When tragedies like the Columbine massacre happen, the immediate reaction is, "We have to do something about it." This is entirely rational and correct. The problem is when "do something" becomes "It doesn’t matter if it’s right; it doesn’t matter if it works -- just do anything."

Such is the case with many of the gun control measures currently being advocated by the President. When someone says that we should make the weapons used at Columbine illegal, consider this: Some of the weapons used at Columbine already were illegal, and all of them were illegally possessed by minors. If making weapons illegal were effective in preventing tragedy, Columbine would never have happened! How, then, is passing more laws going to make a difference?

Don’t get me wrong -- certainly instant background checks and other reasonable measures are not without merit. But we need to examine the rhetoric coming from the politicians in Washington who take the "do anything" approach. We need to examine first whether the proposed laws will have any effect at all, and most importantly, whether the negative effects of the law (including encroachment on citizens’ rights) outweigh the positives. Many gun control advocates say it is worth it if only one life is saved. Agreed. But what if that one life comes at the expense of another life of one who was unable to defend himself from an armed criminal? Was the one life saved more valuable than the one that was lost? This is cold reality, but we not only have to consider the motives behind any new law, but also its outcome.

To continue down the path of stricter and stricter gun control is to ultimately ensure that the only people with guns will be the criminals. Suppose we outlawed handguns entirely (as some advocate). Good, law-abiding citizens will now be unable to buy a gun anywhere, because they are unwilling to break the law. Criminals, by definition, do not care if they break the law; they will simply purchase their guns on the black market. Sure, it will be more expensive, but at least they won’t have to worry about their victims being armed. Sound simplistic? No, it’s just logical.

Yes, do something about school violence. Just don’t "do anything".