Issue of Gun Control

Link: http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2013/01/24/second-amendment-vigilantes/

This blog post highlights another example of extremists abusing their constitutional right to bear arms.  While this is a horrific incident, the average American should not be forced to lose their rights simply because others abused theirs.  The anti-gun groups always use these incidents as leverage in their quest for federal gun control laws.  Events like these tend to sway the public opinion in their favor.  When this country was founded, its founders considered it a natural right that men and women be allow to defend themselves and their families.  Granted, the world and technology have changed, making firearms more dangerous than they were 230 years ago.  For that reason, there absolutely should be restrictions on gun ownership.  A potential gun owner should be declared mentally healthy, and should have no violent criminal history.  But, I am wholeheartedly against any other restriction or ban of personal gun ownership.  A world in which government officials and workers are armed and the general public is not allowed to carry guns has the feel of a dystopian society.  Some argue that if there was absolute gun control, that would drastically decrease violence and murders.  However, a ban of guns would not eliminate them.  Citizens that would be inclined to commit a violent crime would probably also be inclined to obtain a firearm by illegal means. This puts every law-abiding citizen at an even greater risk Like most other political issues, this centers around the debate between big government and small government.  No matter how much government control there is over this, or any issue, the rights that were outlined in the Constitution as being inherent to every U.S. citizen should not be taken away unless they have been forfeited.  This is why i believe gun ownership should be justly selective rather than unjustly restricting.