Another year, another tragedy, another debate over gun control. After the events in Charleston, Chattanooga and most recently Lafayette, Louisiana, many, including President Obama, are calling for stronger restrictions on gun control.
Commonsense gun ownership laws are required in a modern society; especially in one where the right of people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. People are required to register their car and have insurance per state regulations, because of the harm they might cause to others if they cause an accident. Businesses are not allowed to refuse to disclose dangerous ingredients from the public. These regulations exist to protect the public from malicious, dangerous people.
Basic gun laws exist for the same reasons. For example, lets look at carrying guns in public. Buying a gun for personal use at home, for protection, for collecting purposes, or use at a range is not heavily regulated, because the general public is not at risk. Carrying a firearm in public, hidden and on your person, however, is different and requires a concealed carry permit. In the state of Florida, carrying a concealed gun without a permit is a third degree felony punishable up to five years in prison. Simply put, you cannot go out, buy a gun, and wave it around in public without serious consequences resulting in a felony.
To obtain a concealed carry permit in the state of Florida, you must be at least 21 years of age, able to show competency with a firearm, and be a legal citizen of the United States. Many states have similar requirements. An extensive list of reasons exists that could result in a person being deemed ineligible for a permit by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services:
The idea that these requirements are basic and that just "anyone" can obtain a gun and a permit is simply untrue. Anyone that passes these requirements is law-abiding citizen that has a guaranteed right by the U.S constitution to own a firearm and carry concealed in public.
The shooter in Charleston at the AME Church obtained his gun after a flaw in the FBI Background Check system allowed him to pass. The Newton shooter stole his mother’s gun from her safe in their home. Most recently in the Lafayette movie theater shooting, the gunman was denied a concealed carry permit in 2006 due to a previous felony for arson, and his family attempted to have him involuntarily committed in 2008. The weapon he used was being carried illegally to that movie theater, where he committed his crimes
These tragic events appear to be happening almost every month. 56 percent of the public believes the number of gun crimes has risen in the past 20 years according to the Pew Research Center. However, according to the same study from Pew, the rate of homicides with a gun has actually dropped almost 49 percent since 1993. The public is unaware at how drastically gun crime has dropped in the past 20 years.
Another statistic often used by gun control advocates to promote gun control is the 31,672 gun-related deaths in the United States in 2010. However, almost two-thirds (19,382) of those were suicides; not homicides or accidents. While that statistic is heart breaking, it is not an example of the violent, gun-ridden society the gun control lobby wants people to see. The statistic however misleads the public into believing that gun crime is rampant.
Good people and law-abiding citizens don’t break laws. Increasing gun restrictions, without solving our current enforcement problems only takes guns out of the hands of free and peaceful citizens. However, bad people, sick people, and especially criminals, will always find a way to hurt people. If it’s not a gun, it’s a machete (One Dead After Machete Attack Near London Barracks), a knife (33 Dead, 130 Injured in China Knife-Wielding Spree), or a pressure cooker.
People should not fear going out in their communities, to the park or to the movies because of the possibility of a mass shooting. Homicides that claimed at least three lives made up less than 1 percent of all homicide deaths from 1980 to 2008 according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Benjamin Franklin once said,
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Dangerous, malicious, evil people exist not only the United States but across the world. If our society chooses to live in fear, and restrict our own personal liberties given to us by the Constitution, then America did not become the country the founder’s intended it to become. If we can take a moment to speak freely and openly about the real problems at hand, we can work together to find a solution, without sacrificing our Constitutional rights.
