“False is the idea of utility that sacrifices a thousand real advantages for one imaginary or trifling inconvenience; that would take fire from men because it burns, and water because one may drown in it; that it has no remedy for evils, except destruction. The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are of such a nature. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.”
Cesare Beccaria On Crimes and Punishments (87-88)
When CB wrote, most nations prohibited subjects from being armed, with the exception of certain favored groups.
In Britain that was the Protestants, in most of Europe the nobility. The idea being, of course, that these groups would support the government.
Local news station doing a special on guns in Fla.
http://www.news4jax.com/news/firearms-in-florida/25662012
These are comments from the Jacksonville Sheriff and a Sheriff in a neighboring county and I couldn't agree more:
“Guns aren't violent, people are, and that's what we need to focus on.”
- Jacksonville Sheriff John Rutherford
“The one thing a criminal fears more than police is a good guy with a gun.” - Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler