by Branwyn Kenney

Created on: March 24, 2010   Last Updated: March 26, 2010

In 1789, the Founding Fathers realized the importance of guns in society. The Second Amendment 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.” There are no loopholes in this statement, for our Founding Fathers allowed for no restrictions on the right of citizens to own and keep firearms.

However, in recent years, anti-gun politicians have begun to make gun control laws in the name of crime prevention. While the intention of these laws are clearly well placed, gun laws do nothing to control crime. Crime: an action prohibited by law or a failure to act as required by law.

Those who use guns for evil purposes do so because they don’t respect the laws and morals of this country. What makes anyone think that a person who would break a serious law by murdering someone with a gun or using a firearm for coercion, stymied by the much smaller law of not being allowed to own a gun?

The fact is, a gun is simply a tool that people can use for good or evil. While cliché, the statement, “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people,” holds true. Guns are not to blame for the evil in the world; it is the people that are corrupt. The logic used to outlaw the ownership of guns for all people can be equated to outlawing cars because of how many people die in automobile accidents.

Anything can be used as a weapon: a screw driver, a car, any random object sitting around the house. Yet people would never think of trying to regulate the ownership of these items.

Ultimately, people’s choices lead them to use firearms to commit violent crimes. Efforts should go towards controlling criminals, not gun they share with millions of law abiding citizens.

Statistics show that an underwhelming 1% of all violent crimes are committed with assault weapons, but the laws restricting them make up a majority of weapon laws. In homes that own guns, crimes upon that household result in the death of the victim 73% less often then than those in homes without guns.

Limiting the right of a citizen to own guns puts him at a disadvantage when dealing with criminals and protecting his family. If a criminal needs a gun, he purchases it illegally on the street, and can acquire whatever type of firearm he chooses. The restricting laws on guns make it harder for law abiding citizens to acquire the gun they deem necessary to protect themselves.

Incidents such as the tragic shootings at Columbine and Virginia Tech are often used as examples to support the need for gun control, but in actuality they show just why this country needs less stringent gun control. While the killers in this situation were in violation of 86 different gun control laws, the laws failed to deter the heartrending outcome of these situations.

Ask yourself: how different might these events have played out if a teacher or security guard had been able to stop the killers the minute they fired off the first shot with a legal firearm?

No substantial reason for too stringent gun control exists. Fundamentally, gun laws allows the law abiding to be victimized by the lawless. It’s time for Americans to stand up and defend their Second Amendment rights, and make anti-gun politicians aware that strict gun control has no place in society.

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