Gun laws are hopeful

In his 1848 preface to the 12th edition of “Democracy in America,” written in 1835, French writer, social scientist, philosopher and politician Alexis de Tocqueville wrote, “It is not force alone, but good laws that give stability to a new government. After the combatant comes the legislator; the one has pulled down, the other builds up.” Should he have been here for the passage on April 20, 2021, of state Senate Bill 5038, prohibiting the open carry of weapons at public demonstrations and at the state capitol, he would have celebrated it as a good law, a stabilizing law in a country now awash...