During prohibition, there was an example of enforcement for violation of the ban on alcohol where a mother of 10 kids was arrested in Michigan for selling two pints of liquor to an undercover cop. This was her fourth conviction so she was put in prison for life. Her husband was also serving time for violating the Volstead act. There was understandable outrage to this sentence at the time. I would think there would be outrage today if someone was put in jail just because they were using a gun for self-defense. Would the police even be called for fear by the victim that they would be arrested for having a gun? Would the person trying to commit a robbery or murder get away? If both of them were arrested and convicted, who would get the longer sentence?

With the legal making, distributing, and selling of liquor being shut down, an opportunity was created for these activities to be taken over by organized crime. The most famous gang was headed by Al Capone in the most famous city for bootlegging (dealing in illegal liquor) at the time, Chicago. But there were actually 12 gangs that sold illegal alcohol in Chicagoland at the time. Each gang agreed to certain boundaries made by streets of where they could operate. They were supposed to respect each others territories but, being criminals, they didn’t always follow the rules. For instance, one gang would be caught selling liquor to a speakeasy (illegal saloon) in some other gang’s neighborhood or one gang would steal smuggled liquor from another gang. Since everything they were doing was illegal, they couldn’t go to the cops to settle disputes. Therefore, they took matters into their own hands and killed people from rival gangs for justice or revenge. From 1919 to 1933, there were 233 murders of bootleggers. Of course today in Chicago, there are many more shootings and murders of gang members plus innocent bystanders each year. Things would only get worse if there was fighting over who would control illegal gun traffic.

At least presently there are laws regarding background checks and other regulations designed to keep guns out of the hand of criminals or the mentally unfit, even though these seem to fail often. But with gangs, there is lawlessness. They would probably sell to anyone w/o batting an eye or performing a background check. They wouldn’t care anyway. However, maybe they would decide not to sell guns to law-abiding citizens at all since this would make it easier to commit crimes against people who can’t defend themselves as easily.

The 18th amendment did not work because the real cause of the abuse of alcohol was not addressed. Repealing the 2nd amendment would not work either because the roots of criminal behavior would not be dealt with and the need for self-defense would be even greater. Crime would increase because there would be more “gun free” zones which by nature the criminals ignore. There are other forms of self-defense, but the best way to stop a criminal with a gun is to have a law-abiding citizen with a gun. The right to defend oneself is necessary to secure the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness given to each of us by God as mentioned in the Declaration of Independence.

I am grateful that we have a police force, but as mentioned before, they normally show up after a crime is committed. Per American gun facts.com, there are statistics that show that having a gun can prevent crimes from every happening. For instance, the website states that 200,000 times a year women use a gun to defend against sexual abuse. A poll was taken of felons where 3 out of 5 said they wouldn’t mess with a victim if they knew he or she had a gun. You see the mainstream media does a disservice buy only covering mass shootings. Seldom do I see a story of how a citizen with a gun prevented a crime. Drives me nuts.

People abuse alcohol or become addicted because of what’s in there hearts, minds, and chemical make-up of the brain. So too with guns. Per a 2013 article titled “Mass shootings in America: a Historical Review” on the Global Research Website, mass murders, defined as 4 or more people killed within 24 hrs., dramatically increased in the U.S. from zero from 1900 to 1909 to 32 for the decade of the 1980s, 42 in the 1990s, 28 in the 2000’s, and 14 from 2010-2013. This increase comes from what is in the minds and the motives of the perpetrators. Of the 67 mass shooters in the last 30 years, 65 had mental health issues and 55 obtained weapons legally. So gun control is even failing to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill.

The last installment is next week. We’ll talk about the ultimate answer to the problem of gun violence and so many other issues plaguing society.