On October 10 Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich suggested the Second Amendment was written for another time and place and that America’s Founding Fathers could never have envisioned the situation we find ourselves in now, in the 21st century.
In light of this, Cupich called for “reasonable” gun control including an “assault weapons” ban, which already exists in Chicago but has done nothing to shield the innocent from death. He also indirectly referenced the Umpqua Community College shooting, seeking to have “reasonable” gun control spread from Chicago to the rest of the country.
Writing in the Chicago Tribune, Cupich said, “Let’s be honest. The Second Amendment was passed in an era when organized police forces were few and citizen militias were useful in maintaining the peace. Its original authors could not have anticipated a time when the weapons we have a right to bear now include military-grade assault weapons that have turned our streets into battlefields.” He then quoted Pope Francis’s “call for an end to the weapon’s industry” and said “America’s political leaders” are mistaken if they believe those words were aimed at companies outside our borders.
Cupich lamented that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) secured no results from Congress after calling for more gun control in the wake of the attack on Sandy Hook Elementary. He said USCCB pushed for more controls as a way to usher in “a culture of life and confront the culture of violence.”
Perhaps Cupich has not thought about the fact that the attack on Sandy Hook Elementary took place in an area with 100 percent gun control–a gun free zone. Perhaps he has not thought about the fact that the attack on Umpqua Community College took place in an area with 100 percent gun control as well–another gun free zone. Perhaps he has not thought about the fact the Aurora movie theater attack, the Lafayette movie theater attack, the Chattanooga attack on military personnel, the 2013 DC Navy Yard attack and the both attacks at Fort Hood–2009 and 2014–took place in areas with 100 percent gun control via gun free zone policies, too.
In all of these cases 100 percent gun control did not usher in “a culture of life.” Rather, it provided an opportunity for those who wanted to cause death and mayhem while facing little to no resistance.
Chicago is a microcosm of this. City leaders have spent decades passing every gun control they can concoct and now we find the criminals are well armed while innocents cannot get the guns they need for self-defense. Yet Archbishop Cupich “applauds” city ordinances like those designed to “tightly regulate gun stores” in the city, although such regulation only affects law-abiding citizens.
Breitbart News recently reported that a study by the University of Chicago Crime Lab shows that criminals are not getting their guns from gun stores, gun shows, or the internet, which happen to be three avenues Democrats in DC are pushing to regulate most heavily. Rather, they get their guns via “personal connections” on the streets.
The bottom line–Chicago’s gun control experiment has turned into a nightmare for law-abiding citizens, who are now at the mercy of the gangs and street criminals who acquire their weapons in ways gun controllers don’t even address. More gun control is not going change this for the better, but will only make things worse for those who follow the rules.
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.