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[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]One of this nation’s recurring issues is that of gun control and the amount of freedom citizens should have to own, carry, and operate their own handguns. The argument against the right to bear arms is that guns are violent and making it illegal for citizens to obtain them will decrease crime and violence in the United States. What drives this argument is the worry of continued shootings from gunmen and criminals and the desire to stop or decrease such acts. The intentions of those wishing to implement more gun control laws are usually good, but gun control itself ends up being more harmful to the cause of decreasing and stopping shootings.
The forefathers of our nation understood the necessity and importance of weapons to the security and protection of a nation, on local levels and above. That is why it is written into our Constitution in the second amendment. “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 implementation of more gun control laws ensures that the law-abiding citizens who could and would carry a weapon for personal and local protection are left unarmed, while the criminals who are going to break the law anyways, will have no problem breaking a gun-control law to purchase their own firearm.
There are many real-life stories that prove the effectiveness of having armed citizens who are knowledgeable on using a firearm for the protection of self and others. One such story took place in December of 2007 when an armed man walked into New Life Church in Colorado Springs with a high-powered rifle and ammunition and opened fire. Unfortunately, two members of the church were killed but one of the church member’s security staff was armed and quickly shot the man so as to put a stop to what would have been a massacre, since the church has ten thousand members. Had that security staff member not been armed, surely hundreds and hundreds of Christians in that church would have been murdered. While those who carry firearms should be trained and know how to handle them, our nation certainly shouldn’t implement more gun control laws, so as to ensure that accidents that were avoided at New Life Church will happen with more frequency and on larger scales.
Not only are gun control laws a violation of an inherent right, to defend ones self, but they are a complete violation of the Constitution’s second amendment, which apparently, our nation has chosen to ignore. Rather than seeing firearms as a danger and a tool to destroy, which they certainly have been used for, our nation should re-define the fear and frame firearms as a tool, that when used safely and with training can save lives and prevent greater evils from occurring, which they already have been used for with great effectiveness.
Dick Fairburn, a member of the Illinois State Police says in an article entitled “Instant Response: Carry off-duty” that “I live in one of the only two states that have no provision for concealed carry by permitted civilians. A researcher who tracks concealed carry statistics claims that several potential mass murders are stopped each year by legally armed civilians, often without a shot being fired.” He then encourages off-duty police officers to make it their duty to carry their weapon with them, so as to always be prepared to protect and prevent murders. Fairburn makes a good point and having seen significant action himself, he brings an authoritative opinion that speaks to the point that when civilians are armed, murders are prevented and lives are saved.
Lastly, gun control laws end up creating a black market for the criminals who are going to obtain the firearms anyways, regardless of any law. The introduction of gun control laws leads to a larger black market because it eliminates the voluntary exchange of goods or services between two parties, thus, the black market will only increase and create more violence. A black market is an illegal market that immediately arises whenever the government criminalizes a peaceful activity, such as the consumption of drugs or ownership of guns. Moreover, as we have learned in the drug wars, the black market inevitably generates collateral violence, which the government then uses as the excuse for more intervention and control.
This is exactly what is happening with gun control laws and things are only steadily getting worse. Since no deaths or violent acts have decreased because of gun control, it should be obvious that such laws are not the answer, and we would do better to reframe how people view firearms and begin using the very thing so many people fear to protect them against those who would use them viciously. If this can be done in our nation, we will only end up saving more lives and preventing more murders when the people arise and demand their constitutional rights to protect themselves and others, and to do so safely.
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