The crime bill recently foisted upon us by bleeding heart, non-thinking legislators and signed by President Clinton will not make a substantive impact on crime; however, my crime bill will work. My comprehensive crime bill speaks to gun ownership, prison reform, plea bargaining, parole reform, use of death penalty, etc.

Much of America's crime spree could be limited with more gun laws; however, not laws to ban guns but to boost them! You see, good guys don't use guns irresponsibly; bad guys do. Gun bans don't ban guns. They only prohibit law abiding citizens from legally purchasing and owning guns for personal protection, target shooting, hunting or collecting.

Felons will have more power when fewer honest citizens have guns. Conversely, the more of us who have guns and the willingness to use them, the less power the crooks have. Legislators who think that gun bans will have any impact on crime are unthinking, uncaring, unconstitutional and should be unemployed.

My crime bill would rest upon gun ownership by everyone who is sane, not a felon and 21 years of age. Maybe we could give a tax break as an incentive to the homeowners who have guns and know how to use them. When a homeowner shoots a rapist or thief, he would be honored "citizen of the year" instead of being harassed. A corollary to that would be that he would be held accountable if he shoots the paper boy, the milkman or the Avon Lady.

Protecting oneself and family has been an accepted way of life since Adam and Eve fled their paradise in Eden; however, in recent years that basic concept has been challenged by media personalities, myopic prosecutors and mindless politicians.

A 1986 study showed that 56 percent of prisoners studied said they would not attack a prospective victim who was known to be armed, and 74 percent said that they would avoid burglarizing homes where they knew the homeowners were armed. Obviously the bad guys respect guns, so every homeowner should have a gun, know how to use it and be willing to use it, if necessary, to protect his person and property.

You ask, "What about taking a person's life?" But I ask, "What is that man doing creeping into my house?" If a life is to be taken, why should it be mine or one of my family? You see, getting shot is an occupational hazard of a thief or rapist. Dying comes sooner or later to all of us, and if I see a man in my home some night, he will die sooner than later.

"But," you may ask, "the Bible says, "Thou shalt not kill." However, any astute Bible student knows that the meaning is, "Thou shalt do no murder." There is a big difference in premeditated murder and killing a home intruder.

If God really meant, "Thou shalt not kill," then it would be wrong to swat a fly or step on a bug. It is not wrong to step on a bug, and it is not wrong to step on those vermin that crawl in and out of our homes preying upon the decrepit, the disabled, the destitute and the diseased.

You may ask if I would really shoot a man breaking into my home. The answer is, "Yes, without hesitation," and I would expect to be praised not prosecuted or persecuted. And if a man tells me that he would stand by and see his family attacked, then he is either a liar, sick or a coward. Or maybe he is a lying, sick coward, and I pity the wife who married him and feel sorry for the little daughter who looks into his eyes and calls him daddy.

It is now a fact that the police can not and are not obligated to protect you and me. We are "on our own." In the first place, the police can't be everywhere, and while they can be some places, it is only after the fact – burglary, rape or killing. That won't do you much good, will it? If Americans are well armed, well trained and willing to responsibly use their guns, the bad guys will get the message: they may get their heads blown off if they mess with us. Then and only then will the muggings, maiming, mayhem and murder stop. That's the start of my crime bill, and it will work.

Copyright 1996 Don Boys Ph.D.