Gun Control | Teen Ink

Gun Control

May 13, 2009
By Yearin Byun BRONZE, York, Pennsylvania
Yearin Byun BRONZE, York, Pennsylvania
3 articles 1 photo 0 comments

There is no need of gun control in America. Having and bearing arms is a symbol of liberty. Our mother country, the Great Britain, had a system of government recognizing the right of people to be armed. For example, ancient English kings required people to be armed at all times and during Anglo-Saxon times, a ceremony was conducted when a slave was freed, placing weapons into his hands and indicating his new status as a free man. Because having a gun indicated freedom, during the colonial period, the Great Britain passed legislation against colonies. Without guns, our founding fathers were not able to defend their privacy at any places including inside of their houses. By getting guns, the citizens finally could revolt against the repressive government and tyranny. Therefore, if you believe gun control, it is same as opposing our founding fathers who once was repressed but finally raised to the freedom with guns.
Also, some argue that people can also enjoy their freedom under gun control. However, from the history, countries that do not allow citizens to have guns have various social problems. For example, in Germany during WW2, only the controlling groups such as Nazis and Gestapo were allowed to own guns. Therefore, by being disarmed, the Jewish people were defenseless, making the Nazis easier to eliminate the Jews.
Some people also relate the guns with the no. of murders/suicides. However, Estonia, Hungary and Slovenia, which have gun control laws, record the top death rate each year in the world. Also, within the 10 counties with the highest death rate, only three countries allow guns and the rest of 7 countries have gun controls. Therefore, countries with gun controls actually have more death rates. Furthermore, a few years ago, Australia passed very restrictive firearms laws. Since these laws were enacted, the Australian violent crime rate has gone up dramatically. Of course, none of this has been reported in the American mainstream media. This statistics and example show that gun is not related to the increase of death rate.
Lastly, I would like to mention about Bill of Rights, emphasizes only “the people” give powers and rights to branches of government, not the government itself. The 9th Amendment says that “the enumeration in the constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people". That is to say, rights listed in the constitution and the Bill of Rights do not make up the complete list of rights retained by “the people”. Also, in 10th Amendment, it says that “the power not delegated to the US by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.” That is to say, some powers are not delegated to the federal government, some powers are delegated only to the federal government, some powers are delegated only to state governments, and some powers are not delegated to either the states or the federal government, BUT are retained by “The PEOPLE”. Therefore, the law should be passed not by media or political powers, but by opinions of its citizens.
If the congress passes gun control laws at this state, America will go one more step closer to socialism.



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