Is It Right To Bear Arms?

Nowadays when we hear about a mass shooting we are devastated, but not in disbelief. We are saddened, but not surprised. Why has it gotten this way? Why have we gotten comfortable with the fact that these tragedies happen and we can just say a prayer and move on with our busy lives?

Because they happen so often.

When the catastrophe doesn’t effect us our our family, or doesn’t happen in our neighborhood, it is hard to go deep into the issue. We don’t take the time so seek out motives and we don’t look further into the shooting other than where it happened and who was killed. In the last 10 years there have been at least 52 “mass shootings” in the United States. That’s roughly five a year which means on average we hear of one of these about every 2 months. No wonder we have grown accustomed to such a thing. Just a few days ago there was a shooting in a Kentucky High School, and it wasn’t until a couple days after the fact that I even heard about it. Two students were killed, one 14 and one 18, as well as 18 other students injured. The killer, a 15 year old classmate of the two who died, was arrested on the scene after the viscous attacks.

As the courts sort out the details and the charges, it is hard to look past the commonly debated topic of gun control and the laws that go with it. Granted, the people behind these attacks are often messed up in the brain, but guns have been their method of taking their anger out. The 2nd Amendment to the United States Constitution states, “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.” This protects citizens with a license to purchase and carry a weapon. There is no monitor on that weapon once it is bought. It can get in the hands of anyone who can gets their hands on it. Obviously there are two very strong sides of the argument and until Congress takes action nothing is going to change, but it is worth the discussion.

Do people kill people, or do guns kill people? Well in fact, it’s a combination of both and that’s the scariest part.

People with guns kill people.

It is important to question the effectiveness of new action taking place in schools across the country. With legislation coming out recently allowing school officers to carry a firearm in school, how safe should the students feel? Should they feel safe knowing they’re protected by an officer with a weapon or should they feel unsafe knowing that they have to protected by a weapon-carrying cop?

All things considered, and in light of the recent events in Kentucky, 2nd Amendment in our Constitution make school shootings more likely to occur because the accessibility of firearms, or less likely to occur because of the police officer protecting the school with his weapon?

8 Responses to "Is It Right To Bear Arms?"

Abigail Belcher says:

January 26, 2018 at 8:39 pm

Timothy,
I love that you wrote about this because I think it is such an important and prominent issue these days. I myself have been thinking a lot about gun control, especially in schools. I go back and fourth on who should be allowed to have guns and the types of qualifications you should have in order to possess one. However, I often find myself thinking that if the second amendment was changed or taken away to limit or prohibit anyone from carrying firearms, that it would generally be a larger threat to Americans. This is because if someone is determined to do something so horrific (such as shooting students/ citizens) they will find a way to get their hands on a gun. Nothing would stop them from breaking that law. However, many law abiding citizens who truly want to do good in the world (such as the officer at the school) would obey the new law/ amendment and not carry a gun. This also could be true of many citizens who always carry guns for protection purposes that then would not legally be allowed to possess a firearm, and therefore would not be able able to protect themselves if the situation should arise where a person wanting to inflict real harm opens fire and no good citizen has a gun to protect everyone else. Now you have a situation where a person who was going to break the law anyway by shooting students/citizens is faced with a much easier challenge— an officer/ citizen without a gun, leaving the shooter with much more of an advantage than if they had no idea if they were walking into a place where someone else may have a gun and could fire back.
Jacob Weis says:

January 27, 2018 at 9:49 pm

Tim,
This is a very debatable topic and I liked how you stated facts without inserting too much of your own opinion. I believe in the 2nd amendment for a few reasons. Personally, I find it fascinating to look into infamous killers, and learn what drove them to act in inhumane ways. What I have found is that these people are mostly depressive or psychopathic. I think that if the 2nd amendment was to be removed it would not stop these people from finding ways to obtain weapons. Understanding why these killers act the way they do, and how they think is the first step in solving this debate.
Meletius says:

