Gun Control

Gun Control

The Second Amendment to the Constitution states that, 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, and the definition of gun control is; government regulation of possession and use of firearms by private citizens(Levinson, 5). Gun control only takes guns away from law-abiding citizens and it does nothing to stop criminals from buying illegal guns, who are unlikely to obey the law and register their guns(NRA 238). I feel that the term gun control is improperly used. The government is using it as a way to take our right to bear arms. Why would anyone want to own a gun? Piece of mind is the main reason I have a gun. I feel a lot safer at home knowing that I am close to my best line of defense. Guns provide a source of psychological reassurance even among citizens who are not especially concerned about the fear of crime of being victimized(“Firearms” 64). In a survey given about guns, “self-defense was the primary reason given by one out of every five gun owners for firearms”(“Firearms” 61). “The right of self-defense and the right to use firearms for defense of self and family are the cornerstone of individual rights enumerated in the US Constitution(“Self-Defense” 26).” Why does the government make it harder to protect ourselves? Police cannot always protect everyone. There are only about 500,000 police officers throughout the country, which figures to around only 125,000 police officers are on duty at any given time to protect the whole country(Lee 9). Only seventeen percent of Americans give the police a great deal of confidence in protecting them, while forty-six percent said they do not give them very much confidence(“Carrying” 32). “Other than a bodyguard or a law enforcement officer at one’s side twenty-four hours a day, the most effective deterrent to criminal attack is the criminal’s fear that the prospective victim is armed and prepared to...