Compare and Contrast

Today's "Compare and Contrast" post features these two diametrically-opposed items from the The Enquirer of Cincinnati.

Cincinnati should ban handguns

The billboards that are planned to address gun violence in Cincinnati will not stop bullets and will not stop the killings, not one of them, but it will remind us of what else desperately must be done.

We need a gun control ordinance like they have in Morton Grove, Ill., that bans the possession and ownership of handguns. We need a buy-back program where the city will buy back handguns. We need the churches to go out in the neighborhoods and beg people to bring their handguns and anonymously drop them off at the church office. We need to get some of those for whom guns are important symbols and means of livelihood to come on our side and preach the way of Jesus and Mohammed and Abraham, and not the way of the gun. We need to create a sense of community that says we don't need guns and we don't need murder.

[snip]

Some of those who argue against gun control say it is not worth it to save the lives of those who are the victims of gun violence because they are punks, drug dealers and bad people who are just killing one another off. I say they are wrong on two counts - there are plenty of innocent people, and too many cops who are the victims of gun violence, and I promise you we can save some of these lives with an all out effort on gun control.

Banning handguns makes no sense

No offense to the author of the column "Cincinnati should ban handguns" (July 27), but Robert B. Newman's arguments make little sense. Banning handguns, while not only unconstitutional, is highly impractical. It is a criminal's dream. The fewer people who have guns, the fewer can defend themselves when attacked by said criminal.

[snip]

If you want to ban anything, ban poor parenting. Ban the illegal sales of handguns. Ban gang activity. Ban crime. Owning a handgun is not a crime. Every law-abiding American has the right to own one should they choose. I can assure you that the vast majority of those who legally own handguns would tell you that they hope they never have to use them in self-defense. Making generalizations about handguns and their owners is insulting to those who obey the laws.

Gun control advocates should stop wasting time on handguns and focus on the real problem - the criminals themselves.

Now, for the fun part.

Go back and take note of the bylines at the bottom, describing the writers of each piece.

Robert B. Newman is a Cincinnati lawyer.

Jeff Moorman lives in Covedale with his wife and son. He has a penchant for Frisbee golf and collecting cheesy button-down shirts.

Funny, though not surprising, that the voice of common sense and reason is coming from the cheesy shirt-wearing, Frisbee-loving, average American, family guy, and not the highly "educated" lawyer.

Note: When not trying to deprive law-abiding Americans of their constitutional rights, Attorney Robert B. Newman can be found working tirelessly to protect the rights of convicts and communists.

And, of course, the obligatory accompanying graphic.



(top link via Mr. Weebles)