January 28, 2018 at 4:33 pm

Hi Tim,
I appreciate your posting on such an important and debated topic. I can’t help but agree in the numbness I feel when I hear of another mass shooting. It is sad that the issue has been taken to such an extreme where I no longer feel the terror and pain that I used to. While the second amendment of the Constitution allows American’s the “right to bear arms”, I don’t necessarily believe or think that any American needs access to such military weapons, for instance, the weapons used in the recent Las Vegas mass shooting that killed 58 people and injured 851. I certainly don’t think that the framers of the constitution had in mind the kind of weaponry we hold now when they drafted the right to bear arms. The fact that one man was able to legally purchase and hold over 23 firearms, to generate the deadliest mass shooting in American history, is absolutely preposterous. I do not believe that one needs that many weapons to “feel safe”. They hold those weapons to commit crimes of mass shootings, something that was very calculated and planned. Unfortunately, the reality is that the NRA holds too much money and power right now for this issue of gun control to be properly addressed and dealt with. If gun control was not taken seriously after 20 children in between the ages of 6 and 7 were shot to death, I don’t have much faith in our government that it will be handled now. In 1996, a mass shooting in Tasmania, Australia killed 35 individuals and injured 23, being named the worst mass shooting in Australian history. After this brutal killing, Australia passed the National Firearms Agreement that banned certain semi-automatic weapons, self-loading rifles and shotguns: “The number of mass shootings in Australia—defined as incidents in which a gunman killed five or more people other than himself, which is a notably higher casualty count than is generally applied for tallying mass shootings in the U.S.—dropped from 13 in the 18-year period before 1996 to zero after the Port Arthur Massacre” (theatlantic.com) due to these strict gun laws. I think it is important for the U.S to look back on these statistics and start making serious changes to our nation’s gun laws to try to further prevent any more mass shootings.

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/10/australia-gun-control/541710/
Langley Crisp says:

January 28, 2018 at 7:20 pm

Tim,

I really appreciate your discussion on this very important topic. I also agree with the points you have made and am equally saddened and frustrated by the quantity of shootings in the US and the lack of legislation following them.

I recently studied abroad in Milan, Italy. Italy does not allow for citizens to own guns. More than once, I was approached by Italians who were simply baffled by the US gun laws and the amount of mass shootings that occur in our country. It was honestly embarrassing to have to answer to these people because of how backwards and out of control mass shootings and government reaction to shootings has become.

I also studied abroad with a girl from Australia. Equally baffled by our gun laws, she told me that after Australia experienced one mass shooting, they quickly out-lawed guns and no shootings have happened since. Why, then, can America — the “greatest country on earth” not understand this logical thought progression that Australia did.

The 2nd amendment is outdated — it is time for a change. Gun lobbyists make it seemingly impossible for laws to be implemented to restrict the rights of citizens to bear arms.

I am hopeful that one day the people of the United States will be able to defeat gun lobbyists, such as the NRA, and outlaw citizens use of guns (or at least military grade guns.) I cannot see the argument for any citizen owning one of these guns and I strongly believe that a change must be made.
Madeleine Stone says:

January 28, 2018 at 8:14 pm

I think this topic is very important but also can be very sensitive. Like you said, if the catastrophe doesn’t effect you or your family its hard to fully grasp the heartbreak and effects that guns are having on people. I really appreciate how you pointed this out and furthered structured your argument around it. I think it was especially captivating and enticing. Gun control needs to be addressed more regular and I think the government needs to adapt the current laws we have in place and make them a lot more stricter. The fact that there were 52 mass shootings in the United States last year is definitely very scary. People should not have to live their lives in fear on a daily basis because they are scared there could be a mass shooting or somebody may have a gun and decide to use it on them. Especially students, they should not be scared to go to school and be protected by a cop who is holding a gun. When the writers of the Constitution put the 2nd amendment in place I certainly do not think they could have ever pictured the world we live in today. It is scary how a gun can be obtained so easily and that is definitely something that needs to be changed. I hope in the upcoming days of reform we are going through that the 2nd amendment gets updated and we can live in a safer world.
Hannah Grow says:

