The gun arguments are getting old, despite the radical nature they draw out among opposing ideologies.
In The Advocate last week, an opinion column suggested concealed weapons permit applicants be placed on a list that the public can access to see who owns one.
The column was a response to proposed House Bills 8 and 98, which protect the information of citizens applying for a permit. The bills also require a sentence for officers or anyone else who makes that information public or releases it to anyone.
The argument made against the legislation is nonsensical.
Suppose a form of this legislation is proposed in committee in the Louisiana Legislature. Not only would it never pass, it would be dead on arrival. Louisiana, a state with some of the loosest gun laws in the Union, would not let such an intrusive piece of legislation pass.
Just last year, a bill passed that essentially declared open-carry as the highest order of gun ownership.
I still find it remarkable that anyone would want to brand and label gun owners in any state. The intent is to limit criminal activity and access to arms, as it is with most gun restrictive legislation. The aftermath, however, only penalizes the law-abiding citizen.
Consider the repercussions.
If I were a criminal, I would conduct my profession at the best time, using the best target possible. Perhaps I am a thief. I now know, without ever entering into another individual’s household, who has applied for a concealed permit and can ascertain that he or she probably owns weapons.
We might as well publish a list of the times we are also absent from our property, to make the robbery of our households more convenient and simple for criminals.
I thought we concealed weapons for safety. The proposal is counter-intuitive.
It is also safe to assume criminals using weapons generally don’t apply for concealed weapons permits. The concept is done in the name of limiting criminals’ capabilities, but it ends up branding gun owners as a factor in eliminating ownership entirely.
Journal News of New York published a map in January of all the citizens who “have purchased a firearm or updated the information on a permit in the past five years.” This is equally as preposterous as providing information on permit applicants.
Shortly after publishing the map, Journal News hired armed security guards after waves of angry responses from gun owners.
With no foreseeable benefit to the continual regulation of arms and the expansion of government into the household of the citizens of the state, the gun owners only buy more weapons.
And still they blame the instrument.
Atrocities committed by the public, as in the case of the Boston bombing last week, are the product of evil intentions in the hearts of man. No object – improvised explosive device – gun or otherwise, is responsible for the actions of men who participate in criminal or terrorist activities.
It is irresponsible to penalize law-abiding citizens and place them on an absurd list that makes their information public in the name of transparency.
Doing this to gun owners or permit applicants may force them to hire their own armed guards.
Landon Mills is a 21-year-old international studies senior from Sunshine, La.
