Gun Control My VT View

According to statistics from a survey in 1994 people that used a firearm in self defense about 15% of them said that if they hadn’t used the gun in self defense they’re almost certain they would have died. There is no way to argue that guns can save lives but people would say they can take lives too, but if you were to ban firearms would you really be stopping the criminals? If it’s a crime to own a gun then how would that stop someone who doesn’t mind breaking laws? You would just be leaving civilians with no means to defend them self without getting close to the attacker. I’ve heard so many times that why take the rights from a law abiding citizen you can’t stop the criminals because criminals don’t follow the laws.

During my interviews with people that range from lobbyist all the way to competitive shooter. All of them had one thing that they always believed in and that’s that criminals don’t follow the laws that’s why they are criminals. Adam Nielsen a competitive shooter said that if you were to simply ban guns the only people you will be taking them from are the law abiding citizens because criminals don’t care if it’s illegal they will find a way to get them if they want them. All of the interviewees seemed to agree that guns are a tool that can be a danger but if handled properly they can be a powerful tool to defend one’s self.

The view on guns being a tool is not only the view of the people that I interviewed but also in the court case of Heller vs. DC Heller was applying for a permit to carry a handgun. Being a police officer he had the ability to handle a firearm safely, but still the request of a permit he was denied and then went to court because he felt this was against his 2^nd amendment rights. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Heller and around a year later another case was open to argue if this right applied to the states as well and that case was also favored towards McDonald who wanted the right to carry a firearm. People fight what is already written in the constitution and would cause great controversy if changed. Each side is fighting for what they think is right but one side has the 2^nd amendment on their side to give them the right to keep and bear arms the opposing side to this argument has no reason to fight our rights but they still try.

So far I’ve talked about each side some but a little more you should know the NRA (National Rifle Association) is for guns while the Brady Campaign is against guns. Each has their own reasons but let me just throw out some facts that may even sway strong anti-gun users. People worry about guns being used to hurt others but every 13 seconds someone uses a gun in self defense and 91% of these cases the person being threatened by the defender wasn’t injured. In 2008 about 11,000 people were murdered with a firearm you may find this to be against my point but about 48,700 people were saved by use of a firearm in 2010. So why again would we take away what is one of the most powerful tools that saves so many lives.

By now you’re either looking at this and thinking that maybe he is right and that guns really can help people or you think that I have too much bias and that that is ruling the stats I put up. Well think of this put up whatever you want and just think if we take away guns for citizens then criminals will find a way to get guns and we can move that number of people saved by guns over to the number of people murdered. You’ve seen that people from Lobbyist to competitive shooter and even the Supreme Court have said that no matter what we The People have the right to keep and bear arms.