Amendment II
Proposed by Congress September 25, 1789. Ratified December 15, 1791.
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. - taken from www.archivesfoundation.org
I would like to start by saying that before reading anything else in this post, keep in mind that I am not going to respond to any instigations of a debate on 9/11 or the precedence of the war on terror.
Whether or not you believe it, I believe the US government has been terrorizing its own people for well over 20 years, continuously changing the method and enemy to prevent notice enough for an uprising. The US currently meets 3 of the 4 elements present during all historical revolutions. I hope you can at least recognize that any government would begin laying foundations to prevent this action if it can so obviously be seen coming. The best method of preventing a revolution is taking away the ability to fight the government. I.E. take away the ability to form a people's militia without outside weapons trading.
If you read my introductory post, you will see that I've studied history for quite a while now, and I am from New England, practically born with an innate desire to rebel against tyrannical power. When proposing the constitution, the major argument against it was a central government having tyrannical power. Thus, the Bill of Rights. We've already given up some of our first and third amendment rights in the past years. Now there is discussion of taking away our second amendment rights. There are other countries that do not give this Right to their people, but we have it, why would we give it up?
The idea that because there have been school shootings, there shouldn't be guns, is the equivalent of saying that because people drive drunk and kill people, we shouldn't be allowed to have a license. You cannot punish an innocent person for the crimes of another. As far as I am concerned, these actions, the ones that actually take place, are the problems of the parents and the schools. At least where I live, a gun must be kept in one locked cabinet, and ammunition in another. So an underage person who obtains a gun has more than likely gotten ahold of it because their parents did not follow this guideline. Furthermore, how have the parents not noticed the pain and suffering of their child. At college level, the actions are harder to prevent, but again, the family of the perpetrator should have been aware that something was wrong. If that student does not have a family, then that school is responsible for their well being. They live there, that makes them your responsibility. You cannot say, "they're an adult, they are their own responsibility," because until that person has been on their own outside of an academic setting, they are not an adult. Age does not equal knowledge or responsibility. My father owns many rifles, is he responsible for a death 10 states away. NO. In fact, the only time my father has ever even loaded one of these weapons was to defend his family when a rabid raccoon walked right into our front yard. Is the NRA responsible, also a big NO. I am constantly seeing people trying to bring down politicians because that is where x amount of their campaign funds come from. Chances are, it isn't even a tenth of the full fund. Most the time the donations are less than 10k. On top of that, how many politicians get money from places that the politician's supporters may not approve of? All of them. How many of those politicians go on to do good things once they are in office? More than most people like to admit. I say this because many people forget that our state officials are not our central government, some of them are actually doing a good job. The NRA has every right to exist without being slandered for every misdeed that ever happens with a firearm. Again, would you blame the DMV for a drunk driver?
How many people out there have forgotten the lives lost because a gun was in school? There are a lot more than you think. Or the kids who hang themselves because of bullies. Will we take rope away instead of putting an end to bullying?
Basically, our government controls our media. Our media is making us afraid of people with guns. Our media is trying to make us want to give up guns. Transitive property, our government is trying to scare us into giving away our methods of defending ourselves, by giving away our inherent Rights as a citizen. Does this remind you of anyone? Hitler, maybe? If it doesn't, you don't know enough about him as a politician.
It should be obvious by now that I disagree entirely with taking away our second amendment Rights, but more than that, I disagree with the lack of counter measure taken if they were taken away. For instance, we have been fighting police brutality for years, and not just against people of color. Because for the love of whatever God you believe in, you need to get it through your head that white people are a MINORITY, so the majority of articles about citizens will obviously not be about a white person. The majority in America is Asian American, then African American. NOT Caucasian(a term I've never quite understood, I am not from Caucus, nor have I ever been there.) Just because a bunch of snotty old white men have lifetime positions in the government does not mean we are to blame or that we are not suffering from what is happening just as much as the next person. Not to mention that all of those snotty old white men will croak soon, and then what? Most of the upcoming politicians are not white. So find the actual cause why don't you. But I digress, the point is, if citizens have no weapons to defend themselves with, then police officers should not be carrying guns. I am not going to die because some moron decided I shouldn't be allowed to defend myself against a crooked figure of authority. On the subject of school shootings, while discussions of taking away my Rights are happening, the subject of allowing teachers to arm themselves is actually rolling around. So let us give weapons to the most underpaid and underappreciated profession in the country, then wait and see what happens when some jackass high school student starts harassing their teacher because they think their untouchable and haven't learned that actions have consequences. It has already happened, many times. Teacher snap just like anyone else. So obviously not an answer there.
That covers the majority of my opinions on the subject, but for those of you who are reading this from the opposing argument, I'd like to remind you of a few things. Have you ever seen the Simpsons? Lisa wishes for world peace, and everyone gets rid of their guns. Then aliens land, and we are defenseless. On this premise, the US government is in debt to multiple nations that do not necessarily appreciate us right now, or see us repaying our debts any time in the future. How can the government pay off debt to a foreign country when every single piece of US currency is borrowed money from the Federal Reserve to begin with? So when these other countries decide to come and take over, as a loan shark comes and takes your collateral, how shall we, the people, defend ourselves? I, for one, do not trust the military of a government that cares so little about my safety it would take my Rights away to begin with to defend me and my family.