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“Resist with
care the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however
specious the pretext. One method of assault may be to effect in
the forms of the Constitution, alterations which will impair the
energy of the system, and thus to undermines what cannot be
directly overthrown...."
For all those
that have not yet read Washington’s farewell address it provides
a good insight into one of America’s most beloved presidents.
Usually the only time you hear of one of the founding fathers is
when the topic of guns and gun control comes up. This time is
no different.
The next step is
to mention our Bill of Rights, which encompasses the first 10
Amendments to our Constitution.
The primary amendment dealing with this right is the
2nd
Amendment. This provision specifically protects the
rights of the citizenry to keep a firearm to defend their home,
family and country. With this idea protection comes the
ability publicly organize militia as stated in the text.
TOP
The second
reason for this amendment is to insure the United States stay
free. The first thing a dictator, monarch, invading
country or other non-elected leader does upon assuming power is
eliminate all threats. This includes disarming the
population. A disarmed population is ruled by fear and
threat. Its absence of arms is exactly what makes it
vulnerable. Our founding fathers knew the dangers of not
having this right and included at the beginning of our Bill of
Rights to insure the United States never fell under this type of
oppression.
However today
it’s the Government that is the protector of the States. This
(and other) changes have moved the strength of the US from its
people, to its Government. Each time American's give up a
portion of our rights we transfer more of our power to the
Government. It was not the intention of the Constitution
to help build a empire like nation in which people use political
chess to maneuver through level after level of bureaucratic
redundancies, simply to indulge the perceived morality of
specific special interest groups. It was the intention of
the Constitution to prevent this. TOP
In the US it is
a privilege to drive, not a right. This idea is accepted
with the explanation that the US Government was responsible for
the building of roads on which we drive. Our highway system was
originally built as a defense infrastructure to facilitate the
movement of military equipment and missiles. Public roads are
for public use. This is why a driver licenses is for operating a
motor vehicle on public roads, and not for simply owning a
vehicle.
For many years
owning a firearm was considered a right and not a privilege;
this was true even before the drafting of the Constitution. It
was necessary for hunting and protection in a wild land. For the
government to give the people a privilege in any sense it must
first have a claim to what it is attempting to allocate. Our
Constitution eliminates that claim by never having granted it.
TOP
Each
argument has two sides. A good example of the anti-gun lobby is
the Children’s Defense Fund, (CDF). By using emotions like fear
and guilt in their campaigns they elicit the appropriate
emotional response. These campaigns need emotion because when
society is wrapped up in the emotion, society fails to think or
consider what they are losing and why. Society doesn't question
until it is too late. Below are some examples from the CDF's
1998 statistics of children and teen deaths:
-
Are killed by gunfire - “once
every two and a half hours; nearly 10 young lives every day”
-
The amount of suicides using a
firearm, ages 0-19 - “more than three every day”
-
The amount of children and teens
killed by gunshot – “more then the total number of solders
killed in battle in Vietnam”
What they mean
to say;
a. Total
number of “young lives” (no explanation of what constitutes a
young life) taken in 1998 by gunfire 3,761 out of the entire
population of the U.S. 275,997,290
b.
In 1998 their were 1,241 suicides, ages 0-19
c. From
1979 to 1998 (19 years) there were 84,000 deaths that’s an
average of 4,421 per year in the U.S.
Though no death
of a child is every acceptable, compared to the statistics for
children killed in car accidents and by drunk drivers, death by
gun is much smaller. The study does not separate those
children involved in criminal behavior. Criminals will
always have guns, legal or not.
The reasoning
here is take away the guns and the children will stop dying.
Apply this to other areas and see the flaws. Take away the cars
and the children will stop dying. TOP
The current
solution is gun control. How well does gun control really work?
In 1988 the
death rate was under 4,000 (ages 0-19). 1989 marked the
start of a new campaign to restrict firearm sales. That same
year the death rate increased to over 4,000 and it has continued
to increase each year despite of the passing of
several new laws limiting the firearms in the US and restricting
legal gun owners. During 1994 the death rate reached its
peek with 5,793 minors killed in one year.
