The US Bishops have announced a sensible principle with respect to immigration reform–one wonders if they consider the implications of this principle for other issues.
As reported by the NCReporter, Cardinal Dolan was asked whether the reform process should be slowed down due to the immigration history of the Boston bombers. He said this:
That’s just illogical, for a number of reasons. First of all, just out of common sense, to label a whole group of people, mainly the vast population of hardworking, reliable, virtuous immigrants, to label them and to demean them because of the vicious tragic action of two people is just ridiculous. That’s illogical. That’s unfair. That’s unjust.
It would seem so…
Emily wrote keenly yesterday that measures proposed currently as “gun control” have no apparent nexus to actually reducing murders or killings.
These measures on their face would not have impacted mass killings like Newton and Columbine. They add burdens to law-abiding citizens who want to protect their families. Nearly all gun owners who comply with handgun rules, including those who buy misnamed “assault weapons,” use them in entirely legitimate and responsible ways.
Many background checks and restrictions already exist, and others such as gun bans have been shown to have no effect on crime. Meanwhile, new gun control measures rarely seek to actually enforce existing laws against criminals, or to truly address the problem of mental illness.
Then let’s apply Cardinal Dolan’s logic. People including folks associated with the US Bishops point to Newton and other violent incidents. Then they support banning and restricting guns for law-abiding citizens and families seeking self-defense. They eventually support banning families from owning guns altogether, on the basis of instances of crime and mass violence.
Perhaps Catholics should follow the example of Cardinal Dolan, and respond as follows:
That’s just illogical, for a number of reasons. First of all, just out of common sense, to label a whole group of people, mainly the vast population of hardworking, reliable, virtuous [gun owners and families], to label them and to demean them because of the vicious tragic action of [a few] people is just ridiculous. That’s illogical. That’s unfair. That’s unjust.