I do not mind much that guns were banned in East Lansing-owned buildings Tuesday. Those are places frequented by police officers and not usually criminal targets.

But for people who wanted to ban guns all over East Lansing, let me tell you a little story.

The East Lansing City Council banned its residents and visitors from having legal firearms all over the city. It felt safer that way. The owners of guns, being law abiding citizens, agreed to have them stored in the police station or wherever they were allowed to store them. Life was good.

One cold winter afternoon, a troubled man carrying a shotgun, which he obtained illegally, entered a grocery store and held up the place, for he knew he would find no citizens with guns in East Lansing. And because the roads were slick, the police took almost 10 minutes to respond (I have unfortunately witnessed such foul response times), and by the time they got there two people had been killed.

If one of the shoppers had been carrying a legally concealed handgun, this tragedy might have been prevented. But the residents of East Lansing felt safer knowing there were no legal guns in their city.

Daniel Bednar
telecommunication sophomore