Gun Control : From my Cold Dead Hands
Why is Conservative America so obsessed with guns? The Second Ammendment 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.”
A well regulated militia :Isn’t that no longer the case? Do we have to use our weapons to guard ourselves against the almighty British army in our backyard? Can’t we just drive over them with our Hummers? In the words of Ex Chief Justice Warren Burger, “ Americans also have a right to defend their homes, and we need not challenge that. Nor does anyone seriously question that the Constitution protects the right of hunters to own and keep sporting guns for hunting game any more than anyone would challenge the right to own and keep fishing rods and other equipment for fishing – or to own automobiles. To “keep and bear arms” for hunting today is essentially a recreational activity and not an imperative of survival, as it was 200 years ago. “Saturday night specials” and machine guns are not recreational weapons and surely are as much in need of regulation as motor vehicles
The United States has by far the highest rate of gun deaths murders, suicides and accidents among the world’s 36 richest nations, a government study found.
The U.S. rate for gun deaths in 1994 was 14.24 per 100,000 people. Japan had the lowest rate, at .05 per 100,000.
The study, done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is the first comprehensive international look at gun-related deaths. Japan, where very few people own guns, averages 124 gun-related attacks a year, and less than 1 percent end in death. Police often raid the homes of those suspected of having weapons.
The study found that gun-related deaths were five to six times higher in the Americas than in Europe or Australia and New Zealand and 95 times higher than in Asia.
Here are gun-related deaths per 100,000 people in the world’s 36 richest countries in 1994
United States 14.24; Brazil 12.95; Mexico 12.69; Estonia 12.26; Argentina 8.93; Northern Ireland 6.63; Finland 6.46; Switzerland 5.31; France 5.15; Canada 4.31; Norway 3.82; Austria 3.70; Portugal 3.20; Israel 2.91; Belgium 2.90; Australia 2.65; Slovenia 2.60; Italy 2.44; New Zealand 2.38; Denmark 2.09; Sweden 1.92; Kuwait 1.84; Greece 1.29; Germany 1.24; Hungary 1.11; Republic of Ireland 0.97; Spain 0.78; Netherlands 0.70; Scotland 0.54; England and Wales 0.41; Taiwan 0.37; Singapore 0.21; Mauritius 0.19; Hong Kong 0.14; South Korea 0.12; Japan 0.05
In many respects, we’re still the Wild West. Gun control is a favorite poltical tool as well, as in “vote for the other guy and he’ll take your gun away.” meanwhile 1 in 7 American adults are in prison, making us #1 in the world in % of our populace behind bars.
Gun control is a topic that I am very passionate about. Although your stats appear impressive, I can easily support my side with information that is just as valid. Figures lie and lies figure. First and foremost, the second ammendment has NOTHING to do with hunting. It has to do with personal freedom, just like the first ammendment. Our founding fathers wrote this into our BOR to guard against intrusions into our freedoms not just for their time, but for ours, our childrens’, our grandchildrens’,etc. In order to protect the United States from ever becoming like England toward their own people, they included the 2nd Ammendment in the BOR. That is why registration would defeat the purpose of the ammendment.
Gun registration/control/banning is the first step of a government that wants to dominate it’s people, something to be deathly afraid of. I know liberals find this comment ridiculous. But government has never been the solution to anything. Read history before the liberals re-write it.