You’re at home all alone: your family went on vacation to
Hawaii but you stayed behind due to work. The clock is approaching midnight as
you are brushing your teeth. You hear some glass shatter downstairs—you glance
at the big gun safe across the hall. There’s only one slight problem... since the
government confiscated all firearms, the safe is empty. But there’s no need to
worry. Since the government collected ALL the firearms, you’re not too
threatened by the intruder. You go downstairs to approach the intruder.
Another problem has arisen; he pulls out a gun and ends your life. As a citizen
of the United States of America, this situation is my worst fear.
With public shootings that have been happening across the
nation, there is a fiery debate going on about whether or not guns need to be
more controlled and even not available to citizens. Should the government be
allowed to take a citizen’s personal protection? Guns provide protection for
one’s self, family, and property. Because of increasing violence in society, we
as citizens of the United States should be guaranteed a form of protection with
firearms.
What the Government seems to not understand is that
citizens have the right to own firearms. The Second Amendment to the
Constitution states, “…the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not
be infringed.” Our founding fathers knew that a society where the people cannot
be guaranteed a form of protection would be a chaotic and dangerous. Not only
do guns protect citizens from other dangerous citizens seeking to harm others,
but guns provide protection from a possible tyrannical government. American
Patriot George Mason said, “To disarm the people is the most effectual way to
enslave them.”
What makes a criminal a criminal? Criminals do not follow
laws. If the government bans guns, they can certainly not expect the dangerous
gangsters and thugs to willingly hand over their weapons. So by putting a ban
on guns, what the government is really doing is disarming the law-abiding
citizens and keeping guns in the hands of those who are dangerous. While the
Government says that will make society safer, it really makes society significantly
more dangerous due to the fact that citizens have no effective way of defense.
If criminals know that the everyday citizen is not wielded with a gun, then
what will stop them from committing more and more crime? There are always
stories flooding in about times when someone wielding a firearm has saved
either themself, their family or their property, often times all three. Even if
the gun is not fired at the dangerous suspect, it scares them away. As a
country, we pride ourselves in our liberty for all people. Liberty is defined
as “freedom from arbitrary or despotic government or control.” How are we free if we can’t even effectively protect
ourselves? Benjamin Franklin once said, “Those who would give up
essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither
liberty nor safety.”
As citizens of the great United States of America, it is
our duty to
stand up to those who would try to take away our
freedom and
liberty. The nation needs people to stand up and say
that they are
not going to watch as their liberty is taken from them.
If the
government takes our guns, where will it stop? There are
many
ways to lessen the amount of gun related incidents, but
taking the
guns from the law-abiding citizens is not one.