January 28, 2018 at 8:28 pm

Timothy,

I find this topic to be especially interesting not only because of its prevalence in the media but also because it affects me personally as a student and a daughter. My entire childhood I was raised around guns, learning to shoot at a young age and always being aware of the gun safe my dad kept in our basement. To me guns were always used either recreationally to shoot clays or as a reassurance that I would be safe if there was ever an intruder in my home. If you told me before mass shootings became as prevalent as they are today that my dad should not be allowed to own a gun, I would have likely argued more in favor of gun rights. But as the number of mass shootings increases staggeringly my stance begins to change and forces me to consider do the people in my life really need a gun if it means threatening the lives of so many? Furthermore I find it to be incredibly indicative that we are the only country in the world to practice the 2nd Amendment and we are also conveniently the only country in the world to struggle with an epidemic of mass shootings. While it seems perfectly reasonable to increase gun control laws in light of all these shootings, things become more complicated and frustrating in the context of school shootings like Kentucky where teenagers are the killers and no number of background checks can prevent a child from taking his parents’ gun. I think you have raised a really great question concerning gun control and challenging its effectiveness in protecting our schools.
Everett Harper says:

January 28, 2018 at 9:21 pm

Tim,

I find this topic to prompt very interesting conversations. It is indeed hard to find a solid stance on the issue if you or your friends/family has been directly affected by gun violence. Like Hannah, I grew up shooting guns, so my prior exposure to guns has been challenged by these disheartening mass shootings. It is hard to regulate the control of guns simply because there are so many guns already in circulation in the United States. Which leads to the larger problem at hand: the twisted individual who has intentions of committing mass murder will inevitably get ahold of a weapon in order to commit said act. Although I do not believe the second amendment should be abolished, I believe that there are steps to help prevent these acts starting with mental health. Not only during the purchase of a firearm is a mental health background check necessary, but I also believe that increased awareness and availability of mental help would help contribute to the declining the amount of mass shootings in the US. As far as officers in schools that carry firearms, I believe that this will decrease the number of school shootings in the future. Although I know that it is a controversial issue, I believe that having an armed officer in a school is a solid line of defense against a school shooter, as well as a deterrence for school shooters.
Isabella Brown says:

January 28, 2018 at 10:55 pm

Timothy,

Your post brings up a problem that our country keeps running into, how the constitutional rights created in the 1700’s fit into our modernized society today. There was no way that the leaders of 1791 could have foreseen the advancement in technology with our weapons, and the mass destruction that they can cause. Just look to the Las Vegas shooting, where the gunman was able to kill 58 and injure 851 more using a device called bump stocks on his weapons. The bump stocks allowed him to increase his weapon’s rapid-fire capabilities, and his ability to injure more people.

As you pointed out, time and time again there are mass shootings, so frequently to the point that the public seems to become more used to it, less surprised, and less caring. It is time for our country to change our gun laws, in order to ensure the safety of our citizens and reduce the ridiculously high number of mass shootings in our country.

How do you solve a problem? You start at the root of it. The root of the gun problem is putting strict regulations on gun purchases. I realize that there are already tons of guns in circulation, but by creating strict laws, it will help regulate future gun purchases. I am not saying that gun ownership should be illegal, but the process of buying a gun should be a lengthy and difficult process. There needs to be applications, background checks, mandatory classes, as well as a government committee created in order to carry out and monitor the process. This way, the future of guns in our country will be in the hands of people who have proved themselves worthy and responsible of owning a weapon.

As far as schools go, I think that as of present school officers owning guns is necessary. With the amount of danger that gunmen pose to students across America, safety procedures such as this provide a sense of mind to parents everywhere. It is also the school’s responsibility to increase other security measures, such as keeping all doors locked and having a secure check in system.

I am not saying that placing strict laws on gun purchase will solve all of our problems with guns. However, at the rate our country is currently at and heading towards, it is necessary that the government make a change in order to prevent another mass shooting in our country.

Bella Brown

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