Guns for sale at a Wal-Mart Store in the United States
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com
Under the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution, I have the right to own as many guns as I consider necessary to protect my home and for my personal safety. The Second Amendment reads:
A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
With the ease of buying a firearm and ammunition, it is no surprise that the United States outranks all other nations in the number of privately-owned firearms – estimated at 270 million in 2007, the equivalent of 88.8 firearms per 100 people (www.gunpolicy.org).
President Obama’s call for more effective gun control laws – following the December 2012 massacre of twenty first-graders and six adults at an elementary school in Connecticut – has not only led to an outcry in defense of private gun ownership but also a rise in gun sales. Some fear that the talk of gun control is really a government ploy to take away their guns. Fear makes us irrational.
The Connecticut and other gun massacres during 2012 are resounding alerts of the consequences of firearm proliferation across our nation. During the period 1980 to 2008, more than two-thirds of victims murdered by a spouse or ex-spouse were killed with a gun (Bureau of Justice Statistics). In 2011 nationwide, firearms were used in 67.7 percent of murders, 41.3 percent of robberies, and 21.2 percent of aggravated assaults (Federal Bureau of Investigation).
Having a gun does not guarantee our survival against armed home invaders; estranged husbands or boyfriends; and psychopathic or mentally ill gunmen on the street, in our workplace, school, university, shopping mall or cinema. Before going on his killing spree, the mentally ill Connecticut killer first shot his mother with one of her own firearms.
I do not trust defenders of our Second Amendment rights who call for more guns in the hands of “the good guys” as a solution to gun violence. These defenders usually represent organizations that profit from the production and sales of firearms. They are well versed in stoking our fears of losing our right to defend and protect ourselves and loved ones.
I do not understand the significance of “a well regulated militia” for our nation in the Year 2013. Our Armed Forces are the greatest and best equipped on Planet Earth. If they cannot defend our nation against our enemies, owning a Bushmaster AR-15 high-powered semiautomatic rifle, like the one used by the Connecticut shooter, will not save me and my loved ones.
I support our president’s call for stricter gun control laws to curb gun violence and gun deaths across our nation. Do those who stand with the defenders of unrestrained gun and ammunition sales have the courage to let go of their irrational fears? Must our right “to keep and bear arms” supersede all other rights as citizens in a free society?
Three Worlds One Vision 
Reblogged this on Guyanese Online and commented:
Another interesting and informative blog entry from Rosaliene Bacchus.
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Cyril, thanks for reading and sharing my blog post with your readers on the Guyanese Online Blog.
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Moro num país com restrição ao uso de armas. Não conheço a cultura e os costumes dos norte americanos. Minha opinião, portanto, não seria correta.
Mas considero interessante o fato deles lutarem por seus direitos individuais.
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Agradeço seu comentário. Concordo que os americanos sabem bem como lutar para seus direitos individuais. Infelizmente, muitas vezes não é o povo americano que ganha a luta.
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it is simple
The subtle differences between BRITISH/EUROPEAN and AMERICAN LAW
In USA you are “guilty” until you prove you are “innocent”..with plea bargaining…
In UK you are “innocent” until you are proven “guilty”…..
Some radical new thinking is a neccessary evil that OBAMA and his advisers/opposition must contemplate if the AMERICAN dream is to live on
in the minds and hearts of its peoples…failing that an amnesty for firearms both legal and ilegal should be granted….
If I have a GUN I intend to use it ….I will never carry a gun except for the MILITARY
one imposed as a condition of military service…and even then it was only used in self defence….in peacetime it is not neccessary.
as rosaliene has mentioned in one her stories …if she carried a gun her attacker
would probably be the first to use his…Wild West gungslingers is history now…
forgiven but not forgotten…..
Switzerland still has national service …but every citizen is allowed to carry his arms and amunition after his/her national service…attack switzerland and expect every citizen to defend themselves…all 6 million of them…a better reason for arming its citizens…
I have avoided, will avoid, visiting USA until new GUN laws are instituted and enforced.
I certainly wont wish to live in any country that allows its citizens to bear arms
unless it for Military purposes or its law enforcement agencies.
my opinion entirely
kamptan
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Kamptan, thanks for sharing your views on this divisive issue in the US today.
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All gun shops should be closed down and licences should be given to be the owner of a hand gun and not AK47 type. These should be sold by a few licenced shops. People with guns should be given an amnasty, say 3 months to hand in all their guns. This will help to clean up all States in America.
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If only, wycs. In response to the Connecticut massacre, a one-day gun buyback event in Los Angeles on 26 December 2012 gathered 2,037 firearms. Similar events have occurred across the country.
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rosaliene …certainly a step in the right direction…
maybe even “monetary” incentives can be also implemented to encourage gun
owners to hand in their guns….
We give you double what you paid for the GUN as long as you have your “receipt”
obviously the guns purchased in the “underworld” will have to be also rewarded
by some fixed or flexible “valuations” ….
A disarmed society is a peacful one….#
On a more internationalist approach…RUSSIA FRANCE UK et al arms the world
maybe some UN sanctions on the “weapons” that are permissible needs some
thoughtful initiatives…enforcement a big issue.
kamptan ps UN must remain a creditable organisation or it will have served its purpose…past it sell by date…………obsolete to requirement…I point my finger
in their direction.
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You’ve got the courage to write this blog post; something not everyone would do. Unfortunately, irrationality is all around. I’m not a constitutional scholar, so I’d be curious about the undoubted debate that lead to the wording of the second amendment. Mike Royko, a famous Chicago newspaper columnist of some decades ago, suggested the solution was for everyone to own bazookas instead of handguns or other weapons. He meant to be ironic, of course. As you say, the solution to the problem of violence is not to make everyday life into a series of “quick draw” challenges, as the NRA’s answer of arming more people would doubtless create.
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Dr. Gerald Stein, thanks for reading and commenting on my blog post. My courage arises from my unwillingness to allow irrational fear to dominate my life. My hope is that our leaders will be able to negotiate meaningful changes to curbing gun violence.
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