The statistics are just not on the side of the anti-freedom caucus. When looking at or digging through the data that’s most readily available from the FBI, there is much to be learned. It’s safe to say that most of the numbers are just downright inconvenient for gun control fans. Pair that with what happens in day-to-day America and you’ll be able to get a better picture of how a prohibitionist methodology in dealing with firearms has zero effect on making any of us safer.

It was recently reported that a man from Burlington County New Jersey beat to death another man with a hammer. According to the available information, no motive was noted, but we do have the following information:

A Burlington County man accused of beating a Delaware man to death at a truck stop in Salem County has reportedly admitted to killing the man with a hammer.

Marchello D. Williams, 40, of Browns Mills, admitted to striking 47-year-old Tysheem Porter, of Newark, Delaware, in the head with a hammer five or six times, nj.com reports.

Williams was arrested on May 7 at the Flying J Travel Center in Carneys Point just before 11 p.m. May 6, according to Carneys Point police. Williams was found sitting at a table in the drivers lounge, with Porter laying on the floor nearby.

New Jersey has a reputation of having a gold standard when it comes to fighting “gun violence”, but the restrictive laws and continued calls to usurp freedom in the Garden State do not stop violent crime and murder. The murder in this case happened with a hammer. There is no indication on what type of hammer was involved, not that it should make a difference, as hammers are easily purchased at every hardware store and many other retail locations. Not to be flippant, but was this an “assault hammer” or “high capacity hammer”?  Why not both? After all, it was used to assault someone (to death). It was also a “high capacity” hammer, because it could be used many more times than the largest detachable box magazine has a capacity to hold.

There are more questions left than answers when reading stories like this one. What the potential conflict was about that caused a person to beat to death is not known. Nor was there any indication that the parties involved knew each other. What also can’t be determined is if the victim had been armed, which is allowed and accepted in over 80% of the country, would he have been able to effectively defend himself? We can’t say for sure that Porter would be with us today to tell the full story of what happened if he were carrying, but we could say he would have had a fighting chance.

New Jersey’s laws do nothing to stop criminal behavior. Beyond that, trying to fix the “gun problem” in the state does not stop people from using common everyday items. According to the  2019 FBI crime statistics there were 1,593 murders  in the U.S. that were completed with “other weapons”. While hammers are not specifically listed in this chart, they would fall into the “other weapon” category. Also important to note is that there were 600 murders with “hands and or feet”. The significance of these statistics lies in the fact that there were only 364 murders recorded where the weapon of choice was a rifle. Of those 364 murders via rifles, there is no break down on the type of rifle. They could have been anything from a single shot target rifle all the way through to include the scary semi-automatic A-15 variants. Murder via hands and feet are almost double the number of deaths attributed to rifles, and other weapons account for over four times of the same amount.

The numbers do not look good for any of the members of the the anti-freedom caucus. So much effort and time is being paid to regulating things like modern sporting rifles and so-called ghost guns, no one wants to admit that evil exists in the individual. New Jersey has strict laws regulating AR-15 firearms and there has been legislation introduced in the past that would regulate them further. Most of the rest of the country has less restrictive laws concerning semi-automatic long guns, and it’s rightfully so when you look at the numbers. I suppose we need to remember that New Jersey is so outlandish that they outlaw slingshots. Hammers are A-OK. I won’t sit and hold my breath to see what anti-hammer legislation will be introduced in New Jersey.

We’ll never know if the victim mentioned would have made it out of the situation alive. New Jersey does not allow firearms as an option for personal self-defense outside of the home. The Garden State just does not value human life and prefers control over addressing the real issues at hand, the root causes of violence. My suggestion would be with starting to enforce the laws that are on the books prior to introducing more. Trying to find legislative answers to executive problems is just passing the buck and really shows how incompetent the state really is. It’s time the policy makers should just consider they are wrong when it comes to usurping fundamental rights in the name of public safety. I’m not even suggesting they completely adopt the fact that more responsibly armed people equals less crime. I’ll settle for them to just consider that they are wrong.