Michelle Marchante / Staff Writer
michelle.marchante@fiusm.com
Looking through FIUSM, I came across an article questioning the Second Amendment. While I respect the writer’s opinion, I must respectfully disagree with him. Taking guns out of the home will never be the answer to make life in America safer. It will only make it more dangerous. For example, Chicago has some of the toughest Gun Control Laws in the country, yet it’s also known as the “murder capital” of the United States for having the most homicides every year.
Even with Chicago’s tough restrictions, criminals still have guns because no matter what laws are placed, criminals will always find a way to get weapons illegally. Knowing that no one they attack can retaliate only leads to more crimes. It’s basically a free for all. They’re the ultimate predators. This past year, however, a new concealed carry law made it legal for Illinois residents to carry guns. Contrary to what Gun Control advocates suggested, the crime rate in Chicago dropped for the first time since 1965.
“It isn’t any coincidence crime rates started to go down when concealed carry was permitted,” Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association said during an interview with The Washington Times. “Just the idea that the criminals don’t know who’s armed and who isn’t has a deterrence effect.”
The police aren’t superheroes. They won’t always be able to make it on time and often victims aren’t in a position to call 9-1-1, but the possibility of having a gun could stop a criminal in their tracks.
Another thing people don’t realize is that, just like someone with a gun can kill, someone with a gun can save the day – and they do. The problem is that a gun-owner saving a life rarely makes the news, and if it does, it doesn’t become a national headline. Last year in Chicago, for example, a man fired a shot and stopped an armed robber inside an AT&T store when he tried to escape police. The police hailed the man as a “model citizen” for protecting the customers, but it never made national news.
The right to bear arms is found in our country’s constitution, showing just how important and necessary it is for a free nation. It not only gives people the right to protect themselves in a worst-case scenario, it gives people the security a nation which advocates for “liberty and justice for all” needs to ensure that they will never be at the mercy of a tyrannical government. Without the Second Amendment we wouldn’t just be at the mercy of our own government but at the mercy of any United States enemy.
The right to bear arms is vital to our freedom, especially now when tensions are rising worldwide. With terrorist groups threatening the safety and security of everyone, the tension between Russia and The United States’ near palpability and now with China warning the United States to stop flying near their new military bases on international waters, it seems conflict will be unavoidable.
Just because certain individuals use their right to own guns wrongly does not mean that every other law-abiding gun owning citizen must suffer the consequences, yet that’s what anti-gun people are basically asking for whenever there is a shooting. Yes, it’s horrible. Yes, that person needs to be condemned, but no, the entire United States does not need to be banned from having guns because of it.
Criminals will always find a weapon to use. In China, guns are completely illegal yet a couple years ago a man caused a massacre in a school by using a knife. Horrible tragedies can happen, but being able to protect yourself can stop them.
In the words of our first president, George Washington, “From the hour the pilgrims landed, to the present day, events, occurrences and tendencies prove that to ensure peace, security and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable . . . the very atmosphere of firearms everywhere restrains evil interference – they deserve a place of honor with all that is good.”
Frankly, if anyone really has a problem with people being able to own guns, they can always move somewhere where it’s not allowed. China, Cuba, or North Korea seem like good prospects.
See the other side: The Second Amendment needs amending
About Post Author
