There are many pros and cons when it comes to guns and gun regulation. The Second Amendment was initially put into place for a very good reason. Those who were fighting for America’s freedom did not want any sort of greater government power to take away each individual’s right to protection (like the British were doing to them before they won America’s freedom). Granted, back then, there really were not any mass-shootings going on except for in times of war. I understand that the times and situations have changed, that was guaranteed to happen. We now have more people populating the earth and we have higher-grade guns, which makes for more people owning more dangerous guns. Many view this as a terrible thing, but I do not.
There are plenty of people that obtain guns and use them for evil purposes, but there are more people that obtain guns and use them for good, and even recreational, purposes. For example, those who own guns to shoot wild game to use for food and other needs are using their guns for good purposes. Those who own guns and shoot them in competitions use them for recreational and competitive purposes. Those who are already prone to violence that own guns will use them for bad purposes, but those who use guns for recreational and good purposes outweigh those who use them for bad.
If citizens’ gun rights are taken the crime rate will rise, and another weapon will just take place of the gun. Guns do not kill people. People kill people. If guns are restricted from those who use them for bad, those people will still do bad things just with a different means of doing them. If guns are restricted from those who use them for good, then there will still be more crime and weapon use by those who do bad and less protection for those who use guns good.
For example, alcohol consumption during America’s prohibition era. When the government tried to ban alcohol from American citizens, the alcohol consumption rate rose 60-70%. In 1982, the city of Kennesaw, Georgia passed a law requiring all households to own at least one firearm with ammunition. Since then, the city’s crime rate has dropped 89% and 10% statewide. Another example, since 2001 the number of homicides in the city of Chicago, Illinois has come to a grand total of 7,916. The number of killings during the war in Iraq and Afghanistan COMBINED since 2001 has come to a total of 6,888. That is terrifying. An American city has had more killings in the last 15 years than the war our country has been fighting for the same 15 years.
By giving up our gun rights we are simply handing over our right to individual protection. Is the government going to be standing on your doorstep guarding you against criminals who try to break and enter into your home? No they are not, and without guns to protect yourself from said criminals, you are more susceptible to vulnerability. Taking guns away will not stop bad things from happening; it will just cause more bad things to happen in more creative ways. It will cause more harm than good, and it is very scary that the majority of Millennials want to give over our right to protect ourselves.