What is the comparison between the legally
purchased firearms and the rise in gun control legislation?
q 1989
enacted assault weapon bans multiple restrictions on
handguns
q
1990 the death rate of children (ages 0-24)
increased to over 5,000 for the first time. At the same time gun
sales dropped to an all-time low.
Conclusion: More laws
where applied to the purchase of guns causing fewer people
to purchase them, yet the number of deaths increased.
Currently there are nearly 22,000 gun laws in affect in
the U.S. In order to legally buy a firearm in the United
States. TOP
First you must first go through the FBI's
ü
National Instant Background Check System (NICS),
ü
The National Crime Information Center (NCIC),
ü
The Interstate Identification Index (I I I),
ü
And the NICS Index.
ü
Then you have the states own check system
ü
Depending on what state you’re in you may have to
take a test.
It makes you
wonder, what other regulations are needed?
To illegally buy
a gun you just need to know who to ask and $200 cash. You have
it in your hands within thirty minutes. Regulations and
laws won't change this. Additional gun legislation limits access
to decent citizens. Criminals always get around it.
From 1995 to
1998 the NRA and other organizations fought many new laws and
restrictions. Their effort and a coinciding decrease in
youth gangs helped lower the ratification of additional
legislation..
Those laws which
passed have shown themselves to be ineffective in decreasing the
death or violent crime rates. The laws only affect people
attempting to buy a gun through a dealer. In order for the
dealer to sell the gun he has to go through the state, which is
strongly regulated. TOP
The state of California is one of the
toughest states in the U.S. for gun owners to buy firearms. How
effective is the state's laws?
q
From 1991 to 1999 there where 1,649,511
long guns sold
q
17,079 people were denied.
q
That’s a denial percentage of 1.04%
q
Total sales of 6,930,097 guns
q
Total denied 58,123 or 1.8%
q
Average processing fee= $20.00 per firearm
q
California grossed $138,601,940.00 in fees
from its laws to stop criminals from buying legal guns
q The
amount of people who where denied (of the 1.8%) prosecuted for
breaking the law and trying to buy a firearm 0.
Most people that buy firearms legally are
not criminals, even those denied. The police have access
to the reports of who try to buy. As they are not
perceived as threats and no probable causes exists, those denied
were never detained. TOP
This regulation is useless if not enforced,
but the biggest question is why where these people denied? I
know of two people who where denied because they had records for
indecent exposure: A teenage prank, mooning a teacher more then
ten years ago..
Restrictions affect only the people who
choose to abide by the law. A prime example is the Bank of
America robbery in California that involved an illegal, fully
automatic AK47 with armor piercing ammunition. These are illegal
but it doesn’t stop criminals from using them in California.
Generally a liberal state priding itself on empower citizens
with rights, California is one of the strictest states in
relation to gun laws and restricting these rights.
TOP
A common
argument is that the Second Amendment doesn’t protect the right
to own specific classifications of guns. It doesn’t have
to. The founding fathers didn't intend to limit choice. The Bill
of Rights was never intended to provide an argument for
comprise. It protects our rights simply and plainly. It
anticipates technology and advances our founders never knew.
It's there to protect us and our freedom. The right to
bear arms is one of those freedoms and a necessity to keeping
our freedom. The second amendment is not open to
negotiation. It is a right. More restrictions
infringe upon this right. Gun control isn't the answer.
It is simply a castration of each American's freedom, like a
frog sitting in pan that slowly boils to death one degree at a
time. Each time we shed our rights we come closer to
boiling. What is amazing is most American's don't even
realize this is happening. Our rights are our rights. Any
doubts, the second amendment followed by the ninth makes this
clear.
Ninth Amendment
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights shall not
be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
END
Chris Murray is Couples Company's Fitness and
Defense Expert. He has 18 years of experience in martial arts
obtaining the level of black belt 1 degree in Tae Kwon Do, and
Black belt in Karate. He is licensed and a teacher of combat
strategies.
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