focus on the real problem and real solutions that can work. People are the problem, and people can be the solution. Our constitutional rights are not negotiable; you cannot remove them, restrict them, or change them. But you can make penalties for violations of existing laws tougher.
Chris Wagoner is a Senior OpsLens Contributor and U.S. Army Veteran. He has been in law enforcement the last 35+ years. He specializes in LE Firearms Instruction, and is in charge of a large Police Academy in North Florida. In his spare time Chris is a freelance Military Reporter and owner/founder of the Largest Military Videos Channel on YouTube “3rdID8487”.
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