Second Amendment Foundation: Don't penalize law-abiding gun owners After Waffle House shooting, don't add a law just to add a law: Opposing view

Alan Gottlieb | USA TODAY

In the wake of the horrible shooting in Nashville, gun prohibition advocates wasted no time calling for expansion of gun control laws, not to punish offenders but to penalize law-abiding firearms owners for a crime they didn’t commit.

The suspect, Travis Reinking, had been legally barred from possessing firearms following his arrest near the White House by the Secret Service. The Tazewell County Sheriff’s Office seized his Firearm Owner’s Identification card after the FBI told the Illinois State Police to revoke it. The card is needed to own guns in that state. The guns were released to the suspect’s father, who said he would keep them away from his son, according to a police report.

If the elder Reinking did give the guns back to his son, he could be in trouble. But was anyone else involved in whatever happened between father and son?

OUR VIEW: Before Waffle House shooting, flags couldn't get any redder

How many similar situations have there been in which firearms were turned over to responsible friends or family members and didn’t fall back into the wrong hands?

We are talking about the taking of property without compensation, and maybe even without due process. This particular property — firearms — is specifically protected by the Constitution, so any confiscation and suspension or denial of possession rights must be subjected to strict court scrutiny.

What the suspect apparently did in Nashville will be determined in court. If the authorities or the suspect’s father have any liability, that should also be determined in a courtroom.

Enforcing existing law against individual offenders is more effective than adding another law that may not be enforced again. It is more important to actually do something than to make it appear that something has been done.

If the suspect was a “clear and present” danger, he belonged in custody, not free on the streets where he could kill, whether with a gun, or even a rented truck.

Alan Gottlieb is founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation and chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

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