Freedom Gun Control

Freedom and Guns

From the birth of America to America today, the driving force and heart of America has always been the "American Dream." The American Dream is a lifelong goal that many Americans strive for. America dedicates their life to get the best of America. I believe one of the American Dreams is our freedom. But what freedom means to one person means something else to another one. Some people relate freedom with owning a gun, because we are free we are allow to have a gun and defend ourselves from other people. But what this actually means? Restricting the right to bear arms will undoubtedly make any community safer. However, to do so would take a lot more than just prohibiting the sale of guns. Many people, at least in my community, own guns. Granted, many of these guns are used for hunting, but they are still guns. The authorities would have to take everyone's guns away to really make a community safer. I believe that restricting gun ownership would make a community safer because guns kill, accidentally and on purpose.

Many people argue that they have guns for protection--protection from the other people who carry guns. "They defend their possession of guns saying they can use their guns to kill an intruder" (Jillson 54). They also argue that their guns are used to hunt and

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feed their families. Although these defenses may be true, I am brought back to an incident that occurred last year where I lived. A father of a couple of the girls at my

school was hunting with his son and he accidentally killed him. This is a terrible tragedy, but it brings us face to face with the reality that even in the most innocent of situations, if a gun is involved there is a possibility of death.

Originally, guns were not intended to protect; they were intended to kill. "Made for wars, they were weapons of war, in which they were used to fight enemies and to help a country be more powerful, and they are still used for this today" (Geela 98). However, today we are fighting a different war. We used to speak of waging war; today we are waging war. This war is against people. Kids are killing kids on rampages through schools. Gang members use guns to kill someone that they just don't like, and then the other gangs must retaliate, which makes it a never-ending cycle. The intent of a gun, whether to protect (as many people say) or not, is to kill someone else. Though I think that guns are awful and should be restricted in my community and every other community around the country, some gun owners think it would be violating a person' rights under the Second Amendment, which states the people's right to a well regulated militia necessary to the security of a free State and the right of the people to keep and bear arms. According to this amendment, almost anyone can own a gun. In being perfectly aware of this right, I know that it would be illegal to restrict the right to bear arms in any community. This is a scary but true reality. However, the question is about safety, not about the law. "One can clearly see that if there were no guns, there would be

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no gun-related crimes" (Jillson 102). Therefore, one can conclude that the community would be safer.

On the other hand, gun lobbyists believe that the social welfare of an

area is more important than the freedom of the individual. Therefore, they believe that

more laws should be made. These gun lobbyists are usually people who have lost loved ones due to firearms. Gun lobbyists and anti-gun lobbyists have opposite opinions on gun

control. Even though gun control is a touchy situation, many people believe there should be more restrictions while others oppose the idea. Many people do not understand why they have to suffer for the actions of others. "Gun control is a two sided issue and the outcome will show one winner and one loser" (Zia 46).

One of the problems that many people have concerning their opinion on gun control is that they are not fully informed. Therefore, the people who are not fully informed are making decisions on only the information they know. "Many people do not understand what exactly is being changed in Charter 85. The existing lat states that in order to purchase a firearm, the buyer must possess a FAC -Firearm Acquisition Certificate-" (Tourtellot 46). The buyer also must go through

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