Does Supreme Court Ruling Matter to Anti-Gun Zealots?

“We’re not going to roll over.” Those sound like fighting words, and the truth is that nothing could be further from the truth. The problem we have with those words is that they were uttered by anti-gun fanatic Richard Daley, mayor of Chicago, in response to a possible ruling that would overrule Chicago’s ban on owning handguns. The Associated Press sums this pretty well:

“If the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down Chicago’s handgun ban, the city will likely do what Washington, D.C., did when its own ban was overturned two years ago: Put in place all sorts of restrictions to make it tougher to buy guns and easier for police to know who has them.

“Prospective gun owners in D.C. now are required to take training courses that include spending one hour on a firing range and several hours in a classroom learning about gun safety. They also must pass a 20 question test based on D.C.’s firearm laws.”

To the average person, at least at first glance, this might not seem so bad. But consider that criminals won’t be taking those training courses. The only time they’ll spend firing the guns will likely be on the streets, and they won’t be any classroom. The only question they’ll have to pass is “do you have the money to buy this illegal gun?”

So all we see are efforts to make it hard for law-abiding citizens to obtain what the constitution and the Supreme Court state clearly that they should be entitled to possess. Meanwhile, criminals will continue to break the law and no amount of restrictions will change that fact.