At the beginning of the semester, I chose the Right to Bear Arms as my social movement. Then and now I am still in favor of gun rights for the American individual. I was not always in support of gun rights though. Up until I started my current job working in the inner-city high crime areas, I was a proponent for heavy gun control. I did not see a point for someone to carry a gun when there was the police. I think it also had something to do with the fact that I grew up in an area where one did not have to worry about crime on a daily basis. Now I have seen countless acts of violent crime and have dealt with many victims of crime who could have prevented the action if they had been carrying a gun. I have now seen that police response is usually no less than 2-5 minutes for an emergency situation, long after the actual crime has usually taken place, and that is if one was able to even call the police during the situation. One of the main reasons I am against most gun control laws is the fact that it makes it harder for law-abiding citizens to protect themselves. There are over 200 million guns in the U.S., and many of those are stolen by criminals every day. These criminals will then use them to commit robberies and other violent crimes, and no law would have stopped them. In many states though, a law-abiding citizen has to go through so many channels in order to legally obtain a gun that many just do not do it. I do agree with most of the gun laws here in Arizona though. An FBI background check is required for purchase, there is no waiting period, I can legally openly carry a gun with no permit or license, and an 8-hour class with shooting qualification is required for a concealed carry permit. Why should law-abiding citizens have to suffer under laws that criminals have no problem breaking? There is also no plausible way for a ban on guns altogether; there is no way that every person will turn in their guns, especially criminals, leaving normal citizens defenseless against armed crime.
I feel that the wording of the Second Amendment is clearly worded in that it gives the right to a militia and an individual person the right to own a gun. This thought of mine was reaffirmed in 2008 when the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision decided that the Second Amendment did, in fact, protect the individual's right to have a gun. There is an excellent article by Brian Doherty from Reason magazine in 2008 that chronicles the case and the results of D.C. Vs Heller. (Doherty 2008) Another interesting article I found was by Gary Kleck from the American Behavioral Scientist in 2009. In this article, he discusses the fact that despite the many gun laws already on the books, none of them stopped the Columbine shooters or any other school shooters. Kleck also discussed why proposed gun control laws would have had no effect on the shootings either. Kleck brings up good points about the fact that no assault or fully automatic weapons were ever used during the shootings. Also, most guns used in school shootings, and normal street crime, are obtained through theft, not legal purchase. There are good sections that discuss why locking up of guns does not work and why an assault weapons ban is meaningless. He does concede, as do I, that some gun controls are all right, but most would have no effect if put into place. (Kleck 2009) For the most part, health institutions, both private and government affiliated, have labeled gun violence as a health crisis since the 1980’s. That is why it was a pleasant surprise to read the article by Jacob Deakins written in 2008. In this article, he discusses why labeling the gun issue in America as a health crisis is fear mongering, and nothing else. He calls the fact that for decades the medical community has blindly been following this line of thought as “medical inertia.” After explaining why the medical community is spitting out nothing but fear, he goes on to discuss the many positive aspects of guns in society, listing numerous studies and statistics showing that it is not a health crisis. (Deakins 2008) In an article by several authors written in 1997, they ran a study on whether gun control laws actually had any effect. They found that gun laws had a mild effect on crime, while socioeconomic factors played a larger role. (Bae .et al 1997) In an article written by Jeffrey Miron in 2001, he discusses how it is not gun availability which causes the violence in America, but drug prohibition and how heavily it is enforced. He found that the black market for drugs creates much of the gun violence, and gun prohibition tactics can also lead to more violence. This creates a new aspect to the case for gun control, as it shows how the illegal drug trade may be causing most of the violent criminal elements. (Miron 2001)
In conclusion, I see the right to bear arms as a legal and important factor of living in America. I also have found that the gun control movement is based highly on emotional arguments and not facts. Sure, there are accidents, suicides, and homicides, but there are many other things out in the world that will kill you long before you die of any of those things. I will concede that some control is needed, but the constant threat of gun banning, assault weapon banning, mandatory gunlocks, waiting periods, gun and ammo registration, permits, licenses, etc. are irrelevant and hurt the law-abiding American citizen. Gun control advocates need to look at other factors besides ways in which to limit gun availability and freedom. It appears from my personal experience and readings that it is usually the illegal drug trade that brings the violence. Even if guns are banned, you would still see on the news every night gun homicides from illegal weapons used in the illegal drug trade. I am still, and forever will be, for the right to bear arms.
Bae M, Kwon G, Safranski R, Scott B. The Effectiveness of Gun Control Laws: Multivariate Statistical Analysis. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Inc [Serial online]. Jan 1997;56(1):41-50. Available from JSTOR. Accessed July 2, 2009
Deakins J. Guns, Truth, Medicine, and the Constitution. Journal of American Physicians & Surgeons [serial online]. Summer2008 2008;13(2):58-60. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed July 2, 2009.
Doherty B. How the Second Amendment Was Restored. Reason [serial online]. December 2008;40(7):52-60. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed July 2, 2009.
Kleck G. Mass Shootings in Schools: The Worst Possible Case for Gun Control. American Behavioral Scientist [serial online]. June 2009;52(10):1447-1464. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed July 2, 2009.
Miron J. Violence, Guns, and Drugs: A Cross-Country Analysis. Journal of Law and Economics [serial online]. Oct 2001;44(2):615-633. Available from: JSTOR. Accessed July 2, 2009
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