Right to Bear Arms
The Right to Bear Arms Imagine waking up in the middle of the night to a complete stranger who is in your house, threatening to harm you, and your family, and you cannot do anything about it. Imagine, not being able to go target shooting or hunting, because there are laws passed to prevent you from owning a firearm. The truth is, more and more people in this country are trying to restrict law-abiding people from owning firearms due to the overwhelming rise in gun related crimes. As law abiding Americans, the constituion gives us the right to bear arms. Whether it is for recreation or protection, restrictions should not apply to those who obey the law. We should not be forced into certain gun regulations, due to the criminals who violate the law. The 2nd amendment of the constitution gives us the right to bear arms, so why should we change the gun laws to try and reduce gun related crime? Recent shootings involving firearms have drawn huge media attention. Certain lawmakers, and organizations feel that we should change this amendment, and make it more difficult to own a firearm. I would disagree, and feel it would have an opposite effect on society. For example, in 1997, Britain placed a ban on owning a gun. Since the inception of the new law, Scotland Yard reports that the number of police injured by gun-wielding criminals has quadrupled (Lewin 30). In that same time frame, the number of violent attacks by gun toting criminals has more than doubled (Lewin 30). Today, a decade after the gun ban, England has grown so violent that you are more than likely to be assaulted in London, than in New York City, or almost anywhere else in the civilized world. (Lewin 30) A gun can be considered a plain tool, just like a hammer, a saw or a router. It can be used for recreation, or for self-defense. Like a chain saw, it can hurt its owner if the owner is careless or stupid with the tool. But the modern firearm is safe. The gun cannot load itself nor fire
Cited: Lewin, Marshall. "Bad News You 'd Better Put Your Hip Boots On." America 's 1st Freedom 01 June 2007: 30.
Reese, Charley. "Dumb, Dumber And Dumbest." LewRockwell.com. 11 Nov 2003. 6 Nov 2007 .