On March 30, 1981, 25-year old John W. Hinckley, Jr. shot president Ronald Reagan.
He traveled 2,800 miles by bus from Los Angeles to Washington DC. He spent one night in a hotel and the next morning he read President Reagan's itinerary, he then armed himself with a Röhm six-shot .22 caliber revolver and attended the conference where Reagan was to be present.
Hinckley had spent the morning writing a letter to an actress he was obsessed with. He explained to her that he would attempt to assassinate the president, because he could not wait any longer to impress her.
At 2:27 p.m. Hinckley was in the crowd outside the hotel and when President Ronald Reagan emerged Hinckley fired all six shots from his revolver critically wounding Reagan and three others, one of which resulted in death.
This man was found not guilty by reason of insanity to all thirteen charges that were laid against him. After the trial he wrote that the shooting was "the greatest love offering in the history of the world" and he was actually disappointed with the actress for not reciprocating his feelings.
He did not care about injuring others, he did not care about the laws in place nor the consequences of his actions. No, he only cared about the perceived benefit hurting others would have brought him. This is a fine example of how gun laws have little effect on the criminal mindset.
We create laws in the hopes that they will be followed, but it does not matter how many laws we create and how many things we ban; there will always be a criminal willing to break these laws and engage in criminal behavior.
So, do more laws even have an affect on the criminal mindset? Does banning more guns actually reduce the number of violent deaths and crime? Let's dive in and explore the relationship of gun control and the criminal mindset.
CRIMINAL MOTIVATION
As law-abiding citizens we are motivated to follow the law because we believe it is the right thing to do. A reasonable, sane, and prudent person will conduct themselves in a way as to not infringe on the rights of others. They will do so without having to know the law; their common sense and moral reasoning will dictate that good behavior is a great way of maintaining the peace.
We believe, that no matter the circumstances, we must always do the what is right, not just for ourselves, but for those around us as well.
On the other hand, criminals have a completely different way of thinking and a very different way of reasoning. Criminals have a completely different source of motivation.
A criminal has no regard for the law and, in many cases, the criminal will take pride in breaking it. There is no red line, and no moral limit they aren't willing to cross. They need only the right motivation and they will break any law, no matter the risks, no matter the consequences.
Criminals are motivated to commit crime not because they are victims of society or because they have been pushed to the extreme. They commit crime because of the way they think.
They are subject to errors in their thinking patterns:
- some feel they are righteously acting against their oppressors.
- some feel indignant and wronged by the establishment.
- some romanticize crime and gain street cred by breaking the law.
- some are acting out revenge on a world that has let them down.
- some feel they need to conquer and overpower, to seize control.
- most have a combination of all these thoughts and feelings.
You can give a criminal all they need, but there is always something more they want. You can send them to school and give them a good career, but they will work as accountants for the mafia instead of Wall Street. You can give them money and a nice home in a good environment and they will squander it away.
You can treat them well and justly and give them every opportunity, but no matter what the criminal gets or how good it is, it will never be enough; they will not change, they will continue to commit crime.
CRIMINAL DETERMINATION
In the case of John W. Hinckley, there were well established gun laws years before his attempt on the president. However, he managed to buy a gun and shoot the president without ever being convicted of any crime.
He also used the simplest of firearms (as seen in the image above). He did not buy a decked-out AR-15 with extra-capacity magazines, he didn't buy a heavy-caliber sub-machine gun or a modified Glock19 with extended magazines and holographic sights. NO he got his old .22 caliber six-shot revolver and with his strong will and determination he shook the nation.
What incentives can criminals have to stop committing crime? If you take their guns, they will use a knife, if you take the knifes they will use a car, if you take the car they will use a pressure cooker. When a criminal is determined to hurt others, there is little that will stop them.
China has some of the strictest gun laws on the planet. They have very low circulation of firearms among their civilian population, yet this does not deter criminals from killing others.
On November 16, 2024 a former student of the Wuxi Vocational Institute of Arts and Technology, stabbed twenty-five people, killing eight of them in the process.
On June 3, 1982 a 28-year-old man named Lee Chi-hang stabbed his mother and sister to death then proceeded to a nearby Kindergarten and stabbed 34 children, killing four of them.
On November 12, 2024, a man in Zhuhai, China, rammed his vehicle into a crowd at a sports complex, killing 35 and severely injuring dozens more.
Canada is known for its polite and peaceful people. They also have strict gun laws as a way to prevent violent crime, yet it has very little effect.
On April 23, 2018, a man drove a van into pedestrians on Yonge Street in Toronto, Ontario, killing 10 people and injuring 15 others.
On September 4, 2022, Myles Sanderson killed 11 and injured 18 people in a mass stabbing in Weldon, Saskatchewan. To this day it remains one of the deadliest massacres in Canadian history.
I must point out that stabbings are an everyday thing in Canada, and carrying anything for self-defense is not allowed, no mace, no knives, no tasers.
The US doesn't stay behind when it comes to these types of attacks. Criminals have proven to be very resourceful when they are determined to kill. There is nothing that will stop them; if they don't have a weapon they will buy one, if they can't buy one they will steal one, if they can't still one they will fabricate one.
