Tag

gun rights

Browsing

The Debate About Guns

There has been quite the debate lately over guns and gun control throughout the country. The Second Amendment sought to ensure that citizens of this great nation had the ability to defend themselves, and have the right to bear arms. Different interpretations of the law can lead a person down many paths, but regardless of the interpretation, guns are very much a part of the fabric of the nation – and that has not changed much.

The guns of our forefathers certainly are not the same as the guns that are available today. Then again, the ultimate purpose has not changed – to injure or kill something/someone – so that basic fact remains the same. True, earlier guns needed to be reloaded after every shot, and that is not an easy process. The guns today certainly are faster, but the end result of the use of guns in either era is the same – injury and likely death.

Guns have been vilified as the cause of so many tragic and completely unnecessary deaths – students, police officers, firefighters, EMS, employees, friends, relatives, sons, daughters, mothers, and fathers. But the gun did not commit the act, the person holding the gun chose that weapon to commit a violent act that resulted in the deaths of each and every one of those precious lives.

Gun Control vs. Gun Rights

Yet, it seems that guns have become the problem, not the person holding the weapon. As a result, many people are advocating for stronger gun laws, limitations on the number, kind, and size of weapons, pushing for stricter background checks, and better gun control in general. 

While the new and proposed gun laws seem logical and even smart, there are concerns that exist when freedoms become restricted. Again, much has changed since the country was founded, but what appears to be happening is government infringing on freedoms of citizens bit by bit, piece by piece, slowly taking more and more control over the lives of its people.

Some question whether a larger agenda is at play here — a push for a more controlling government. Could it be one that seeks to disarm the citizens of the nation and strip them of their right to bear arms to defend themselves against a tyrannical government? Or is it simply a pursuit of peace? Or do they simply not like guns? Or maybe they really do believe that if guns are removed, more peace will follow. But history is replete with tragic instances of this fallacy.

The flaw I see in removing guns, most of which are kept and handled appropriately when true statistics are reviewed, is that individuals and criminals who want to hurt or kill – a single person or mass crowds – will find a gun – or a knife, or a bomb, or other lethal weapon, because they have a goal. As most people understand, when a goal is pursued, most will not stop short of accomplishing that goal.

Are we punishing everyone for the actions of a few?

So is the gun really the issue? Or could it be instead that there is something horribly wrong with the moral fabric of the nation? A loss of the definitive line between what is right and what is wrong? A failure to see the value of a human life? A failure of a nation – and its people – to care for others?

Maybe guns are not the problem after all.