A new documentary hit (a few) theaters on November 15th, and it promises to address gun violence as a public health issue that must be eradicated just like any other disease we might battle. While No Control presents itself as a “balanced” look at the debate over American gun control, its trailer alone is enough to tell any thinking viewer where its allegiances lie. It’s just one more attempt by the left to influence the minds of a susceptible populace.
Prominent amongst the clips shown in the trailer is a man telling us that “every Constitutional right has its limits.” As if there is a single American who would disagree. This isn’t about accepting that our rights carry limits. Very few citizens are up in arms about bans on personal ownership of, say, nuclear weapons. We get it. We know that “arms” does not necessarily include weapons of mass destruction. That’s not what we’re fighting against.
What we are fighting against – and perhaps the meat of the documentary will play more fairly with this idea – is government control over guns. Yes, there is a gun violence problem, but that’s just another way of saying there is a violence problem. And the answer is not in increased legislation. That’s not the answer from a standpoint of freedom, and it’s not the answer from the standpoint of results. In fact, many studies have concluded that gun violence trends downwards in cities with the most permissive laws regulating their ownership.
A predictably-biased review from the Huffington Post was entranced by gun-control advocate Shaina Harrison’s appearance in the movie, claiming she “dismantles the argument that gun control laws only serve to inconvenience law-abiding gun owners.” She does this “dismantling” by pointing out that once-legal guns find their way into criminal hands from states where gun control laws are lax.
But this is just the same old tired argument. It can be used to promote increased regulation of cars, prescription drugs, knives, baseball bats, and spray paint. The truth is that if there is a product that can be abused, people are going to abuse it. If there is a product that has the potential to kill, people will use it to kill. Short of a complete ban, there is no reasonable way to make sure that never happens.
The concept the left never seems willing to accept is that freedom carries risk. If you accept that people should be given as much liberty as possible without compromising the structure of society, then you have to accept that some will fail. Some will fall behind. Some will turn to gangs. Some will kill. The alternative is to live in a society where cars are made of Nerf, guns are no longer manufactured, and every aspect of your life is regulated down to the minute. That life might be a lot less risky, but is that the world we want to live in?
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