Guns and Health Care

What if, instead of every American being forced to buy health care, the government forced us to buy a gun? Only people over the age of 21 would have to purchase, and it would be for protection of course. Well, one state is asking that very question.

This afternoon while I was going through possible stories for Wednesday's show, I found this gem from argusleader.com. The article is about a bill in South Dakota that would make it mandatory for everyone over 21 to own a gun. The author of the bill, Rep. Hal Wick, knows that there is no way this bill will pass, but he brought it up for a reason. Rep. Wick says,

“Do I or the other cosponsors believe that the State of South Dakota can require citizens to buy firearms? Of course not. But at the same time, we do not believe the federal government can order every citizen to buy health insurance.”

The five lawmakers who are sponsoring this bill are doing so to illustrate a great point. The Federal government shouldn't be able to force people to buy something. Or as someone else once put it,

"If a mandate was the solution, we can try that to solve homelessness by mandating everybody to buy a house."

That was said by, at the time, Senator Obama.

If the government can force us buy heath insurance, why not energy efficient cars? Why not health food? Why couldn't they force us all to buy gym memberships?

Those examples may seem far out there, but are they really? Don't they all benefit our health and our world? Good job to South Dakota for pointing this out to everyone.