mike724
Member
I entered this thesis for an English Lit class some years ago. I'd like to share it with y'all.
Recent news events have brought the issue of firearms ownership to the forefront of topical concerns. Although not stressed in the recent U.S. Presidential election, this issue divides the national Republican and Democratic parties, and may have been responsible for many of Governor George W. Bush's votes. He promised, if elected, strict enforcement of existing gun laws, but stressed that, "We must teach our children the values that defeat violence." [Facts 533D3]
Overly restrictive gun-ownership laws should not prevent a responsible citizenry the freedom to make their own choices in this matter.
Many United States citizens own firearms. Those that are legally owned are viewed by many as a danger to others merely by existing. Some view guns as tools of the devil, evil in their very existence; and a throwback to frontier times, anachronistic and needless in today's civilized and crowded cities. Many feel that the possession of firearms will entice the owner to commit violent deeds and turn a matter of cross words into a fatal shootout, or a passionate murder. These people feel that the mere availability of weapons will inevitably lead to mayhem and murder. They offer the opinion that guns, per se, kill people.
Author Tom Clancy was interviewed the day after the killings in Littleton, CO, and said, "People are going to say, 'Ooooooh, guns are bad, guns are bad,'" in a mincing tone. He continued, "Well, not one of my guns ever jumped out of my closet and killed someone." [Goldberg 24]
The Congressional Review states that some forty four million Americans own some 192 million firearms. Of these, there are about sixty five million handguns. [Congressional Review 264] These firearms, although plentiful enough to arm every American adult, are concentrated in the hands of only twenty five per cent of the adult population. Thirty five per cent of the respondents stated that their principle use is recreation and hunting, while one third reported that they carry a weapon in their vehicle or on their person for reasons of self defense.
The majority of gun owners report that they have undergone formal training in the safe use and storage of their weapons, whether from hunter safety programs, military training, or concealed permit classes. These are responsible, law-abiding citizens, and a credit to their communities and their nation.
Guns in the hand of criminals are indeed dangerous. By threatening an unarmed citizenry with the overwhelming force of a deadly weapon, an irresponsible and brutal person can force his will on the unprotected citizen. The news has reported stories of children who have deliberately taken guns to schools, and of madmen who have gone berserk in restaurants, churches, and trains. The unprotected citizens around them could only hide under desks and tables in these episodes, completely unable to defend themselves.
However, when armed citizens were present, tragedy was averted in several notable cases. In October of 1997, a student killed two classmates in Pearl, Mississippi. Assistant Principal Joel Myrick had been target shooting at his parent's country home over the weekend, and had left his handgun in his car that Monday. He retrieved this handgun from his car, and as the boy was driving off to a diner to continue his spree, ordered the young killer to stop.
In April, 1998, restaurant owner James Strand used his shotgun to hold a boy who had just shot his teacher in Edenboro, Pennsylvania. His actions were sufficient to avert any more bloodshed before the police arrived eleven minutes later.
Of the five school related shootings in 1997-1998, two of them were stopped by armed citizens, yet of 687 news stories, only nineteen mentioned Myrick's use of a gun to keep the peace, and only thirty five of 596 articles lauded Strand for his proper use of a firearm. [Lott]
The availability of firearms to the underage and uneducated populace is another matter of grave concern. Stories of children who find a pistol, and take it to school with them, strike terror in the hearts of all parents, as well they should. The result of this fear is, again, to demonize the object, and shelter children from any knowledge of firearms. An ignorant child, whose only exposure to firearms is from the television crime shows, animated cartoons, and nightly news horror stories may believe that a gun is a symbol of adulthood, masculinity, strength, and power.
A child who finds an unsecured weapon might feel that he has been educated enough from these fictional familiarities to wield the weapon in any situation. In fact, no one is. TV stories, movies, and cartoons rarely depict the proper handling of firearms, and rarely reflect the advanced training that professional police, guards, and military personnel receive before they are allowed to use weapons in their line of work.
