Like every other good ol’ boy, I am concerned about being the victim of a random shooting, but at the same time, I want to be able to take down a nice10-point buck during hunting season. Guns effect every one of us every day. They fill us with fear or they make us feel protected. My point is this: guns are a problem, but using gun control to abolish them isn’t necessarily the best solution. In gun control I mean laws that keep firearms off the street by preventing their purchase. I agree that some form of gun control is needed, butwhat we really need to concentrate on is gun licensing and more gun safety. I believe in my constitutional right to keep and bear arms, and I don’t feel that legislators should be allowed to take away that right. Gun control can be a good thing, but if it leads to gun prohibition I will fight it until the day I die.
Our country was founded on the basis of guns. The wars were won with guns and the people were protected by guns. Guns were so important that they were placed in the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution:
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. Amendment II
From this amendment it is apparent that the founders of our country knew in 1791 that guns did and would continue to play a role in the lives of Americans. Things haven’t really changed that much.
Gun control was brought into play to protect citizens from criminals and lunatics who shouldn’t have guns in the first place. But only 27 percent of the criminals who are in prison for crimes involving guns have obtained them legally (Henderson 23). If criminals can find guns illegally now, how is more gun control going to stop them from getting them later? Groups against gun control,the most dominant being the NRA (National Rifle Association), are afraid gun control is the first step in outlawing guns.
Gun Control – We All Have a Right to Bear Arms
We All Have a Right to Bear Arms
The preamble of the United States Constitution clearly states its objective: to establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity
The bill of rights is the set of amendments to the constitution intended to secure these objectives for the individual citizens of the United States. The second amendment states:
A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
This amendment was written in the wake of the revolutionary war, when the ability to raise arms against the imperial force made the new republic possible. Securing the ownership of arms as a right was central to creating a government that would not infringe on the liberty of its citizens. The use of arms however is the last option reserved for when all other attempts at the preservation of liberty have failed.
Today we live in a much different world than that of our founders. The rise of the United States into world dominance, the shift of population into the cities, and the increase of drug use and violence have produced great change in our society. Americans once feared the loss of the free state would come from foreign invasion or political corruption, but now the greatest threat is the violence we see on the evening news. The increase in violence and murder has sparked the greatest debate over gun ownership in our nation’s history. The second amendment has been reinterpreted by those who feel the mere presents of guns have led to increased violence. I believe that the threat vi…
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…[U.S. Department of Justice April 1994 ] With proper training a gun is an effective deterrent and a lethal defense.
Perhaps the people who know the best about gun control are police officers. In a 1978 survey of police officers all most unanimously agreed on mandatory prison sentences, stricter laws on handgun sales and increased requirements for handgun dealers. In this same survey they also agreed that citizens should be allowed guns in there homes for self protection. This shows that police officers know they can not protect everyone at once, at times it falls on the individual to make up there own mind on self defense.
Works Consulted
Schwartz, Ted. Protect Your Home and Family. Arco Publishing:New York, New York 1984
Surgarman, Josh. NRA: Money, Firepower and Fear. National Press Books:Washington D.C. 1992