In 2013 two men detonated two improvised explosive devices, made with pressure cookers and shrapnel, near the finish line of a marathon. The attack resulted in three deaths and over 500 injuries.
In 2025 new year's eve there was a terrorist attack by Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who plowed a rental pick-up truck into a crowd in New Orleans, killing at least 14 people and injuring more than 30 others.
in 1982 we saw the Chicago Tylenol Murders when an unknown criminal laced Tylenol-branded acetaminophen capsules with potassium cyanide resulting in the deaths of at least seven people.
Let us now think and ask ourselves: Shall we ban knives, pick-up trucks, and pressure cookers? Should we pass legislation requiring the registration of everyday objects and require a license to use them? What good will any of this do when criminals aren't willing to follow the law in the first place?
THE PURPOSE OF GUN LEGISLATION
Creating more gun laws or banning more types of firearms will not reduce the number of violent crimes.
Let's use Venezuela as an example:
In 2012, the communist-dominated Venezuelan National Assembly passed the Control of Arms, Munitions and Disarmament Law, which disarmed the entire population and eradicated private firearm ownership.
Despite the outright gun ban, Venezuela saw a sharp rise in murder. By 2015, Venezuela had the world’s worst homicide rate: 27,875 Venezuelans were murdered that year.
- Did they reduce the number of firearms in their population? YES.
- Did they reduce their numbers of violent crime and murder? NO
We must be very aware of the criminal mindset when it comes to gun control and we must ask our selves if the laws we create will even have an effect in reducing criminal behavior:
What exactly are we trying to accomplish?
Are we trying to reduce the total number of violent crimes or just the ones involving firearms?
Are we trying to reduce all deaths by firearm such as murder and suicide, or are we trying to reduce wrongful deaths altogether?
Are we trying to change the perception of danger just to feel safe or are we actually making life safer for all of us?
You might think that creating more laws means more and harsher consequences for the perpetrators, but you'd be wrong to believe this. Harsh punishment is usually not a good deterrent.
I've met criminals that commit crime in the winter just so that they can get a warm bed and three hot meals in the day instead of being hungry out in the snow. Some people don't mind doing the time or even facing capital punishment for their crimes, and no amount of legislation will change that.
CONCLUSION
Going back to Hinckley, here is a list of some of the gun laws that were in effect before his attempt on President Ronald Reagan:
In 1927 The U.S. Congress passes the Miller Act, a law banning the mailing of concealable weapons.
In 1934 The National Firearms Act of 1934, regulating the manufacture, sale, and possession of fully automatic firearms like sub-machine guns is approved by Congress.
In 1938 The Federal Firearms Act of 1938 places the first limitations on selling ordinary firearms. Persons selling guns are required to obtain a Federal Firearms License, at an annual cost of $1, and to maintain records of the name and address of persons to whom firearms are sold. Gun sales to persons convicted of violent felonies were prohibited.
In 1968 The Gun Control Act of 1968 is enacted for the purpose of “keeping firearms out of the hands of those not legally entitled to possess them because of age, criminal background, or incompetence.” The act regulates imported guns, expands the gun-dealer licensing and record-keeping requirements, and places specific limitations on the sale of handguns. The list of persons banned from buying guns is expanded to include persons convicted of any non-business related felony, persons found to be mentally incompetent, and users of illegal drugs.
In 1972 The federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) is created, listing as part of its mission the control of illegal use and sale of firearms and the enforcement of Federal firearms laws. The ATF issues firearms licenses and conducts firearms licensee qualification and compliance inspections.
In 1976 The District of Columbia enacts an anti-handgun law which also requires registration of all rifles and shotguns within the District of Columbia.
Despite all this, Hinckley was able to procure a firearm, travel the country with it, and shoot President Reagan. He was but one of many criminals to be able to get a firearm and commit crime with it despite all the gun laws that have been put in place since then.
The biggest downside to all this, aside from all the deaths, is that law-abiding people are left defenseless against criminals and vulnerable to government overreach.
Law-abiding citizens would be the only ones to obey any of these laws while criminals would continue to break them. It doesn't seem fair to infringe on the peoples' right to defend themselves and those around them, while criminals still run rampant having little regard for the law.
It almost seems that these laws don't even mean to decrease crime or punish the criminal. It seems that the government has other priorities on it's agenda and it is NOT the safety of it's people.
I dare say it's all part of a plan to disarm the population and establish total control over them. That's why they lie about gun control and it's true effect on crime, that's why they manipulate information and misrepresent data and numbers.
So let's talk about this next time.
If you have read this far I extend my deepest gratitude. If you have experienced the loss of a loved one to gun violence and want to share I encourage you to do so, as we can all learn something new from each other.
Tune in next time, I'll be writing on the subjects of government control and how they use tragedy and gun legislation as a way to control its population.
Please feel free to comment and leave your opinions or questions on this thread. If you have any advice or just want to share, write it below or link to your blog.
Remember Lions, stay safe, stay strong, and stay free!