Why is the Right to Bear Arms Important Essay
Imagine someone is sitting in his living room one day after work, with his feet kicked up and an ice cold sweet tea in his hand. Then all of a sudden, he hears the noise of a creaky front door opening. He runs to his bedroom and reaches into the closet for his shotgun, but then he realizes that Congress passed legislation last month and confiscated all firearms in the country. The robber has a gun; because the gun is unregistered, the police did not know he had it and could not take it away. He has no way to defend himself and the robber finds and kills him. Americans not only have the right to carry a firearm, but they have a responsibility to participate in the second amendment. Just this year alone, 2182 people have been shot in Chicago, 374 of which have died (HeyJackass!). If stricter gun laws were put in place, would this solve the issue? Gun control is unconstitutional because it limits the public’s right to defend themselves and their families, it deters crime, and it is not an effective way to reduce gun crime.
Your right to bear arms is important. Our founding fathers made it a point by putting it in the Bill of Rights. The purpose of the Second Amendment is so that Americans will have the ability to protect themselves and their families from threats such as burglars and murderers. If the government takes away our firearms then only criminals will have firearms. Gun ownership deters crime. Basic gun laws like banning of so-called assault rifles like the popular AR-15 and the AK-47 can give the government a chance to ban all firearms, and take away our right to defend ourselves from tyrannical governments that we fled from and drove out of our beautiful land. The constitution states “…a well regulated militia being necessary to the security to the free state, the rights of the people shall not be infringed” (Lee and Sting l). This should be interpreted as any gun law is an infringement as long as it takes away firearms from sane, good citizens(Lee and Stingl). Gun control has been tossed around in the past presidential elections and in current debates. Politicians are just using gun control as a way to grab support from the far left and liberals. If these gun grabbing politicians get elected, they will not be able to take away guns without support from congress. These presidential candidates are basically lying to you to get your vote. It is highly unlikely that they will get their agenda passed through both houses of congress and take away the Second Amendment right (Lee and Sting l).
Gun ownership deters crime. This is a proven fact, that many would-be muggers or burglars have been chased off or killed by gun owners. Gun control laws could prevent citizens from protecting themselves from foreign and domestic invaders. The second amendment ensures your right to defend yourself with firearms, and that ensures that you have the best chance of survival. It is proven that in most home invasions gone wrong, the police can not get there fast enough, but this could be solved with the use of firearms. Nearly 80 percent of gun owners feel safer because they have the ability to protect themselves (Gun Control). “It is better to have a firearm and not need it than to need one and not have it, ” says Cindy Chester, a victim of a violent crime, who wishes she would have had a firearm to protect herself. Armed civilians can stop crimes and are more likely to make dangerous situations, including mass shootings, less deadly. Most mass shootings are in public places where people aren’t supposed to have guns in the first place like schools and concerts, with that being said, a law abiding citizen that would stop a would be shooter cannot bring their firearm into that place. For this reason, teachers with proper firearm training and annual mental health checks should be able to carry a firearm in schools (Lee and Stingl). With this last point being said, armed civilians can react quicker than police because they are already on the scene. This is why your second amendment and the right to concealed carry is so important.
Gun control will not be able to prevent violent crimes committed with firearms. In big populated cities such as Chicago and washington d.c. with the strictest gun laws in the country, the gun violence rates are much higher than states with more lenient gun laws. This is a proven fact because most of the crimes are committed with unregistered firearms(Gun Control). In 2011, 83% of murders in chicago were committed with firearms, and the gun laws in place did nothing to stop this. Countries like Mexico, Canada, The UK, Germany and Japan have the strictest gun laws in the world, but still account for the majority of gun violence in the world.(OpenSecrets).
In Mexico alone, there were 11,309 murders that involve guns, and those numbers are only getting worse(Gun Control). Since the banning of guns in countries like Mexico, gun violence is staying the same if not getting worse because of criminals with unregistered firearms(Gun Control). Cindy Chester lives in regret every day because she did not have the ability to protect herself when her ex- boyfriend shot her and cost her right leg and her unborn child. Chester wants to advocate for the second amendment because she does not want other women to go through the hardships she has had to endure because of this one tragic night. “Guns can be a useful and just a piece of equipment when used in the right hands” says Chester. When used responsibly and educating people about firearms, they aren’t that dangerous unless you are a would be criminal on the receiving end of the firearm. According to the CDC six children are injured or killed in unintentional shootings each day because of poor firearm safety education(Abrams).
People are often misinformed when it comes to gun laws and gun control. There are gun laws already in place that restrict the sale of firearms to felons, and mentally ill people. Another common opinion is that you can go to your local gun store and pick up a fully automatic machine gun, this is false(Lee and Stingl). To purchase a fully automatic rifle, you must apply for the proper permits, which is a very rigorous and extensive process, you have to pass multiple background checks and also apply for a tax stamp which is very expensive. The manufacturing of machine guns was also banned in 1986, which makes the acquiring of one very difficult, and expensive. To even purchase a small caliber rifle such as a .22 caliber which is most commonly used for small game hunting, you have to pass a background check(Charles). 84 percent of Americans support more extensive background checks, and common sense gun laws like the banning of easily accessible modifications like bump stocks that increase the fire rates of firearms. So far in 2019 the senate has passed two measures with some support that strengthen the intensity of background checks and the Trump administration has passed legislation to ban bump stocks after the infamous Vegas shooting. Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to protect the rights of gun owners and has even warned that guns would be a target for political assault in the very near future(OpenSecrets).
One of the most common arguments for gun control is that the second amendment was written when the founding fathers had muskets. While this argument is true, technology evolves, which means we have new abilities to defend ourselves better with semiautomatic handguns and rifles. When a burglar comes into your home with a firearm, you should want to defend yourself and your property with the best technology possible so you have the best chance of repelling the attacker and surviving. The second amendment was written to make sure the American people had the means to defend their country against a tyrannical government, so this means we should have the same or similar technology as the government so we can defend ourselves if they become corrupt(Lee and Stingl). Another argument for gun control is that most suicides are committed using firearms. If firearms are banned, people are still going to find different ways to commit suicide. If someone is intent on taking their own life, banning firearms will not stop them (Lee and Stingl). There are many arguments for gun control, but our founding fathers made sure our rights would be protected by writing them into the bill of rights.
Your right to bear arms is one of the most important rights in the bill of rights because it protects all the other amendments and also gives you the ability to defend yourself, your family, and your property, and helps to reduce crime. Stricter gun laws will not be able to stop gun violence because most criminals will not turn in their firearms. It is proven that gun control does not work because in other countries, it has failed to reduce the violent crime rate committed with firearms. Suicide rates would not improve because people would find alternate ways to commit suicide. People are misinformed about the second amendment because of the media and politicians trying to sway their opinion and get their vote. The second amendment reads “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 means that the people of America have the right to own firearms, to defend themselves, their families and their property. These inalienable rights shall not be taken away because that violates the constitution, and the bill of rights. Law abiding citizens with firearms can better serve the public’s needs and interests by protecting people with their firearms from murderers, robbers, muggers, and mass shooters. Gun ownership deters crime because you can easily stop bad people without the police being on the scene and possibly keep innocent people from harm’s way. As the 2020 election is growing ever so close, please be aware of your candidate’s stance on gun control, and remember, your life may depend on it.