By AMY RILEY
One Citizen's Perspective

Sunday's Million Mom March to lobby for gun control and safety locks was a gesture in good faith, but a misguided effort based on faulty logic. Once again, a well-meaning group of people are acting on emotion and rhetoric rather than fact and reason.

These women see guns as the enemy, but “the enemy is us.” Until we, as a nation, take a more direct approach to the root causes of the devaluation of human life, rallies like Sunday's march are just empty, estrogen-filled arguments.

The past decade has shown a steady and consistent downward slope in violent crime despite media hype which would have you believe otherwise. It is estimated that 50 percent of American households now own guns. For all the incidences of violent crimes involving guns, literally millions more are prevented because the victim is able to produce a weapon of self-defense.

Mandatory registration, licensing, and trigger locks do not stop criminals from obtaining and using a gun to commit a crime; they only hinder the law-abiding. Current law prohibits a convicted felon from possessing a firearm. Possession in spite of the law entitles the offender to a one-way ticket back to jail from which, chances are, he should not have been released in the first place. If we could simply enforce existing laws, we could reduce our crime rates even more.

The real cause of gun violence is a nation devoid of soul. We are a population reared on permissiveness and entitlement that has over time become inured to indiscriminate violence through desensitization. If a million moms want to make a statement, and make a difference for a nation of children, why don't they start with a march to end the senseless slaughter of innocent children in this country's abortion clinics?

Hillary Clinton, in a special Mother's Day address Sunday, supported the formidable female anti-gun lobby by stating that moms don't want jewelry, flowers, or a nice meal out, ”as much as [they] want Congress to do the right thing to protect our children.” Everyone wants Congress to do the right thing, but by whose definition?

Democrats present a hollow argument at best when they rail on about children killing children. It is tragic when young persons are so absent of conscience and character that they turn guns on other human beings. When they do, we call it assault. When the victim dies, we call it murder.

When a criminal causes the death of a fetus during the commission of a crime against the mother, we call that murder. When a physician performs an abortion at the request of a woman, we call it a choice. Is it any wonder that we are spawning a generation of children who are disconnected and lost?

When gun control lobbies pressure Congress for mandatory registration and trigger locks, what they are really advocating is a disarming of the American public, yet the Founding Fathers, envisioning the inevitable need for defense of life and limb, guaranteed us the right to protect ourselves from crime — and tyranny.

Our system of government was founded on two contingencies, a government which derives its only powers from the people, and a law-abiding, moral citizenry. We are failing on both counts. Given this, it is criminal to deprive the innocent of the right to protect and defend themselves.

There are two polar mindsets rumbling in the belly of this nation. One advocates the abolition of God, the reinterpretation of the Constitution, government as a service industry, the devaluation of human life, armed raids on innocent civilians, and the disarming of America.

The other espouses minimal government, the right to live, to keep and bear arms, to freely express one's religion, and the preservation of our founding documents.

The former is a solid force, a no-holds-barred political machine capable of absolutely any measure to enact their agenda. The latter is a lackluster bunch of political reactors who need to get an agenda and a leader, and fast, lest we all find ourselves living in a new socialist America.

I believe that a million moms are capable of redirecting this nation, but not through gun control that only disarms the innocent.

We need to embrace our children, educate them, love them, shield them from violence in entertainment, teach them to obey the law and to respect authority.

Yet just as important, we must guarantee that authority is worth respecting. That comes from electing moral leaders, setting a positive example ourselves, and sending a clear message that life is precious — all life.

If we want to get to the root cause of kids killing kids, we need to stop sending the message that it's okay for adults to do it.

[Send comments to Amy Riley: ARileyFreePress@aol.com.]

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