Rick Perry's praying for you

“As a free people, let us choose what kind of people we will be. Laws, the only redoubt of secularism, will not suffice. Let us all return to our places of worship and pray for help. Above all, let us pray for our children.” -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry

Gov. Rick Perry is upset. He's mighty upset that President Obama has proposed restrictions on the ability of anyone to buy a gun.

According to Mr. Perry, the actions announced by the White House the other day are a direct assault on the Second Amendment. And we certainly can't have that now, can we.

“In fact, the piling on by the political left, and their cohorts in the media, to use the massacre of little children to advance a pre-existing political agenda that would not have saved those children, disgusts me, personally,” the governor said. “The Second Amendment to the Constitution is a basic right of free people and cannot be nor will it be abridged by the executive power of this or any other president.”

But where is out great defender of the Bill of Rights when it comes to shredding the Fourth Amendment? Where was Rick Perry when local jurisdictions decided to impose "No Refusal Weekends" on the driving public? Where was Rick Perry when motorists were threatened with forcible blood draws if they refused to blow into the breath test machine? Where was he when judges began accepting officers' sworn statements over the phone?

It's quite ironic that the gun lobby screams to the high heavens that any restriction on the ability of anyone to buy any weapon is a direct assault on the Second Amendment, but no on bats an eye as the courts and the legislature continue to eviscerate our protection against unreasonable search and seizure. Restrictions on gun sales or mandatory background checks won't affect all of us but weakening the Fourth Amendment makes it harder for us to exercise our right to be left alone.

Rick Perry is a buffoon. Anyone who witnessed his performance during his aborted Presidential run knows that. The idea that we're going to solve our addiction to violence by getting down on our knees and praying is absurd. Doesn't Rick Perry know that more people have been killed in the name of religion than for any other reason?

But then it's easier to exhort folks to prayer and to throw firebombs at political adversaries than it is to come up with a proposed solution of your own. Now I'm not naive. The measures proposed by President Obama won't prevent another massacre from happening. Enforcing the gun laws we already have on the books won't  do it either. Even with stricter gun laws, there will be guns available for those who want them.

The answer to the problem of too many guns on the streets is not to put more guns out on the streets. That will only lead to more bloodshed, more death and more grieving families.

In the meantime more politicians will grandstand about how they will refuse to allow the White House to destroy the Second Amendment by restricting gun sales but very few will stand up to defend the Fourth Amendment.

And without the Fourth Amendment, your right to keep and bear arms will be nothing but an empty promise.