Last night Bob Costas went on NBC Sunday Night Football and made a speech regarding the KC Chief football player who shot and killed his girlfriend and then went to the Chiefs stadium where he blew his own head off in front of the GM & Coach of the team. It was a shocking crime that brought out a lot of emotions. Bob's speech is a fairytale in which we pass laws to outlaw all guns on the planet. And it ends with "If Javon Belcher didn't own a gun, he and Kasandra would both be alive today". Why? Did KC outlaw bridges to jump off or throw ones perceived enemy from? People have snapped and killed lovers, classmates, co workers and neighbors for as long as we have recorded history. And for most of recorded history there has been guns, so you aren't going to write a law that outlaws guns that is any more effective than the laws written to stop people from making, selling, or using drugs. Those by the way kill a lot more people every year than guns. Annually about 100,000 people die in America from a combination of OD'ing or poisoning compared to about 30,000 gun related deaths. Over half of them suicide. So when something happens like a high profile murder/suicide, and your emotional like Bob, or heaven forbid some of our lawmakers, that would be the worst time to speak about ways of fixing the problem. So Bob next time you want to offer a suggestion to help with an issue remember it has to be based in reality. We can't blink Genie style and make all guns disappear nor can we twitch our nose and make drugs go away. 

Speaking of guns, I read an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend regarding "Parking Lot" bills. The bills have been passed in 20 states so far. Democrats love the bills because they force conservatives to chose between two of their most beloved rights. The 2nd amendment and property rights. Traditionally a business owner has the right to tell it's employees when to arrive, when to leave, what to wear and just about anything else that doesn't violate a law. Conservatives have long been advocates for the rights of the owner, and if the employee doesn't like the requirements, then they are free to seek employment elsewhere. But now the NRA is pushing a bill, state by state that says, when an employer tells a employee that they can't drive on to the premises with a firearm, then that is a violation of the employees 2nd amendment rights. The pushing of these bills is dividing the party.

In Tennessee a Democrat introduced the Parking Lot bill to help divide the party and when Republican caucus chair and lifetime NRA member Debra Maggart wouldn't vote for it, she felt the wrath of the NRA in the form of "tens of thousands of dollars in advertising spent to ruin my credibility". Liberals have found an easy way to start fights inside the conservative movement and are taking advantage of it by sponsoring these Parking Lot bills all over the country.

In my opinion this is one of the major flaws with politics. People look for absolutes rather than the nuances. Step back and ask yourself what is the real issue here? Are business owners demanding that people not have guns in their vehicles? Of course not. There are a few, but the majority have no objections and have probably taken note of the fact that as more American's travel with guns to work, workplace homicides have dropped by 57% in the last 20 years. So why is this an issue? Because some people like to talk in absolutes. It's the same with any hot button topic. If you talk with anyone about abortion it's always the worst case scenario. "So if the girl is raped by her dad and has a 90% chance of dying while giving birth you're still for her having the kid"? Don't take it to the extreme. "We have to act now or pretty soon in America it's going to be illegal to leave your house with a gun". No it's not. Most business owners actually like having their employees carry weapons because statistics show homicides go down. And if your employer doesn't like that, for whatever reason, you can either abide or get a new job at any of the numerous places who value employees who make their job place safer.

Let's not become the party who is trying to legislate everything. We are supposed to be the party of, the market decides. The party of choice. The party of freedom. The other guys are the ones who want more laws, more government, less freedom.