Firearms have been a part of the fabric that defines our nation from the very outset. The people pushing for more gun control laws or gun bans truly baffle me. I just don’t get it. Number one, we as a nation can’t, don’t, won’t, enforce the laws we already have on the books. And we have plenty. Number two, if simply making something illegal worked, we wouldn’t have a methamphetamine or heroin problem in this country. Number three, we have (and in my opinion always will have) the Second Amendment.

A recent survey conducted by The National Association of Chiefs of Police revealed that 86.4 percent of their membership supports nationwide recognization of state issued concealed weapon permits. Another 76 percent of those same heads of departments believe that “qualified law abiding armed citizens” help law enforcement reduce violent criminal activity (www.crimeresearch.org). I know from personal experience that law enforcement professionals nationwide are opposed to gun control laws. Why? Because we know the laws simply don’t work! Criminals don’t obey laws … that’s why we call them criminals!

Twenty years ago, we had the same firearms that are out there today, but we didn’t have these mass shootings. What changed? As a nation, we need to focus our time, efforts and resources where they’re really needed. First, take on mental health. If you break down these mass shootings, you’ll see that mental health issues were huge factors in the majority. An effective/aggressive approach to helping the mentally ill would fix a number of this country’s problems. Not just gun violence. Second, let’s look at the video games our kids are playing. Last week I watched my grandson playing a game where he was killing people in a very graphic manner. The difference between that video game and real life is enormous. In real life, you can’t “un-kill” somebody and start over like you can in a video game. In real life, when you shoot someone, they stay dead. I truly believe that kids play these incredibly realistic games and somehow internalize the idea that they get a “do over” when they actually do shoot someone. Throw in mental health issues and the problem is dramatically increased! Our young people need to get off the couch and learn about firearms. Once properly educated and trained, they’ll learn to respect them. Then they can decide for themselves whether they want to own one or not. Their choice, but it will be an informed one. Third, take on societal issues. What do I mean by that? Check out a “gangsta rap” video. Let me know your thoughts on how women are demeaned and crime/violence is promoted. When the thug life is glorified, we have a problem. And finally, enforce the laws we have, don’t enact new ones. If the gun laws we already have could be effectively enforced, we wouldn’t have the problems we have in the bigger cities. If you doubt that opinion, read about Chicago.

Every time there’s a mass shooting, the gun is blamed. A gun is an inanimate object! By definition, it cannot act independently. Charlton Heston (former president of the NRA) said, “There are no good guns, there are no bad guns. Any gun in the hands of a bad man is a bad thing. Any gun in the hands of a decent man is no threat to anybody - except bad people.” That statement is 100 percent accurate. An evil or mentally ill person, determined to kill, will find a way.

I wrote the above before the recent mass shooting in Thousand Oaks, California, that killed 12 people. While reading about that crime, I learned that three off-duty Los Angeles Police officers were inside at the time of the shooting. My initial response was confusion and anger. I simply could not wrap my mind around the thought that three officers from my former department were present and didn’t take action. So I made some calls and checked. It turns out that the bar where the shooting took place had a strict “No Firearms” policy that also applied to the off-duty officers. Those officers obeyed the rules. There is no doubt in my mind that the shooter in this instance was also aware of that policy. What better place to commit such a crime? He was comfortable in the knowledge that he wouldn’t be immediately confronted by someone with a gun. He even took time away from his killing spree to post on social media! I don’t personally know the involved officers, but I am intimately familiar with the training they each received. Each was taught how to respond as a team to an active shooting scenario. If only one (or better yet, all three) of those officers had been armed, there quite likely would have been a different outcome. In my opinion, the bleeding heart hand wringers who created, embraced and enforced the “No Firearms” policy are culpable in the deaths of those people. That’s a harsh statement, I know. However, I’m very passionate about this. Consider the follow-up to all that happened; the families’ loss is unimaginable, the involved off-duty officers will agonize for the rest of their lives over the fact that they might have intervened but couldn’t, and finally, the people who wrote the policy prohibiting firearms probably wish they could have a “do over.” Not happening! Facts are facts! We, as a nation, cannot legislate evil. We can however, identify, confront and destroy it!

Blaine Blackstone is a retired Los Angeles Police Sergeant who enjoys the simpler life in Thompson Falls. He can be reached by email at [email protected].