Quote of the day–Ben Franklin

Never confuse motion with action.

Ben Franklin
[I believe many of the anti-gun people make this mistake. “We have to do something!” they say. No. We don’t.

Even with a system optimally configured it’s possible for something bad to happen. There are many, many trade-offs in life. We could reduce traffic fatalities to zero if we banned cars or made the speed limit 5 MPH. But the trade-off just isn’t worth it.

And so it is with firearms. Even without a constitutional guarantee it would be wrong to remove the most effective defensive tool ever made from the hands of the people that might need them. Sure, make training easily available and affordable. Punish people who allow their dangerous objects (not just guns but gasoline, matches, and sharp knives) to get into the hands of small children or the mentally incompetent who hurt themselves or others.

But just because something bad happened doesn’t mean that doing something won’t make the totality of the situation worse or just rearranged the deck chairs on the Titanic. You have to look at the downside of whatever action you demand to be taken instead of just the potential upside.–Joe]

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2 thoughts on “Quote of the day–Ben Franklin

  1. And, of course, that idea is not applicable to solely the topic of firearm-related legislation, either… Our recent health-insurance “emergency” is a prime example of politicians and constituents alike confusing “doing something” with “doing something useful“. And, of course, the concept is also applicable to self-defense situations, and countless other things, but it definitely seems as though the political mindset in our country, specifically, is trending more towards the former and disdaining the latter.

    Then again, as Our Glorious President shows, put a good face on almost no content, and it will sell, sell, sell!

  2. We could reduce traffic fatalities to zero if we banned cars or made the speed limit 5 MPH.

    Sorry, people died in road accidents long before cars were on the scene. Horses have a bad habit of not following the instructions of the owner. Hell, even pedal bikes crash. And many accidents happen at less than 5mph.

    But must be worth a go right? If it saves even one life.

    How they manage to get out of bed amazes with with an IQ lie that.

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