Gun Control
By Joey Blanck
Introduction
Gun control is a debate that has gone on for many years. Since the 1960's, gun control has been a big topic in the United States. Some states have already taken matters into their own hands and have banned different types of guns with high magazine capacity. Those who are for gun control believe that all guns should be banned permanently. They believe that doing so will cause fewer deaths. But, those who are against gun control, such as myself, believe that guns are what shaped our country and every person should be allowed to defend themselves and their freedoms.
Claim
People should be allowed to own guns. Guns are what gave our country the freedoms we know today and give people a way of self-defense.
Reasoning
The Second Amendment of the Constitution states, "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." (Gottfried 27) This means we have the right to own and fight with guns. When writing the Constitution, the founding fathers saw that we needed guns to revolt against the British. They added the second amendment because they wanted the people of the new United States of America to be able to fight back against foreign armies or their own government, if needed. "When government takes away citizens' right to bear arms it becomes citizens' duty to take away government's right to govern," said George Washington. So if the government tries to take away a right, you have the duty to protect your rights and potentially fight to remove them from power. This is one of the reasons citizens of the U.S. should own guns. Another example for needing guns is if a group of terrorists attack numerous places at one time and the army is not able to respond, we would need a way to defend ourselves.
Concession and Rebuttal
Those who favor gun control believe that having guns legal will cause more deaths. They think that with gun ownership being legal, criminals will have a better chance to get their hands on guns and kill people. But truth is, even if you make guns illegal criminals will still get guns, because even today most criminals obtain there guns illegally. Say the U.S. does make guns illegal, that would just give criminals more power and more confidence, because they will still get the guns illegally, but they now know no one else will have a gun. They have no fear of ever being shot at while committing a crime. So with making guns illegal you would really be causing more deaths, because we would be putting the fate of the good in the hands of bad individuals.
Call to Action
Having the right to bear arms is needed in the United States. Having the right will help us defend our country if we ever become under attack and we also will be able to defend ourselves against criminals. The United States needs to keep the right to bear arms legal because where would our county be today without that.