Gun Control Not the Answer

Friday, August 10, 2012

 

In light of the recent Aurora and Sikh Temple shooting, people have started to wonder if something should be done about current gun control laws. The ultimate goal being to stop these terrible crimes from occurring altogether; however, how to reach this goal has sparked some major debate. An anonymous writer on 123HelpMe.com has taken steps to further look into both sides of the argument to see if one comes out victorious over the other. As I was reading, several quotes came to my attention.

The first quote that stuck out in my mind was when the author was reviewing the second amendment of the constitution dealing with the right to bear arms. "The Amendment is really saying two things at once," the author states. He or she explains that the second amendment may be interpreted differently in recent years. "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." The first part deals with the maintaining of a national militia to protect the freedom of the country. The second part states that it is the right of the people to bear arms, not the army; however, isn't the army made up of people? If there wasn't any people, we wouldn't have an army.

When the author went into detail as to how the Amendment is saying two different things at once, it made me stop and think which way the correct interpretation was. I had never noticed that the Amendment protects the right of people and the militia all in one. However, the United States no longer has a true militia. I wondered if the Amendment would read any differently if our government were to rewrite it to fit current times.

"This is true, but it has been proven that it is kids that are around guns that are actually safer than those who aren't," this is the second quote that came to my attention as I was reading. The idea behind adding this bit of information into the essay was to add a concrete fact to support the anti gun control argument.

Although this fact or statement may be convincing, once I did further investigation as to where the author pulled this bit of information from, I actually found that it was from the NRA website. The only reason this quote came to my attention was because I found it hard to believe. I understand that it is a great counter argument, but I found from better sources (i.e. my mother) that the three leading causes of death in teenagers is drunk driving, suicide, and homicide. I know for a fact that you need a weapon of some sort 90% of the time for the last two causes. If the government repeals all gun control laws then we might see a significant increase in the last two causes of death in teenagers. Don't get me wrong, it makes a great counter argument, but I just don't think it is a very concrete fact.

The last quote I could completely agree with when it comes to this topic. "That is why it is better to teach people to use firearms properly; this will prevent accidents from happening..." The essay goes on to state even more evidence of countries who have trained a large percentage of the population on how to handle fire arms, and in return the country saw a significant drop in crime rate. I thought this quote was the most compelling quote in the whole essay, and I feel it may be the answer to our problems. More research may have to be done to make sure that it truly works, but it is defiantly a step in the right direction.