I'm not a fan of actively seeking violent encounters, either as individuals or as a nation. Sometimes, you don't have a choice, but in most cases, if a peaceful settlement can be reached and it actually not be simple capitulation with an aggressor, I'm inclined to favor it.

But groups that are described as "peace groups" bother me for some reason. Sometimes, it turns out that they're "peace at any cost" groups which often means allowing horrific things to happen with no response. 

When they get involved in domestic issues, though, it gets really weird in my mind. Especially when it's about gun control.

I bring this up because such a group lined the streets in one place on the anniversary of Parkland.

On the corner of West State Street and North Front Street on Wednesday, a peaceful group joined in solidarity to remind people about gun violence.

People for Peace and Justice of Sandusky County organized the gathering to bring attention to the fact gun violence is the No. 1 killer of American children. The group aimed to promote gun safety without advocating for a complete ban on guns. Its main goal was to raise awareness about the importance of securing firearms to prevent tragic incidents on the sixth anniversary of the Parkland, Florida, school shooting back in 2018 where 17 died.

Area group promotes gun safety, responsibility

“We’re not trying to ban guns we just want more safety for guns,” said, Elaine Bast, a member of Peace and Justice of Sandusky County. “We just want people to be aware to lock up the guns and not hide them under your pillow at night for example.”

Now, so far, this seems reasonable. After all, we talk about people securing their guns as well.

Granted, they lost me on the last half of that last sentence--people aren't hiding them under any pillows and even if they were, the gun is more or less in their control--but people storing their firearms responsibly? We talk about that all the time.

And hey, they're not trying to ban guns. That means they're not some wonky gun control group, they just want something many of us want, right?

Wrong.

“This is so we can remember and not forget that these things keep happening,’ she said. “We need sensible gun laws ones we can all live with to find a middle ground that preserves the rights of gun owners while prioritizing public safety.”

So they are, in fact, "peace at any cost" on the domestic front.

"We don't want to ban guns," they say, and then they support every gun control law that comes down the road just shy of a total gun ban. 

Gun laws don't stop the criminals. At best, it'll shift what path they might take to do something horrible, but they're never stopped because of laws. If they were, the laws against murder would be more than sufficient.

What groups like this typically want is the middle ground, but only so they can shift what's the middle ground on their next set of demands. We've seen this play out a thousand times in a thousand places. The anti-gun side never gives up a damn thing except for how much they're taking right now. That's it.

So they might be a group that has "peace" in the name, but what they want is to facilitate an increase in violent crime, making the country less peaceful.