I'm quite disappointed with the response of sleazy liberal politicians and anti-gun activists with their reaction to the horrific murders of three people in Albany. They are quick to point their sights on the murder weapon, and calling for even more restrictions on the ownership of firearms.

The reality is that many societal failures that lead Javon Undervue to engage in murder. He didn’t one day get bored, and decide to pick up a 38-caliber pistol at the local convince store, and decide to shoot three of his friends. You don’t just decide one day to murder your friends. He drunk beer and smoked pot, but most people wouldn’t shoot their friends in response.

According to Dan Van Riper’s Albany Weblog, Javon’s life had fallen apart one piece at a time. About eight years ago, he was fortunate enough to come upon a significant amount of money when his parents passed away. Living in an era where frivolous consumption is the norm, he quickly spent this money on toys rather then invest it. He became poisoned by chemical reactions of illicit substances and alcohol, and lost the small town of Altamont that he grew up in, and became a drifter on the streets of Albany.

Nobody was there in Albany to help Javon turn his life around. No police officer found him on the streets, and offered him help to get off his addictions and his spiral downturn. There was no free housing offered to him, or training and job placement to turn him into a successful person in our society. Everybody ignored him – they argued that it was his fault that he was on the street and without treatment.

Instead of offering this man a home and the kindness we should offer a person in his situation, we offered nothing at all. We forgot him. We left him to explore the streets all alone with nothing to do but try to feed his addictions and try to stay warm. We let him become more depressed, and feeling that there was little choice in our society but to act destructively. We didn’t offer any help at all. But he got by somehow on the street.

Did anybody expect a good conclusion for a soul like this so abandoned by everyone in society except the drug pushers? I doubt anybody even gave it thought. If they did, they would realize the best hope for a person like this would be a lengthy prison sentence, if only to prevent him from hurting others on the street. There is never any money for treating the ill, but there always is money for building prisons. People say locking people up ensures public safety, but drug treatment is a handout to the poor.

As the story goes, Javon illegally purchased or stole a 38-caliber pistol and shot three of his friends, in a partially drug-induced rage. Somehow he felt that killing would make the world a better place. He could have used a beer bottle to kill his friends, but instead chose to use a gun. A gulf club would have worked quite fine, but it wouldn’t be as easy to use or as a lethal. That’s why anti-gun activists have latched on this issue.

Yet, under existing laws in New York, Javon would not be allowed to own a firearm. It’s clearly illegal to murder another person, with any kind of firearm or other method of killing. It’s also not particularly easy to get a pistol like this in New York. Our state requires to purchase a hand gun, one must have five references of people of moral character (never convicted of a crime) that live within a county of the person applying for a permit. That permit must further be approved by a County Supreme Court Judge. It’s not an overnight purchase. The firearm and owner are permanently registered in a state database.

People as depressed and homicidal as Javon are legally barred from owning a gun. Why did he still have one, even though he broke so many laws? Our constitution does not allow for preemptive searches of people for firearms in their homes or cars without a search warrant. We believe people should be able to live their lives without undue harassment from the state. These are fundamental concepts of liberty our society embraces, even if it puts us at greater danger.

We must always balance liberty against the dangers we face in our society. Our constitution says the right to own a firearm is a fundamental right, and that we can’t deprive people of that right except when there is a clear and immediate danger to the public welfare, much like we can’t deny people the right to assemble or speak their minds freely. That’s how many states strike a balance between firearm ownership and the right to protect the public good.

I wish we had offered to help Javon turn his life around sooner. We could not have only just saved three lives that way, we could have saved one more. We need to build a society of more positive role models and hope, and remind people about the virtues of hard work and saving. We need promote responsible living, and responsible ownership of firearms We need a greater sense of morality, and respect both for ourselves and the people around us.