Richard S. Cahalan: Gun control bill a ‘fool’s errand’

Just off a late night shift she walks through the deserted parking garage, sensing him [drug addled and just out of jail] lurking in the shadows she reaches for the gun in her purse, the sound of a chambered round sends him scurrying off to hunt safer ground. Because she’s armed, she’s safe. Let’s keep it that way.

Our Legislature is attempting to enact one of the most egregious gun control bills [An Act Modernizing Firearms Laws] that we’ve seen yet. This bill will do nothing to deter crime or curb violence. It will, however, place severe restrictions on lawful gun owners who are not now and never have been the problem.

Massachusetts already has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation but has an ever increasing rate of crime with firearms. Contrast this with some of our closest neighbors, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont who, according to the FBI uniform crime reports, rank first, second and third respectively as safest from violent crime. What they have in common is very few gun laws and no licensing requirements. Yet California with the most extreme gun control laws in the nation has the highest per capita gun murder rate.

Gun control is a fools errand, isn’t it time we start cracking down on the gangs, drug dealers and other nefarious elements who will always have guns illegally obtained from the many sources that are readily available to those who live outside the law.

Richard S. Cahalan

South Hadley