These violent television programs and movies are much to blame for many of the recent tragedies. The Littleton, Colorado shooters are said to have gotten parts of their year-long plan from a movie, wherein a boy dreams of a revengeful rampage through his school. However, cries against the movie and television producers to cease these types of presentations are denounced as violations of our First Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution. Ignoring and tolerating these dangerous shows threaten us all with future killing sprees and other firearm mayhem.
On the other hand, Hunter Safety Training programs are offered for free in all states. Since 1995, in the state of Florida, no one under the age of 18 is allowed to obtain a hunting license without this training. This is as it should be, since the essence of hunting is to be alone with the weapon, and fully responsible for the proper handling of it. The course stresses safe handling of the weapon as the primary responsibility of the hunter and firearm owner. I have seen ten year old children at these courses, accompanied by an adult, of course, and would not hesitate hunt or travel with any of these educated children. A gun may be the best gift a youngster could hope for, a rite of passage on the way to adulthood that says, "We trust you to behave safely and responsibly."[Heston 43]
On the other hand, I have seen two different adults pick up a pistol for the first time in their lives, and immediately turn and point the pistol to their own temples, just to see what it feels like to do what they have learned from movies! Their ignorance and naivete could have led to disastrous results, and all as a consequence of sensational and misleading media representations of the proper use or abuse of firearms. Fortunately, the weapons these fools handled were not loaded, and, in my home, among strangers, never are.
If I ever do hunt with one of these well educated juveniles, it will be my responsibility to supervise their immediate possession of a firearm, since youngsters under sixteen are not allowed to even hold a firearm while unsupervised. This brings up the recently mandated trigger locks.
Modern technology seeks to make firearms fool-proof, and theft-proof. These technologies range from simple mechanical locks, operated with a key or combination lock, to the concept of as-yet undeveloped devices which would scan the user's retinal patterns through a scope device, and only allow preprogrammed users access to the firing sequence. [Ripley 82]
Florida laws require that every firearm sale include the transfer of a trigger locking device, and some counties require that all accessible firearms, that is, those not secured in a locked box or safe, be equipped with one of these devices. This may prevent an ignorant child from casually detonating the weapon, but it will not allow a person in a life threatening situation to make use of the very tool which may save his life! It is said that rapists love trigger locks. This is an ironical reference that cuts to the very heart of the trigger lock debate, by pointing out that criminals prey on those bound by laws, and that a trigger lock may prevent self defense at the most critical moment of attack. A disabled defensive weapon makes a mighty poor throwin' rock.
In Merced, California, a safe-storage law caused John Carpenter to leave his firearms locked away from his fourteen year old daughter, Jessica. When an intruder, Johnathan Bruce, broke into the house, the young girl, who had been taught responsible firearms handling and safety, was unable to access these defensive weapons. Bruce stabbed to death two of Jessica's siblings while she escaped out a window, and ran to a neighbor's house. When police finally arrived, Bruce charged them with his pitch fork, and they used the tool that is "never the solution," their guns, to stop him. The girl's great-uncle, Reverend John Hilton, said, "If (Jessica) had been properly armed, she could have stopped him in his tracks." [Suprynowicz 14]
Proponents of gun control cite the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in their arguments: "A well regulated malitia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." They see this awkwardly constructed sentence to mean that only members of a militia shall be allowed to bear arms, and feel that the Framers of this document never meant to encourage or allow ordinary citizens to have the same armaments as the standing army. They point to the technological advances since the Eighteenth Century, high-capacity rapid-cycling center-fired rifles, over the smooth-bore muzzle-loading flintlocks of that era, as further proof that the Framers did not intend the freedoms that we hold today.
