Over the weekend, an independent student newspaper at Georgia State University called The Signal ran a piece that declared, “Guns need to be regulated like cars,” as if this was some new concept, but it really isn’t and offering this as a solution to violent crime actually should make gun control advocates shudder.
Nowhere in the Constitution are automobiles mentioned. The right to keep and bear arms is affirmed in the Second Amendment. However, for the sake of argument, let’s conduct what has become a fairly typical comparison between cars and guns.
Begin with the obvious: Cars and the people who drive them can cross state lines and nobody gives it a second thought. That’s tantamount to national concealed carry reciprocity, which Second Amendment activists have sought for years.
Nobody goes through a criminal background check to buy a car. People with a string of traffic violations buy cars all the time. People who have even been in prison can own and legally drive cars.
Cars can be loaned or borrowed without background checks, also.
Despite speed limits, most automobiles are capable of insanely high speeds; 100 mph or more, and adding after-market accessories that enhance performance typically don’t raise any eyebrows. But the gun prohibition lobby demands strict limits on firearm magazine capacity arguing that it will reduce carnage. Apparently, the author of the Signal piece forgot Nice, France; 83 dead in a truck terror attack.
People can purchase any kind of vehicle they want, and so long as they drive responsibly, nobody cares. If someone wants to buy a modern sporting rifle, however, the gun control lobby thinks that’s a prelude to domestic terrorism.
Car collectors are “entrepreneurs” or simply considered “eccentric.” Gun collectors are considered to be nuts and potentially dangerous to their communities.
If someone steals your car and causes mayhem, you’re a victim. If someone steals your gun and causes mayhem, anti-gunners want you held liable.
If the author of The Signal piece is game, he can head to Capitol Hill and demand that all of the regulations on gun ownership be rescinded so that gun ownership can once again be treated like car ownership.
