The American liberal movement seems to have completely forgotten the hows and whys of the founding of this country. Though well-intentioned, their means will achieve the ends that repeat history.

     It seems I can't read anything politically oriented these days without wanting to scream out loud. The gun control issue rates right up at the top of the list. Liberals seem to be scared of Joe Redneck and his 98 rifles and handguns. Ridiculous.     Of course, some citizens in rural areas actually do own 98 (or more) firearms. But is this what we should fear? How many of this nation's gun related crimes are committed in these areas? The simple fact that these areas tend to have fewer police per capita and lower crime in general should, if anything, demonstrate not a reason for gun control but for defense of the Second Amendment.     I could insert various statistics to prove my pro-gun stance, but such things are overdone already, and it is apparent that in cases such as this that statistics can be used on both sides to "prove" their respective points. So in an unusual departure from the norm, I'm abandoning the statistics and relying on common sense.     If the government, by some miraculously contrived departure down the left hand path, decided to get rid of all citizens' handguns; if (continuing the miracle) they devised the means to locate, identify, and confiscate these weapons; and if (straining even the concept of "miracle"?) the owners of these weapons gave them up without violent protest, we will have achieved a remarkable thing: The War on Guns.     That's right. Brought to you by the folks that brought you the failed War on Drugs, the failed War on Poverty, and the newly-released and soon to be failed War on Terror, your friendly Fed. Only Mafia, Drug Cartels, and other professional criminals have guns (you didn't think they would give theirs up did you?) Cat burglars no longer have to worry if you're home or not or whether or not you will shoot them; they just have to make sure they steal your stuff and get away before the police get around to responding to the 911 call (if it was even ever made). I didn't even mention the street gangs and car-jackers.     The already bloated and overpopulated prison system will welcome a new variety of "criminal": the otherwise law-abiding gun owner trying to protect his or her family and property. Now we will spend more money feeding and housing these evil criminals, while making the clear statement that only criminals own guns. If I'm a criminal, I hear this and its Christmas in July! Or August. Or May. You get the picture. Criminals still have a chance to get caught, but no longer have anything whatsoever to worry about with the now docile and accomodating victim...err, citizen.     A touch extreme? Not realistic? Look at the drug issue. The prison system is overflowing with drug related criminals, yet you or I(or any one of our children) can very easily get just about any mind-altering substance we want. Drugs are everywhere. I doubt that you could travel ten blocks in any city and not pass by a house or building with some kind of illegal drug inside, or at least find a regular drug user. Now, replace every instance of the word "drug" with "firearm". Folks, we already have more prisoners in this country by percent of population (by far) than anyone else in the world. How many prisons can we build? How many can we afford?     All this rambling about Second Amendment rights and I still haven't even addressed the real reason it was put in the Constitution. Our founders (correctly) assumed that to give the government absolute power over its citizens is folly. To count on a government to govern justly over a powerless citizenry is naive in the extreme. Sure, it may work for a (short) while, but gradually, the government will slowly continue its march of infringement on the rights of the citizen until there are no more rights unless expressly determined by the governing body. I'll even be optimistic and say that without the Second Amendment you will be free for life. I'll even (since we're in dreamland anyway) grant that your children will be free. But what about their children? It would only be a matter of time before the government used its power over the citizenship to assert itelf. It is what governments do.     There is another gun control argument that comes up that is equally short-sighted. The nations of the world, particularly those in the United Nations, all cry about Americans' right to bear arms. What they do not realize is that if the above-mentioned scenario takes place, and our citizens lose their rights, these crybabies will no longer have the benefit of security provided for them by the United States, they would no longer get the financial support provided for their little projects, and their little nations will erupt into chaos. Why? Because if we spend all our money building prisons, investigating and prosecuting gun owners, gun dealers, funding the firearms version of the DEA, not to mention the inevitable increase in actual crime by gun-toting criminals with violent intent, the overtaxation for expenditures and degradation of the nation's morale will create an economic nightmare. We won't have the money or the manpower to maintain both a tyrannical state and an international presence. All international dependencies on the United States severed without warning. Our right to bear arms is ultimately what gives these foolish people the ability to cry about it in the first place.     But it can all be sensibly comprehended without all this rambling. Advocate gun control. Give all the guns to the government. Only the government and criminals have them. Write your own catastrophic ending.