Actually, We Want to Save Lives, Too

One of the weirder things about the gun debate, other than that there's a debate in the first place, is that both sides say that they want to do the same thing. Anti-gunners argue that they're about trying to save lives, that everything they do is about protecting people from the scourge of so-called gun violence, and they think gun control is the best or only method in which that can be accomplished.

This isn't the first time I've thought about this. Usually, though, it's right after someone claims that folks like you and me just want to see dead kids because we won't do what they think we should want, but today, it was because of something that took place in Pennsylvania.

It seems a group of Democrats and activists wants the state to step up funding for "gun violence prevention."

Lawmakers and advocates came together at the Pennsylvania State Capitol on Tuesday to push for additional funding for gun violence prevention.

Specifically, officials highlighted the success of York City's Group Violence Intervention efforts, which were implemented in 2014. York saw a near-record number of homicides in 2022 and ramped up efforts from there.

"We were able to drop that number in 2023 to about seven," said Tiff Lowe, the executive director of York GVI. "Then, in 2024, to about five. The numbers have been dropping since."

The headline features the quote, "We want to save lives."

Chris Dorr of the Pennsylvania Firearms Association argues that it's really nothing but a way to funnel money to gun control groups, and since Ceasefire PA is on board with this, he's probably right.

But let's back up a second and talk about the "we want to save lives" thing for a moment. Anti-gunners always make that argument, and they do it because it makes them look righteous. I think a whole lot of them really do want that, too. They're not making it up.

What they need to understand is that we on this side of the debate also want to save lives. No one likes seeing dead children or other innocent people shot for absolutely no reason. We don't like seeing reports of gang killings in our communities. We don't want to see violent crime happening around us.

The difference is that we recognize that the people doing the killing won't stop just because you pass a couple of laws that they're going to ignore anyway. We recognize that the police will never be able to protect us, no matter how much individual officers might deeply want to do just that. We want to preserve and restore our gun rights, not because we worship violence, but because we'd much rather be able to save lives with a firearm than become "the victim" in a news report.

I have found myself with another human in my sights twice. That's two-times more than most people ever will outside of war, and I thank God I didn't have to pull the trigger either time. But I was in a position to save my life the first time, and potentially save someone else's the next, and I also thank God that I had the means to act both times.

"We want to save lives" is not an excuse to push gun control in my mind, even if you mean it. It's nothing but an attempt at rationalizing what's really happening. It's a way to say "I don't want you to be able to save a life" without looking like a monster.

Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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