Gun Control Debate
I used to be in favor of legislation to ban assault weapons. I mean, who really needs an “assault weapon”? It should make sense to
ban only high powered guns, right?
You may say: “The
Founding Fathers could have never imagined assault weapons that can fire
hundreds of rounds per minute!”
And this is a valid claim.
When the Founders wrote the 2nd
Amendment, nothing even close to modern assault weapons existed (For clarification,
the musket was one of the most advanced guns at the time).
Now, that being said,
once I started to look into some of the recent legislation being proposed to
Congress and also into our nation’s deep history and roots in the Constitution,
I began to re-open my mind to the whole purpose of the Second Amendment.
The Second Amendment is for the basic "right to bear arms". It doesn't layout what we can, or cannot, own.
This Was No Accident!
This right to keep
and bear arms wasn't given to us by the State in the Constitution; it was put
in to ensure our already existing right to do so. In fact, let’s take a look at
what some of our country’s earliest patriots had to say about our right to bear
arms:
James Madison – “Americans have the right and advantage
of being armed - unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are
afraid to trust the people with arms.”
Alexander Hamilton –“The
best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly
armed."
And here is some simple reasoning from the author of the
famous “Give me Liberty, or give me Death!” speech:
Patrick Henry – “Are
we at last brought to such a humiliating and debasing degradation, that we
cannot be trusted with arms for our own defense? Where is the difference
between having our arms in our own possession and under our own direction, and
having them under the management of Congress? If our defense be the *real*
object of having those arms, in whose hands can they be trusted with more
propriety, or equal safety to us, as in our own hands?”
Federal Assault Weapons Ban
After a year where
so-called “assault weapons” were used in only 0.6% of all gun murders, some politicians
have, once again, aimed to infringe on our Second Amendment rights.
 |
| Click Here to learn more about assault weapons. |
Senator Dianne Feinstein, the author of the original Federal Assault Weapons Ban, is leading this charge to ban assault weapons. Let's take a closer look at some of her words:
"If I could have gotten 51 votes in the Senate of the United States for an out-right ban [of guns], picking up every one of them... 'Mr. and Mrs. America, turn 'em all in,' I would have done it. I could not do that. The votes weren't here."It's clear that Sen. Feinstein's ultimate goal is to take away more than just our "assault weapons"...
We Must Continue to Defend our Rights!
There is a reason why
we have a 2nd Amendment that doesn't specify what kind of "arms" we
have the right to bear.
The possession of arms by the people is the
ultimate warrant that the government governs only by the consent of the
governed.
I agree with the conclusion drawn based on the evidence presented. It is clear that you support continued right to bear arms including assault weapons. I believe that if assault weapons are banned, the honest law abiding citizens would be at a disadvantage. Criminals would continue obtaining these more powerful weapons and this would increase their capacity to overpower other citizens. It is imperative that each citizen be given the full and unadulterated right to bear arms in self-defense. I support your position and sustain that the second amendment did not give conditions upon our liberty and freedom to bear arms.
ReplyDeleteYes, law abiding citizens would definitely be the ones most affected, and hurt, by an assault weapons ban. Criminals are criminals, but some people fail to realize that anyone who is willing to kill someone will be more than willing to bypass any gun laws. Just look at Columbine. It occurred during the previous AWB, so it's obvious that criminals are not so easily deterred. I feel more safe knowing that I will be able to defend myself with whatever a criminal could possibly attack me with.
DeleteI think this is a really interesting argument. I never knew that the founders felt that strongly about the right to bear arms. I kind of want to know where those quotes originally came from, though. This post really helped me see some of the logic behind the second amendment, and I really like what you have to say about guns being a way that we can defend our rights from government oppression. However, how do you plan to address the continuing violence in this country? Is your plan to arm every law-abiding citizen or to strive for more concealed weapons laws? Also, how do we keep guns from getting into the hands of the mentally ill or the criminal? More weapons of any kind, though a right, inevitably will mean that there will be more opportunities for criminals to get weapons. Do you think that government has a role in preventing this, and if so, what can it do?
ReplyDeleteThe founders really do have some great quotes outlining their views on the right to bear arms, and I was surprised when I first read them also. And I did provide a link to a website that lists many great quotes on gun control on the word "say" but it was hard to notice here's the link again: http://www.catb.org/esr/fortunes/rkba.html. I do believe that violence is a major problem in this country, and I realize I failed to address solutions to the problem in my post. I just tried to focus on what we shouldn't do at the moment. I am definitely a huge supporter of concealed carry laws because they give citizens the upper-hand to criminals who have no idea whether they are carrying.
DeleteI agree with the argument that was presented. I see that it is clear to you what rights you and the American people have and what they deserve to keep. I found it interesting that this was not always your opinion and how your opinion changed. I believe that we all have a right to own weapons and that these weapons, when circumstances happen, can and should be used to defend ourselves. I also believe that there are many options we can look into to make our country a safer place from all crimes, not just gun crimes. This starts with us as the American citizens. If we stand up for whats right and sustain the righteous laws we can have a safer country.
ReplyDeleteYes, and I think you are definitely right that, as American citizens, we have a responsibility to focus on instilling morals in others and sustaining the righteous laws in order to keep our country safe. Most violent crimes occur in major cities, so perhaps we need to start there to try and teach the youth proper morals and educate them about the effects of violent actions. There will always be criminals and those who just don't follow rules, but we can do our part to lessen those numbers.
DeleteAlso, I really thought your link to the assault weapons website was fascinating. I always thought that assault weapons were semi-automatic weapons that worked like machine guns, minus the lack of continuous firing, and that therefore they were still pretty dangerous compared with other types of guns? Do ranch guns or hand guns really fire with just a trigger action, or do you need to cock the gun every time you fire with these guns?
ReplyDeleteI always thought the same thing about assault weapons, which is why I used to agree that it would be okay to ban them. My brother actually shared this link to me on facebook, and I loved it. It definitely opens your eyes to the "truth about assault weapons". There are all sorts of ranch guns and hand gun, but many used are semi-automatic. They perform all the steps necessary to fire another round, but you just have to press the trigger to fire it. When semi-automatic pistols are used in shootings they don't get nearly as much attention as ones where so-called assault weapons are used because, even though they fire the same way, they simply don't look as scary. The Virginia Tech massacre was the deadliest school shooting in history, and the shooter used two handguns to fire 170 rounds, which shows that "assault weapons" are essentially not much different from any semi-automatic weapon.
Delete