SCOTUS says keep your paws off my pistol

In the past few years, I've seen quite a turnaround in my family. My parents, who are teetotalers, who haven't danced since the fiddler retired, and who did, in the Reagan years, support gun control legislation because "guns are dangerous", have come around. They now say that governments are more dangerous, especially when they try to take away our Constitutionally guaranteed rights.

I'd have never imagined, when I wore my hair long and in my face, that my hippie days would end, also. Well, they haven't, entirely. In fact, I think I've become more anti-establishment than ever. Still, I'm not one advocating tuning in, turning on and dropping out. Been there, done that, got the certification to prove that self-medication doesn't work when you're already nuts. I have no interest in socialism, or other aims of the Left. Their espoused good intentions have paved a major highway, haven't they? As a matter of fact, I have no use for Reds, in general or at specifics.

I am a reactionary of a different color (or three, to be precise. Figure it out for yourself).

So, last night, while I was packing up the kittehs to take them home from their weekend at Grammaw's, I heard the discussion between Hannity and his pal Bob Beckel about the SCOTUS decision, and Beckel tossed out the favorite defense of gun control legislation: children. As in, "Do you know how many children die each year from gun accidents?" Isn't it time somebody responded to that question with another simple question: "Do you know how many children die each year in water accidents? Let us ban all pools. Let us ban all boats, rivers, lakes, ponds. Let us ban bathtubs, sinks, bird baths. Let us ban puddles (that should work around the Midwest, this summer. Yeah, sure). " Come on, people, carry it through to its logical conclusion!

Banning a thing by law does not make anybody safer. In fact, as we have seen in city after city where legislation forbids law-abiding citizens the right to defend themselves, the violent crime rate has increased. In the cases of drowning, it is not that the pool is there, but that the child has not learned, yet, how to behave safely in and around water. The same can be said of firearms in the hands of children (and laws in the hands of politicians, too, except, I think that kids can learn. Most politicians are idiots with a singularly unimpressive learning curve). The trick is to teach people to keep and use these things responsibly. That's not something modern governments have much talent at.

So, I'm relieved that the Supreme Court decided that neither the city nor the state may override the US Constitution as it comes to gun ownership. It's a step in the right direction. We can only hope they will continue to protect the Constitution, and thereby protect us from the idiots we elect. I won't hold my breath, though.