Gun Control: The double-speak of our time

Recent polls suggest gun control is not that important to the American populous. Except those at an NRA meeting, where people ranked gun control a top priority.

Despite anyone’s stance on gun issues, we are all affected in our daily lives the government policy in gun control. Most of us attend school and work in “gun free zones.” The media incessantly tells us about gun violence and the slaughter taking place on the streets of Chicago, New York and LA. According to the FBI, in 2011 firearms were used in 8,583 homicides. The United States as a whole has seen a slight decline in violent crimes, in 1996 roughly 1.9 million compared to 2011 roughly 1.2 million. In that same time, the national murder rate declined from 9.3 to 4.7 per 100,000 inhabitants.

What occurred during this time period to cause a small, but sure, drop in violence in the United States? It depends who you ask. If you ask someone on the Left, such as Senator Diane Feinstein, they would likely answer the police had stepped-up their presence. Or, they’d claim a whole generation raised under the Clinton gun ban clearly grasps the danger of firearms. Yet again, the Left is misguided and wrong.

Since the lifting of the gun ban in 2004 murder declined by 14%. Once again, government intervention didn’t do the trick. So if the statistics show gun control doesn’t work, then why is it an issue? Perhaps it’s because guns, gun owners and the laws surrounding guns are quite possibly an enigma unlike any other in American society.

This post is first in a series which will lay down the federal, state and local laws to illustrate how asinine American gun control laws are, and to illustrate the unique gun culture in America.