President Trump, Vice President Vance and cabinet members reportedly watching surveillance footage of WHCD shooter in the Oval Office. Photograph Source: Dan Scavino – Public Domain
In the wake of Cole Tomas Allen’s alleged attempt to assassinate US President Donald Trump and/or other political officials, journalists, and general-purpose celebrities come the usual calls for “gun control” because that’s just how things work.
My preferred argument against such nonsense leans hard on morality (it’s evil to infringe on the unalienable human right to self-defense) with a chaser of overall practicality (more than 100 million Americans own several hundred million guns and won’t be giving them up without a fight you do NOT want to witness).
However, it occasionally it seems worthwhile to change lanes and instead examine just how well “gun control” actually works in practice. This is one of those times.
On April 21, Allen boarded an Amtrak train in Los Angeles, California.
California generally, and Los Angeles specifically, have some of the strictest “gun control” laws on the books, and Amtrak only allows firearms to be carried in locked, checked baggage, with prior written notice/declaration, none of which conditions Allen complied with.
After switching trains in Chicago, IL, he arrived in Washington, DC, on April 24 and checked into the Washington Hilton. Like California, Illinois and the District of Columbia have strict “gun control” laws on the books, none of which Allen complied with. The Hilton forbids firearms on its premises other than those carried by “law enforcement personnel.” Allen ignored that rule.
The following day, carrying the 12-gauge shotgun and .38-caliber pistol he’d brought with him over a trip spanning more than 2,000 miles in, from, and through various “gun control” zones, he attempted to charge a security checkpoint and reach the hotel’s International Ballroom, intending violence.
“Gun control” had chance after chance after chance to prove it could thwart Allen’s plans.
And. It. Didn’t.
Whoa … violent criminals don’t obey “gun control” laws and private venue gun rules any more than they obey other kinds of laws and rules? Whodathunkit?
It’s not that the laws and rules aren’t adequately enforced. The only way to reliably prevent Allen from traveling from LA to DC with guns would have been to force him to travel on foot and buck naked … after which he’d have almost certainly been able to buy a gun on the street if he wanted one.
“Gun control” laws aren’t just evil and impractical, they’re stump-stupid. As a solution to the violence of criminals they make about as much sense as a gaudy new White House ballroom.
The post OK, “Gun Control” Had Its Chance, Here Are The Results appeared first on CounterPunch.org.
