This past week when I walked into the building for my doctor’s appointment, I saw this sign on the door, “No guns allowed.” Frankly, this did not make me feel safe or secure. Were a gun-toting criminal to walk into the room, everyone there would be sitting ducks, totally defenseless. Welcome to America’s Gun Free Zone laws.

Numerous examples show the ineffectiveness of gun-free zones. Several weeks ago, a PhD student at UNC Chapel Hill, entered the lab where he worked with his professor and murdered him. Thankfully, he was soon caught and put in jail with no bail. The District Attorney, Jeff Nieman, has stated he will not seek the death penalty, calling it “cruel, racist, expensive and is not a deterrent” to crime. He is certainly right about the death penalty no longer being a crime deterrent. Perhaps the fact that although the death penalty is still legal in NC, it has not been applied in the last seventeen years might be a factor. Gunmen know the odds of getting away with murder in NC are definitely in their favor.

Was it not cruel for the killer to take the life of another? Is it really more expensive to administer the death penalty than to pay for the upkeep of the killer in jail for the rest of his natural life? Those against capital punishment say it is. That would not be the case, however, if justice were carried out swiftly. Since it takes eighteen years on average for prisoners to be executed, no wonder costs are up. Why should the law-abiding taxpayer have to bear this expense? So much for justice being swift.

In many cases today, not only is justice no longer swift, it’s no longer served. Don’t tell me that knowing I’ll receive the death penalty if I murder someone isn’t a deterrent. When actions have consistent consequences, law and order rule the day. Where the death penalty is consistently enforced, violent crime rates are much lower. Singapore is one of the safest places in the world. Their judicial system doesn’t keep murderers on death row for years. Kill someone there, and the government will quickly end the criminal’s life by hanging. Swift justice works but justice delayed is often justice denied.

How ironic that gun-free zones were originally intended to be “safe spaces” for people. Instead, they have turned into killing fields and actually invite mass shootings. Ninety-eight percent of mass shootings since 1950 have occurred in places where citizens are banned from having guns. It’s as if the red carpet is rolled out for these lawless people. Most criminals are smart enough to know they won’t be killed in these areas since no one else will have a gun to return fire at them. But a good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy with one, possibly saving the lives of others in the area.

Gun ownership has been a foundational right of Americans since the birth of our country. The Second Amendment has faced great pressure from Biden and the liberal Democrats. Just last week, by executive order, the Democrat Governor of New Mexico banned the right of citizens to carry a gun for thirty days. Let’s see how that turns out. The government might take away guns from good citizens, but I can assure you criminals are always going to have one, regardless of the law.

If we want to see violent crime rates decrease, get rid of gun-free zones and laws preventing good citizens from carrying one. Start consistently enforcing the death penalty. Guns don’t kill people. People kill people. That’s why good folks should not have their government stop them from exercising their constitutional rights. Better to be prepared than sorry. Before you cast your vote for a candidate in the upcoming elections, know where this person stands on these issues. Your life might just depend on it.

Renee C. Scheidt, Salisbury