Tanner Johnson English 1010 MWF 12:00

Gun Control
In this article President Obama states that in order to create a safer United States we must have stronger gun laws. This means that the President wants to take away certain liberties that He thinks will better the United States. President Obama would like us to lay down our arms and give in to the demands so that mass shootings and homicides will decrease in the states (Obama Urges Nation). In this day and age there are many people who believe the most important subject to talk about is gun control, and how a better regulated gun market is the answer. The media will show acts of violence such as the Newtown shootings, movie theatre shooting in Colorado, and Virginia tech. But this is not the whole story and is often a one sided. On the other side of the fence, the media will leave out such people as Louise Howard who fought of a robber in the middle of the night with the use of her handgun. Main stream media will leave out these instances just to promote gun control for the administration that is in office. This I do not agree with, I believe that people should not be told what the media wants them to hear but both sides of the story so the public may make appropriate decisions to the task at hand. Gun Control is not the answer to a safer America. The answer to a safer America lies in the Constitution and the Bible. In the constitution there are two amendments that stand out to me the 2nd and the 4th which both clearly state rights of the American people. These two
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amendments alone should be enough to stop an increasingly more powerful government (That has sworn to protect the Constitution) from gaining any more power. I will start with fourth amendment which state: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized (Transcript of the). This means that every person who is a citizen of the United States has a right to privacy in his or her own home. I feel that the right to be secure in ones home means being able to defend yourself against a law that will take away the feeling of safety in ones home. I myself would not be able to successfully feel secure in my home with a bolt action rifle which needs to be chambered every time the trigger is pulled compared to a semi-automatic rifle which chambers itself faster than you can blink. As a person protecting my brother, mother, and/or father I could not imagine having a disadvantage to a person invading my home. I would like to have the same if not better weapon as the assailant. This is the only way myself would feel safe in my own home. Now here is the second amendment: 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 (Transcript of the).

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The second amendment is one that will forever and always be used with the pro-gun groups. Why? Because it clearly states that American citizens have a right to keep and bear arms. This amendment does not stop here but continues to say that the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed upon. This means to me that the government cannot, according to the Constitution (whom the president took up an oath to protect), be changed or tampered with in any way. These are irrefutable evidence to the cause against gun control because these amendments (2nd and 4th) are a part of the constitution. In which clearly states on the top of this document: We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America (Transcript of the). The government and their actions are not providing a common defense, providing general welfare, or giving us the ability to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity by taking away our rights to protect ourselves. I find gun control as an ineffective way of regulating firearms. In Chicago (The city with the strictest gun laws in the United States) there were a recorded 500 murders in 2012, 435 of which took place using a firearm (Political animal). This you would think would be usable ammunition for the people who push gun control however there is not one store in Chicago that sells any guns or ammunition. This is proof that stricter gun laws will not reduce gun violence it will merely put these guns into the hands of criminals only.
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On September 13, 1994 congress passed a ten year ban on assault weapons also known as the The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act which was signed by Clinton that same day (Federal assault). This was a law banning all weapons were classified as assault weapons also known in the shooting world as a semi-automatic rifle. The media posted the assault weapon name to make it seem scarier to the public who were not educated in fire arms. A semi-automatic rifle is not a fully automatic rifle. A fully automatic rifle means that for as ever long as you are holding the trigger back it will continue to fire until the magazine is empty. A semi-automatic rifle will only fire one round every time the trigger is pulled back. This means for a semi-automatic rifle to become empty with a thirty round magazine the trigger must be pulled thirty times, compared to a fully automatic rifle which can just be pulled once. This ban that was put on assault rifle in 1994 had a ten year sunset provision so that on September 13, 2004 the ban will be lifted. Now in that ten year ban most pro-gun control politicians would have assumed the crime rate would have dropped but instead the crime rate stayed the same or was one or two percent higher (Did the 1994). Before the ban in 1994 only two percent of shootings were an assault rifle actually used. This means that the assault ban was not about helping the public in any way but more about control over the citizens. Thankfully the most recent Gun Control Law also known as the Manchin Toomey Amendment was shot down in the senate failing to reach the 60 vote threshold. This is a big win for the pro gunners but as Obama put it this is only the beginning. Pro gunners must stand up for the Constitution in order to successfully protect his/her family, property, and home. At the end of the day each person will have a stand on where they sit. But this will not stop the efforts to keep this nation and its entirety safe and sound in their own homes.
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Gun Control will continue to be a major issue and will always stand as a barbed wire fence between democrats and republicans. For that reason the public must take a stand and protect their rights while they still have them. We must do our b est to retain the constitution to keep it for the people and not let the government have an abuse of power. We as Americans will stand and fight to protect this great country and the rights we live by that our fathers and grandfathers before us fought so hard to protect.

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Works Cited

1. "Obama Urges Nation to Demand a 'common Sense' Balance on Gun Control, Gun

Rights."Washington Post. N.p., 22 Sept. 2013. Web. 16 Oct. 2013.

2. "Political Animal - 500 Murders in Chicago in 2012; 435 Caused by Guns." The Washington Monthly. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2013. 3. "Federal Assault Weapons Ban." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Apr. 2013. Web. 02 May 2013. 4. "Did the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban Work?" FactCheckorg. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2013. 5. "Transcript of the Constitution of the United States - Official Text." Transcript of the Constitution of the United States - Official Text. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2013.

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