Guns: Rights, Responsibilities, and Ruin
Do citizens have a right to bear arms?
The battle over a citizen’s right to buy and own guns is as divided today as it has ever been. On one side of the issue, there are those who believe the Second Amendment applies as it is written and wholly supports their right to “keep and bear arms.” On the other side of the issue are those who attribute the rising crime rates and the violent shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Columbine High School, and Virginia Tech as directly attributed to loosely applied gun laws. LaFollete (2007) said, “Many of us assume we must either oppose or support gun control. Not so. We have a range of alternatives” (p. 179). Each American citizen must review the facts, understand the context of the laws, and wrestle with their own core beliefs on morality and its administration toward a free society. Then, and only then, will society be equipped to make educated and objective decisions about the growing concern of gun rights within our country.
Glenn Beck (2013), an avid supporter of gun rights, wrote in his book Control: Exposing the Truth About Guns, “The Founders wrote in the Second Amendment that our right to keep and bear arms ‘shall not be infringed.’ To infringe means to ‘limit or undermine’” (p. xiv). When drafting the Virginia Constitution, Thomas Jefferson said, “No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms” (Jefferson Monticello, n.d.). Moreover, Jefferson continues by stating his strongest reason making this declaration is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.
In 2013, when people speak of tyrannical governments and conspiracy theories, they are quickly cast aside as “out of touch.” However, the moment we begin to believe that there can never be, nor will ever be; a government seeking to control its people, then democracy weakens. While the right to bear arms to counter a tyrannical government is one motivation to own guns, there are many others. The predominant reason and LaFollette (2007) mentions it as well, is the right to safety. He said, “Pro-gun supporters offer empirical evidence supporting the claim that guns prevent crime. The idea is simple: most criminals want to minimize their risks when committing a crime” (p. 189).
Keeping guns out of the hands of criminals is a national effort. Removing guns from every will be a national catastrophe. LaFollette (2007) said, “Some gun control advocates imply that strict gun laws would all but eliminate murder, while some gun advocates imply that having a gun in every home would virtually end crime. Both claims are unfounded” (p. 189). The public should understand, gun owners do not want to arm criminals any more than the gun control lobbyist.
A new poll by Republican pollster Frank Luntz reveals that NRA members and other Americans who own guns strongly support a sensible approach to gun laws that balances personal freedoms with measures to keep illegal guns out of the hands of criminals. The poll finds that both NRA members and non-NRA gun owners support various reforms the bi-partisan coalition of Mayors Against Illegal
Guns has called on Congress to enact. For example, 69% of NRA members and 85% of non-NRA gun owners support requiring criminal background checks on all purchasers at gun shows (Mayors Against Illegal Guns, 2013).
Again, the challenge for gun advocates is to engage in bipartisan efforts to remove guns from the hands of criminals. Working alongside law enforcement and gun control lobbyist is the first step in protecting the citizen’s right to keep and bear arms.
Present the opposing side to your stance
On the other side of the aisle, frustration mounts. Gun control advocate, Geoffrey Canada (2013) of Harlem Children’s Zone said, “I simply cannot believe that James Madison and the members of the first U.S. Congress could envision, much less condone, the savage slaughter of innocents that is being politically enabled by the so-called defenders of the Second Amendment. I understand sportsmen want their rifles. I even understand -- though disagree with -- fearful citizens who want to keep a gun to defend their home. But I cannot understand how anyone can advocate for the easy availability of deadly weapons. I have seen enough angelic faces at rest in tiny caskets to make any argument about the unrestricted rights of gun owners’ moot (para. 6)”
Along those same lines, LaFollette (2007) said, “There is a positive correlation between murder rates and the availability of guns (especially handguns)” (p. 189). Moreover, “the more widely available guns are, the more people will be murdered, will commit suicide, and will die of accidents” (p. 188). The fears are real and the facts hit home. The death of one child, one family member is too many. The rise in school shooting and public facilities has generated most of the anger toward the guns. Again, the feeling are genuine and the answer lies somewhere between gun control and gun advocates.
When referring to guns, the primary issue is handguns. The evidence shows that handguns are disproportionately used in homicides and in robberies. Although there are approximately three times as many long guns as handguns in the US, more than 80% of gun homicides and 90% of gun robberies involve handguns” (LaFollette, p. 194). Gun control advocates are concerned that there is not enough being done to curb gun violence in our country. According to U.S. News, “nearly one in four young people who come to an emergency room with an assault injury owns a gun, according to a new study published in the journal Pediatrics. And most of those guns – more than 80 percent – were not obtained legally” (Flock, 2013). Something must be done – no one doubts that.
Conclusion
The debate over whether citizens can procure all types of guns and the one too many deaths of innocent children is not going away. As leaders, it is our responsibility to facilitate constructive discussions by knowing the facts and understanding the laws. Leaders—whether for or against guns—can acknowledge the legality and the morality of both sides. By initiating discussion, leaders from both sides can be informed as our society moves forward toward a collaborative compromise beneficial to both sides. At the end of the day, we hope to protect individual rights and save American lives.
Steve
References
Beck, G. (2013). Control: Exposing the truth about guns. New York, NY: Threshold Editions.
Canada, G. (2013). The effect of guns on children. The NY Times. Retrieved fromhttp://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/01/06/what-the-fight-over-guns-is-really-about/the-availability-of-guns-affects-the-lives-of-children
Flock, E. (2013). Study: Nearly 25 Percent of Young Victims of Assault Own a Gun. Retrieved
from http://www.usnews.com/topics/subjects/gun-control-and-gun-rights
Jefferson Monticello, The. (n.d.). Famous Quotations. Retrieved fromhttp://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/no-freeman-shall-be-debarred-use-arms-quotation
LaFollete, H. (2007). The practice of ethics. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
Mayors Against Illegal Guns. (2013). Poll: NRA Members Support Efforts to Fight Illegal Guns.
Retrieved from http://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/html/federal/nra_member_poll.shtml
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