What's the Point?

I recently did a radio interview. It was a call-in show and the subject was North Carolina’s gun law rating from the Brady Campaign (our state scored 20 out of a possible 100 points) and I was asked to talk about why NC got such a low score. Not surprisingly the show was inundated with pro-gun rights callers. One theme ran throughout nearly every call – that no matter how many gun control laws there are, criminals will still get guns, people will still get killed and law-abiding people will suffer the consequences. I must admit that there is a kernel of truth here. Good, sensible gun laws won’t completely eradicate gun violence – criminals will still get guns and there will still be shootings. But does that mean we shouldn’t try?

I think about drunk driving. There was a time when my friends and I thought nothing of popping open a can of beer, getting into the car and driving over to Chapel Hill for a basketball game where we drank more beer and then drove home. There was no such thing as a designated driver. There was no such slogan as ‘Friends don’t let friends drive drunk.’ But the culture changed in large measure because people were being killed by drunk drivers and laws were passed to help prevent these deaths. The laws haven’t completely eradicated drunk driving. People still get drunk and drive and people still get killed. But there is no doubt that these laws have saved lives. I think the same thing applies to gun control. We want to save lives even though we know we won’t save every life. We want to protect our children and young people from danger. We want our neighborhoods to be safe. Sensible gun laws will save lives. No doubt about it.