The Issue Of Gun Control Essay, Research Paper

THE ISSUE OF GUN CONTROL

When the framers of the Constitution penned one of the most influential works in history, they could never consider what the consequences of the freedoms they set forth. The second amendment of the Constitution is one of the most important and most frequently called upon that recent history can think of . Since the age of the Civil War, the weapons that we have produced have become increasingly more deadly. We as citizens of this country are watching our children and friends at the hands of these vicious tools of destruction. As responsible Americans, we have let our freedom and security slip through our fingers and disappear forever. I advocate legislation that would take the handguns out of the criminals hands and watch the government put these brutal killers into jail and let them stay there. If we could eliminate the nonsense that happens constantly on Capital Hill, this dream would be a very real one.

With the interests of political activist groups such as the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Congress has had a tough time passing any legislation that would benefit the public and curtail the sail and manufacture of armor piercing bullets, automatic rifles and Uzis. Unfortunately, we tend to interpret the Constitution to broadly. Obviously, in the late 1700 s, there were no deadly weapons to contend with. They had muskets, which could hardly be used in a very swift and deadly manner. Granted, the musket could kill, but if you asked any semi-sensible person if they would rather use a musket or a handgun, they would take a handgun any day of the week. This is why, in my opinion, we need to radically change the way we go about handling these problems.

With the rising crime rate, the best way to send this trend in another direction is to educate. We must start educating early and if this means raising taxes to do it, then that is what we must do. Another thing we must do is to build more prisons and make prisoners with two or more felonies stay in prison for their entire sentence. That means no paroles, no work release programs, and certainly no early release simply because of overcrowding. We must learn to rehabilitate our prisoners and give them something to go back to in society.

Another measure that I am also in favor of is a major reduction of handguns inside the United States. The first step would be to eliminate the source and that means that we should destroy the plants from which they come. If we continue to let the companies manufacture the weapons and not try to stop them, we will have too many weapons on the street then we know what to do with. More weapons mean more crime. This seems to be an idea that is basic to you and me but is foreign to the legislators of our country. The solution is always to try and write a new law that will change things, but frequently, all we ever see is bickering among the bureaucratic idiots that lead this country.

Over two hundred years ago, our forefathers fought for independence over ideals that they believed in. Today, we again are fighting for our freedom. We are fighting for our lives and are waging a losing battle against a madman. This madman is something that has been beating us for over one hundred years and we must take our country back. We must talk to our leaders and tell them what we want. That is what a democracy is all about. It is about choosing our destiny, about choosing our nations path and living in peace. It is about living without fear.