{"id":116538,"date":"2026-04-29T22:04:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T03:04:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=116538"},"modified":"2026-04-29T22:04:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T03:04:24","slug":"116538","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=116538","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

Opinion: OK, \u2018gun control\u2019 had its chance \u2014 here are the results<\/a><\/p>\n

Using the alleged Trump assassination attempt as a case study, Thomas L. Knapp argues strict gun-control laws failed at every step and show why he sees them as immoral, impractical and ineffective.<\/p>\n

\n

In the wake of Cole Tomas Allen\u2019s alleged attempt to assassinate U.S. President Donald Trump and\/or other political officials, journalists and general-purpose celebrities come the usual calls for \u201cgun control\u201d because that\u2019s just how things work.<\/p>\n

My preferred argument against such nonsense leans hard on morality (it\u2019s evil to infringe on the unalienable human right to self-defense) with a chaser of overall practicality (more than 100 million Americans own several hundred million guns and won\u2019t be giving them up without a fight you do NOT want to witness).<\/p>\n

However, it occasionally it seems worthwhile to change lanes and instead examine just how well \u201cgun control\u201d actually works in practice. This is one of those times.<\/p>\n

On April 21, Allen boarded an Amtrak train in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

California generally, and Los Angeles specifically, have some of the strictest \u201cgun control\u201d laws on the books, and Amtrak only allows firearms to be carried in locked, checked baggage, with prior written notice\/declaration, none of which conditions Allen complied with.<\/p>\n

After switching trains in Chicago,, he arrived in Washington, D.C., on April 24 and checked into the Washington Hilton. Like California, Illinois and the District of Columbia have strict \u201cgun control\u201d laws on the books, none of which Allen complied with. The Hilton forbids firearms on its premises other than those carried by \u201claw enforcement personnel.\u201d Allen ignored that rule.<\/p>\n

The following day, carrying the 12-gauge shotgun and .38-caliber pistol he\u2019d brought with him over a trip spanning more than 2,000 miles in, from and through various \u201cgun control\u201d zones, he attempted to charge a security checkpoint and reach the hotel\u2019s International Ballroom, intending violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cGun control\u201d had chance after chance after chance to prove it could thwart Allen\u2019s plans.<\/p>\n

And. It. Didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Whoa … violent criminals don\u2019t obey \u201cgun control\u201d laws and private-venue gun rules any more than they obey other kinds of laws and rules? Whodathunkit?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not that the laws and rules aren\u2019t adequately enforced. The only way to reliably prevent Allen from traveling from LA to D.C. with guns would have been to force him to travel on foot and buck naked … after which he\u2019d have almost certainly been able to buy a gun on the street if he wanted one.<\/p>\n

\u201cGun control\u201d laws aren\u2019t just evil and impractical, they\u2019re stump-stupid. As a solution to the violence of criminals, they make about as much sense as a gaudy new White House ballroom.<\/p>\n

Thomas L. Knapp (X: @thomaslknapp | Bluesky: @knappster.bsky.social | Mastodon: @knappster) is director and senior news analyst at the William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Opinion: OK, \u2018gun control\u2019 had its chance \u2014 here are the results Using the alleged Trump assassination attempt as a case study, Thomas L. Knapp argues strict gun-control laws failed at every step and show why he sees them as immoral, impractical and ineffective. In the wake of Cole Tomas Allen\u2019s alleged attempt to assassinate … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial-o-the-day"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=116538"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116538\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116539,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116538\/revisions\/116539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=116538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=116538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=116538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}