Essay on Gun Control

Our Second Amendment clearly 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 guarantees U.S. citizens the right to have firearms. Since this amendment is relatively vague, it is up for interpretation, and is often used by gun advocates to argue for lenient gun laws. Hence, gun control is a frequently discussed controversial topic in American politics. I believe this Amendment gives U.S citizens the right to own a firearm for safety and protection for themselves and their families. This and nine other rights on the original Bill of Rights along with the amendments that were later added were put into place to keep the government from infringing on the personal rights of all citizens of the United States. When the government takes away our right to make our own decisions we no longer live in a free society. (Beast, 2013) I believe this gives Americans the right to own firearms and acknowledges the idea that this right already existed and will continue to exist regardless of what anyone person or piece of paper says. It is not guns which kill people rather the person carrying the gun because after all a gun will only do what the person holding it tells it to. The majority of people who own firearms are law-abiding citizens and they do not misuse their weapons. There are however a percentage of people who own guns illegally and more importantly use these weapons in inappropriate ways. As I read an article in Washington Post that talked about the Senate rejecting expanded background checks for gun buyers in the face of strong public support for the change, I became appalled. The president is trying to take our second amendment but another method of preventing gun violence is rejected. Many lawmakers and gun safety advocates believe Gun Owners of America’s rising profile and heavy membership drive has led the N.R.A. to take a more aggressive stance against measures it once supported, like an expansion of background checks to include private gun sales. “The changes at the heart of the gun control bill failed to get the 60 votes needed in the Senate on Wednesday. On the background-checks issue, four Democrats voted against it. They all come from states Obama lost last year. Three of the four face tough re-election fights next year.” (Press, 2013) Occurring to the NY Times the N.R.A released a report that called for armed police officers, security guards or staff members in every American school, and urged states to loosen gun restrictions to allow trained teachers and administrators to carry weapons. (Mabry, 2013) After the shooting in Newton I believe this is fair and important attribute to our public and private schools in order to avoid another tragedy. “The gun-rights lobby says it’s gained hundreds of thousands of new members since the December elementary school massacre in Newtown, Conn., bringing its dues-paying rolls close to 5 million. That, however, does not begin to capture the extent of popular opposition to greater restrictions on gun ownership. The NRA’s increasing shrillness reflects, in part, its effort to defuse more-strident organizations, such as Gun Owners of America.” (Barrertt, 2013) This on going debate has many Americans contradicting themselves. The NRA is basically providing Americans with the knowledge on gun safety by further explaining how guns are not the issue here, the people are. By taking away peoples second amendment people will no longer be able to protect themselves; they will be totally dependent on the government. People who can't protect themselves will be less likely to oppose increases in taxes or the size of government so long as voters are promised that they will be safe. (Americans, 2013) Gun control activists oppose all the factual statistics that

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