Texas Gulag

Dear Texas Attorney General John Cornyn,

I just read your article "Texas Exile: Gun Crime=Hard Time" in the PSC Shooting Club Bullseye News.

Please reconsider your support of this program. "Texas Exile" appears targeted at making felons out of many fine people I know (who understand the meanling of "shall no be infringed" or simply cannot afford a CCW) and one unintended consequence of such a decree is a loss of respect for the law.

You sought to justify Texas Exile by pointing out that drug dealers sometimes get involved in gun battles with their users or each other.

John, I value my liberties far above the lives of drug using losers and do not appreciate your sacrificing my liberty for the sake of their security.

There is, however, a more fundamental issue. The government (and especially the Federal government) should not be making drugs illegal. At least with alcohol prohibition, Americans recognized that it required a Constitutional Amendment.

The results with alcohol were the same as with drugs...dealers and users had no recourse to the courts and the law so they found it necessary to enforce their contracts with intimidation.

During Prohibition, competing alcohol lords gunned each other down. Now with the Drug War we see the same insidious results.

"We will incarcerate those who illegally carry, possess or sell guns."

I'm sorry, John, but the Second Amendment clearly says that it is illegal (unconstitutional) to decree that there is an "illegal" carry, "illegal" possession, or "illegal" transaction with respect to arms. "Shall not be infringed" means that there is no "Allow" on this crucial issue.

Moreover because a population skilled in the use of arms is so important to the security of a free state, the right to have and carry arms cannot be infringed by even private institutions (like businesses and public facilities).

If you want to do something about crime, do this: Make it known that once a criminal is freed from prison, he regains all of his rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights. Free speech, everyone expects. The right to keep and bear arms should be restored as well.

Of course the knee jerk reaction to such a proposal is "That's crazy...have criminals running about armed?" My point is that no matter what the law says, if a criminal intends to return to crime the law won't stop him from acquiring a weapon. But at least when the parole board is looking at granting early release, guess what's going to be in the back of their mind?

In summary, I abhor the whole concept of a "gun crime". Either a person committed (or threatened) aggression or he didn't. Personally if I had to chose the form of my own murder, I'd prefer to be murdered with a gun than with a baseball bat or knife. Either way, I hope you'll recognize that it's your job to lock up or execute the murderer and not make me a felon for trying to prevent the victimization of my family and neighbors.

I ask that you stop fueling the media frenzy regarding private arms with catch phrases like "Gun Crime Means Hard Time". A better turn of phrase might be "Homicide is Suicide in an Armed Texas."

Mark A. Laughlin