As usual, the Journal Sentinel is not doing a bang-up job when it comes to guns.

Words matter.

After reading today’s anti-gun editorial in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, discount viagra advice I have to conclude that the members of the editorial board either don’t understand the plain meaning of words or have a political agenda they are trying to move forward by torturing the English language to mislead readers and misrepresent reality.

According to the editorial:

Barrett told the Journal Sentinel Editorial Board last week there were 26 homicides this year in Milwaukee as of Thursday, check 19 of them caused by firearms. Between 70% and 80% of all homicides in Milwaukee result from firearms, nurse he said.

No. None of those homicides were “caused” by firearms.

The only way a firearm can “cause” a murder is if the dispute was ABOUT the firearm.

Firearms can be used in murders. They do not cause them.

(Some of you might remember the post I made debunking the claim that guns “cause” crimes. In a nutshell, more than 99.99 percent of the guns in America are NOT used in a crime. If guns cause crime they don’t seem to be very good at it.)

What causes crime in Milwaukee is an inner-city culture that does not value education, traditional families, or taking responsibility.

However, that being said, I agree with the Journal Sentinel’s main point that it should be easier to keep track of handguns.

I am not one of those people who think keeping track of guns is the first step towards confiscation. Law abiding gun owners do themselves no favor by allowing their guns to be lumped in with the ones used by killers in the inner cities.

In fact, I would really like to see the sale and ownership of handguns in America follow these rules:

1.) Anyone can own and keep a gun in their home.

2.) Anyone (except felons) can legally carry a gun after taking training and obtaining a license.

3.) Gun sales and transfers are carefully tracked. If a gun you own/owned is used for a crime, you are held partially responsible unless you documented a transfer or reported it stolen.

4.) Guns are manufactured in a way where only the legitimate owner can fire the weapon. (I’m looking forward to the day when the technology exists to accomplish this. It might take the form of RFID tags embedded in the gun and in a ring worn by the owner. Or maybe even some sort of DNA reading technology. Either way, I believe a day will come when a child won’t be able to hurt himself or others with his parent’s gun because the gun won’t fire for anyone but the legitimate owner.)

Add comment May 1st, 2006