The Debt Limit is Our Budget Magazine

Our murder rate is at historical lows and our budget deficit at historical highs, so naturally our political class is focused on gun control measures to control a problem that doesn't seem to exist to the extent they assert.

Already, New York state has passed a gun control package that will make mental health professionals criminals for treating patients confidentially and discourage people from seeking treatment in the first place. But it was "for the children," so that's okay. They "did something."

The heartbreaking tragedy of Sandy Creek does not change these basic facts. Nor does parading frightened children give me confidence that the laws following New York state's reporting requirements will be any more well thought out.

Yes, medical advances make some murders from the past into attempted murders today, but crime overall is dropping, too. So life-saving capabilities can't be the sole reason for the recent decline in murder rates.

Not that every idea put out by gun control advocates is necessarily bad, but for the near future I'd rather Congress pass laws to prohibit high capacity federal budgets by restraining the growth of our debt.