One simple truth that demolishes most gun control arguments

The Delaware State Supreme Court has just recognized reality in its most basic, fundamental form.  (Bold, underlined text is my emphasis.)

After several decades of prohibition firearms can now be brought into state parks due to a recent Delaware Supreme Court ruling.

By a 3-2 vote, a state ban on weapons carried into forests was rescinded on Dec. 7.

. . .

The Superior Court earlier upheld the ban based on the “important governmental objective of keeping the public safe from the potential harm of firearms in state parks and forests.” The Court did not believe the regulations violated any constitutional rights.

“But that conclusion is based on the questionable notion — unsupported by reference to any evidence – that outlawing possession of firearms in an area makes law-abiding citizens safer because criminals will, for some reason, obey the regulations,” the Supreme Court majority found.

Allowing a hunting rifle or shotgun on a state owned park or forest land during a controlled hunt “does not fulfill — and cannot substitute for — the people’s right to have a firearm for defense of self and family while camping overnight at a state park or hiking in the more remote acres of state forests (assuming compliance with all other laws governing guns),” according to Justice Valihura.

“The regulations not only unduly burden that constitutional right, but eviscerate it altogether.”

There's more at the link.

That's the simple, fundamental truth of the matter.  Criminals do not and will not obey the law.  If the law prevents honest citizens from defending themselves against criminals, what other defense do they have?

Police aren't there all the time to protect them.  As the old saying warns, "When seconds count, the police are only minutes away."  Average police response times around the nation are getting longer as the demand for their services grows.  In most major metropolitan areas, it's ten minutes or more.  In ten minutes, a determined criminal can inflict an awful lot of damage, including rape, maiming or murder.

The ultimate defense against criminals is their fear that you'll be able to hurt them more than they can hurt you.  Removing our right to self-defense, by banning or restricting the most effective instrument for that defense - a firearm - is to make us victims, whether we like it or not.  That's why most gun control measures are not just misguided - they're fundamentally immoral.

Peter