The outpouring of hysterical, knickers-in-a-knot letters from the left in response to a slight loosening of Georgia's gun laws was predictable, and understandable. They're afraid -- and rightly so. It's how they feel, and only feelings count, if you're a liberal.

Understand, to a liberal, self-discipline and personal responsibility are nebulous, arcane, outmoded, antisocial concepts. To them, controlling behavior is the job of the state. This is why they fear that anyone carrying a concealed weapon will use it indiscriminately. They believe this (feelings in the future tense) because it's precisely how they would act.

Ignorant of history, the left feels only when the state controls all the guns (such as Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, Mao's China, Pol Pot's Cambodia, Saddam Hussein's Iraq and Sudan's Darfur -- not to mention Washington, D.C.) can an unarmed citizenry feel safe. Sure has worked so far, hasn't it?