Welcome to Gaia! ::

Gun control is a big debate with many people around the country, usually between people who love them and the people who hate them. They come in plenty on both sides and there must be 1000s of bumper stickers devoted to this issue. In fact, the other day I saw one that said "Blaming Guns for death is like Rosie O'donnell blaming her fork because she's fat." But back on topic, I was wondering why so many people are against guns and want them off the streets and before you jump me and ask what the hell am I thinking, take a moment to stop and read what I have to say.

We are garunteed by the Constitution to have a right to bear arms. They gave us guns so that if we had to have another revolution we'd be ready for it. They had just fought off an oppressive ruler and they knew a time might come again where the American people would have to fight for their freedoms. Let's take a look at what the second amendment says about guns, "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." Some people say this means that the states have a right to have a well regulated militia and a 20 year old in down town LA doesn't have the right to carry a gun. Well, let's take a look, "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state," yeah that makes sense, a country needs a military to be safe. BUT, the people are allowed to have weapons, the comma helps contrast and separate them from the militia. It doesn't say the right of the militia shall not be infringed, but of the people. The people who wrote this had just fought a war against a state militia and they knew it might come again when they would have to defend their freedom. So the militia cannot infringe this right and take guns away.

Now, it may seem that these reasons are outdated, but consider that "what if." situation. Let's say they took away all the guns and the police and the army, who were allowed to keep guns, became oppressive and took over the country by force. We have no way to defend ourselves now do we? The government should fear its citizens, not the other way around. If the government or the army has all the guns, aren't we the ones fearing them? What are we to do if they become oppressive? Sign a petition that they would use for targeting practice? And if taking away guns make you feel safe, go right on ahead and give up your right to self protection. But if you can't allow this for other people. If you deny a person means to self defense, you deny them right to self defense as well.

In America, there are over 250 million guns. Firearms are involved in over 10,000 murders each year. Nine American kids die each day because of gun fire. Guns kill three people every hour. A new gun is rolled of American assembly lines every ten seconds. Scary facts huh? The thing is, it isn't the number of guns, it is the people who have them who make them dangerous. A few dangerous examples would be gang members, drug dealers or muggers. But these are not the only types of people who own guns. In fact, if you think about it, if you make guns illegal to own and buy, you are only keeping them out of the hands of good people. Unless you think everyone who owns a gun is going to kill, you are taking them away from law abiding citizens because someone who really wants a gun is going to get it illegally.

According to the New England journal of medicine, a loaded gun in the house is 43 times more likely to kill a loved one than an intruder. But, does that count the ones you might scare away? If people know you have a gun, they are less likely to try and rob you.

See, if you say, look at columbine, look at the Washington DC sniper, look at bank robbers, look what they have done with guns. The problem with that argument is that people have been killing each other way before guns and will continue if we ever get weapons beyond that.

Could the American Revolution happened without guns? Thomas Jefferson thought in order to keep freedom, there should be an armed rebellion every 20 years.

In 38 states, you can carry a concealed gun, that is, if you pass a background check and a permit.

Susana Hoffman, a Texas state legislator is doesn't approve of gun control. She actually helped pass concealed gun laws in her state. Before they were passed, people were saying, oh downtown is going to become a war zone, fender benders would become shootouts and all hell will break loose. Well, as of date, it hasn't happened yet.

When more people have concealed weapons, according to a study done by the American Enterprize Institute, there are actually less crimes. They say that higher arrest rates and punishments can scare off a criminal, but the fact that a would-be victim might have a weapon is a big deterrent. Are most people good citizens? Yes, so the more guns are out there, the more good people have them. If a bad person wants a gun, they are easy to get. But a law abiding citizen sometimes can't have a weapon and that tilts the scale in the bad guys favor.

Guns would actually benefit women. Women can be strong, but often times, men are stronger, especially the ones who are going to want to cause harm. Actually only 3.8% of violent offenders in prison are women, so if guns don't kill people and women don't, who's left? Wait, that's us men. So what if the government issued every women a gun? the could keep it in their purse, house or store. they could even give it away if they wanted to. Even if half of them are carrying a gun, there is a 50% chance that they could have a gun. The criminals would then think twice before raping or robbing.

A lot of people's experience with guns are only from movies and TV and then it is negative. People then try and pass laws, one such being a "gun free zones" which add higher punishment to those carrying a gun. Remember Columbine? gun free zone, as well as Virginia Tech. why are they happening in places with lots of guns in hands of law abiding citizens, like gun shows or NRA conventions?

Remember Susan Hoffman? Well a concealed gun law killed her parents. She was in a restaurant with them and a madman drove through the window and started methodically killing people. The police showed up, just as he pulled the trigger on her parents. Now, she had a gun with her that afternoon, only it was left in her car due to the current laws. The law required that she left in the car. She is actually angry that she followed a bad law and that the government had gotten out of control.

The number of accidental deaths in a year due to guns under 17 are 150 deaths. They are each very sad but that is a very small number.

So, other arguments for gun control:

other arguments against:



Now with the horrible events at Virginia Tech, any new ideas? It was a horrible event. But that was a "gun-safe" zone. Would the situation have changed if one of the other kids had had a gun?