A pervasive silliness has infected vast segments of the American population with an anti-gun, anti-freedom-that is to say, anti-American-sentiment. Millions of citizens within the country feel that it is their duty to yell, scream, protest, and promote legislation that will clamp down on our Constitutional Second Amendment right. They want to “get guns off the streets.” But why, some may ask. Who knows? Call in Sherlock Holmes for that one. The fact of the matter is that, despite having been repeated ad infinitum unto the point of becoming a cliché, it really is true that a gun has never killed anyone.
Is it unfair to call gun control advocates “anti-American?” After all, they only want to save lives, right? What could be more American than that?
Make no mistake, America was founded by rebels and revolutionaries, and spillers of blood from all walks of life. They didn’t like the way things were going so they said “screw you, England!” and decided to take this piece of land for themselves. These figures are today cast as patriots and heroes, but it was not always so. In 1776 they were nothing more than a bunch of brigands who didn’t want to pay their taxes. (Not that that’s a bad thing.)
As Americans today, we have the privilege of calling ourselves exactly that-Americans-and of enjoying the freedoms that we all enjoy, largely due to the effective use of what was, at that time, the cutting-edge in modern weaponry: the gun. Men took up arms, lined up in rank and file, steeled themselves against the enemy and, after one very bloody and difficult war, they were able to call this land their own. (Bum deal for the Native Americans, for sure.) It is clear, then, that far from being the object of ridicule and scorn, firearms should be loved, embraced, and exalted. All that’s missing is the image of a Beretta right there in the middle of the flag, surrounded on all sides by the stars and stripes.
Gun control advocates point to the fact that guns take lives. Of course they do. That is, they do under the direction of their operators, sometimes justifiably and sometimes not. Like anything else that can be used and misused, a gun is simply a tool. Aside from the relatively rare accidental shooting, however, there must necessarily be someone with bad intentions on the firing side of a rifle or handgun to ratchet up the homicide statistics. With people like that, you can take their guns away and they’ll just come at you with crossbows, blowguns, sling shots, ninja swords, bricks, automobiles, ballpoint pens, steel-toed boots, and their bare hands. It doesn’t matter. People have been killing people since the dawn of time. No one needed a gun to accomplish this in 1546.
Guns, like drugs, are here to stay. No amount of regulation will eliminate them from circulation, so the only thing gun control accomplishes is keeping guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens, further diminishing their capability of defending themselves from a criminal population that is well-stocked with assault rifles and rocket launchers. Undoubtedly, if there is a demand, there will always be a supply.
Instead of focusing on ridding society of firearms, it would be a far superior use of time, effort, and resources to instead work on recognizing the difference between those who own and carry guns legally, and those who possess guns in a manner that is not in accordance with the law. There are mountains upon mountains of statistics to prove that crimes committed by concealed carry permit holders are virtually nonexistent. It is also equally true that the number of permit holders who have been harmed in violent incidents is significantly less than that of unarmed citizens involved in similar incidents.
There is the old adage, “God made man; Sam Colt made him equal.” How true! Thankfully we no longer live in a society where the physically strong can so easily prey upon the physically weak. What is a 5′ 2″, 115-pound woman supposed to do against a 220-pound man intent on raping her? Is she supposed to kickbox him to death?
Please.
Don’t be afraid to embrace your Second Amendment right to bear arms. It is not only your Constitutional right as an American, but it is also your innate right as a human being. The right to defend yourself is one that is not granted by governments and principalities, but rather granted by the universe upon the moment that you draw your first breath.