Gun Control

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Gun Control
“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,” (Madison). This amendment was created during the Civil War, to guarantee safety to all citizens of the United States. Now that times have changed, many Americans think that this amendment is no longer necessary, they believe that firearms in the United States should be taken out of all homes and only accessible to the police, whose job is to protect our countries’ citizens. However there is an opposing side, there are many Americans that believe otherwise. They feel that the access to firearms is our right and that firearms are not as dangerous (in the right hands and supervision of course) as many believe, but rather a positive thing for our own self-defense, and recreational use. Throughout the United States there are about 300 million privately owned firearms when the population in the U.S. is only at 307 million according to the 2009 census, but only 40% of households having a gun (Firearms Fact). Gun control has become a huge issue for the past couple of years now in the United States, but I agree with the Second Amendment and believe that Americans do have the right to bear arms. In the constitution the second amendment gives Americans the right to bear arms. If the government were to make firearms illegal, they would be violating the second amendment, and would also be going against what our founding fathers wanted for us in the first place. The United States has been a “safe heaven” for immigrants for over hundreds of years. Having the right to own firearms for our own personal protection in the United States is an incentive that reassures immigrants their safety and urges more individuals to want to come to the United States to learn and keep what our founding fathers wanted alive. Many believe that even if firearms were to be made illegal, it still would not make a difference. If banning guns worked, Washington, D.C. and New York would be the safest cities in the country. Since 1976, it's been illegal in Washington, D.C. to own any handguns or to keep any type of gun in your home unlocked and fully assembled. However, Washington D.C. is the "murder capital of the United States." And New York City has had severe gun control laws since 1911, yet it also ranks among the most dangerous places in the country. In both cities, violent criminals can easily obtain the most deadly weapons on the streets within minutes (Kopel). Approximately 30,000 people die each year in the United States from firearms (Boehlert). Whereas 400,000 people die each year in the United States from cigarettes (The Toll), but cigarettes still have yet to be made illegal. There are multiple reasons as to why firearms should remain legal in the United States. An important point is that firearms should remain legal so individuals can ensure their own safety, and not have to rely on law enforcement when they do not have to. “Guns protect people up to 2.5 Million times a year” (Kopel). There have been many cases where self-defense was demonstrated with the use of a firearm, take Barbara Holt’s story for example. Barbara of Kearns, Utah and her family were taken hostage by her daughter's ex-boyfriend, Holt and her husband were threatened with death, and then forced into the bathroom of their home. When the man, armed with a rifle, went into the kitchen with her daughter, Holt slipped into the bedroom and got her .22 pistol. Holt fired a single shot, hitting the assailant in the head, stopping the attack. [From the Salt Lake City Tribune.] Not moved by Holt’s story of self-defense? Then take Thomas Terry’s story as another example. Thomas Terry of Anniston, Alabama was eating in a local restaurant late one evening when several armed men came in and announced a robbery. As the robbers tried to herd everyone into a walk-in cooler, Terry tried to escape through a locked door but alerted the crooks to...
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