A634.8.3.RB – Gun Control: What is the Answer?
I believe
we all have the right to bear arms. It is our God-given right to protect
our families and ourselves by whatever means necessary. It is also our
Constitutional right, courtesy of the Second Amendment. Few people know
the 2nd Amendment was placed so that citizens of the United States could rise
against their own government, create and form militias, and take back their
country, should their government get out of control.
Our
forefathers knew and understood the significance of the right to bear arms and
they made sure the common man had the means to defend himself from tyranny and
each other. Thomas Jefferson said it best, “Freedom is when the government
fears the people. Tyranny is when the people fear the government” (We The
People Convention, 2013). Our founding Fathers framed the Constitution with
great care. It is the supreme law of the land. If anybody wants to change
it, do it by due process. If one does not like what it stands for, they
are free to leave at any time.
Guns do
not kill people; is people that kill people. There are about “310 million
privately owned firearms in this country” (Krouse, 2012). Why aren’t
there 310 million deaths per day or per year if guns are so dangerous? Owning a
gun is no more a moral question than asking, “is owning a smart phone
moral?” The number of people texting and driving causing fatalities is
rising rapidly and may soon out-pace the number of deaths caused by handguns. Drinking
and driving already kill more people than guns in this country. Annually,
I heard that tobacco dwarfs gun deaths by thirteen to one. Maybe we should be
questioning the morality of the legal use and promotion of cigarettes and those
who know smoking will kill you instead of worrying about how someone chooses to
use a handgun.
It’s not
what you own, it is how you use it that sparks the conversation of what is
moral and what is not. Guns, smart phones, automobiles, knives, fertilizer
mixed with diesel fuel, IEDs, and anything else that can be used to kill
another person are just pieces of hardware. They are not a problem. The
software human factor is the problem and should be dealt with on a case-by-case
basis and not by a blanket approach to change the law. Doing so would defy
logic and common sense. This position is also supported by LaFollette (2007) “I
propose we make handgun owners (and perhaps all gun owners) strictly liable for
harm caused by the use of their guns” (p. 3034).
Our
judicial system guarantees equality for all. However, we are not all created
equal. Being a woman, I do not possess the physical attributes of most men.
"Armed women are better able to protect themselves” (Schwartz, 2008, p.
39). Nevertheless, I am not a gun-owner and never have. Guns will always
be dangerous, but people who were never educated on guns bring up the danger.
References:
Krouse, W. J. (2012.) How Many Guns Are in the United
States? Gun Control Legislation. Washington DC: United States
Congressional Research Service, 14 November. (Q6676)
LaFollette, H. (2007). The practice of ethics.
Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Schwartz, E. (2008). The Right to Bear Arms. Retrieved from: http://www.lexisnexis.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/hottopics/lnacademic/?verb=sr&csi=8065&sr=HLEAD(The%20Right%20to%20Bear%20Arms)%20and%20date%20is%202008
We the People Convention. (2013). Columbus, Ohio.
Retrieved from http://www.wethepeopleconvention.org/
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