In that awkward Amendment, it has been pointed out [Amar 24] that the phrase, "the people" is not the same as, and wasn't meant to mean, "all persons," another phrase used in the first ten Amendments. The Militia was meant to be a group of voting citizens, apart from the government's army, just as a jury is that same group, empowered by the state, yet separate from the court officials, which stands as a check against the unbridled power of its formal cousin. A rabble of armed men is a gun club. A gang of twelve who decide to execute a cattle rustler is a lynch mob.
However, the Framers were aware of brigands who roamed the land and preyed on rural farms. For this reason, they included the word, "keep," in their Act. Despite the advances in technology, and perhaps because of them, all men are able to access the same weaponry. Colt Firearms Corporation has long advertised, "God created all men. Samuel Colt made all men equal." It is this sentiment which vociferous gun rights activists today claim gives them the right to modern firearms, equal to those held by the government.
"There is no such thing as a free nation where police and the military are allowed the force of arms but individual citizens are not. To those of us who've seen the terrors visited upon the human race this century know: From Hitler and Stalin, to Mao Zedong and Pol Pot, every genocide we've seen began with the denial of the right to keep and bear arms." [Heston 42] This quotation is the root of most patriotic gun owner's beliefs.
It is easy to see that, despite the danger of modern firearms, they are a fact of life today. And if we are to live in peace and security in this world, we must be able to enjoy the fruits of our technological advances. Whether hunting or target shooting, defending our liberties or our very lives, overly restrictive gun-ownership laws should not prevent a responsible citizenry the freedom to posses modern weapons.
WORKS CITED
Amar, A.R. "Second thoughts: What the right to bear arms really means"
The New Republic Jul 12, 1999: 24-27
Congressional Digest "Guns in American households: Results of a nationwide survey."
Nov, 1999: 263-265
Facts on File World News Digest
August 3, 2000: 533D3
Gibaldi, J. MLA Handbook for writers of research papers, 4th Ed.
New York: MLAA, 1995
Goldberg, J. "Playing with firearms."
New York Times Magazine Jun 13, 1999: 24
Heston, C. "Our first freedom."
Saturday Evening Post. Jan-Feb 2000: 42+
Lott, J. R. Jr. "Gun show: Why new gun laws wont work"
National Review May 31, 1999: 32+
Ripley, A. "Ready. Aim. Enter your PIN"
New York Times Magazine Nov. 21, 1999: 82-83
Suprynowicz, V. "Shouldn't we repeal the gun laws...if it'll save a single child?"
Shotgun News Nov. 10, 2000: 14
Recent news events have brought the issue of firearms ownership to the forefront of topical concerns. Although not stressed in the recent U.S. Presidential election, this issue divides the national Republican and Democratic parties, and may have been responsible for many of Governor George W. Bush's votes. He promised, if elected, strict enforcement of existing gun laws, but stressed that, "We must teach our children the values that defeat violence." [Facts 533D3]
Overly restrictive gun-ownership laws should not prevent a responsible citizenry the freedom to make their own choices in this matter.
Many United States citizens own firearms. Those that are legally owned are viewed by many as a danger to others merely by existing. Some view guns as tools of the devil, evil in their very existence; and a throwback to frontier times, anachronistic and needless in today's civilized and crowded cities. Many feel that the possession of firearms will entice the owner to commit violent deeds and turn a matter of cross words into a fatal shootout, or a passionate murder. These people feel that the mere availability of weapons will inevitably lead to mayhem and murder. They offer the opinion that guns, per se, kill people.
Author Tom Clancy was interviewed the day after the killings in Littleton, CO, and said, "People are going to say, 'Ooooooh, guns are bad, guns are bad,'" in a mincing tone. He continued, "Well, not one of my guns ever jumped out of my closet and killed someone." [Goldberg 24]
The Congressional Review states that some forty four million Americans own some 192 million firearms. Of these, there are about sixty five million handguns. [Congressional Review 264] These firearms, although plentiful enough to arm every American adult, are concentrated in the hands of only twenty five per cent of the adult population. Thirty five per cent of the respondents stated that their principle use is recreation and hunting, while one third reported that they carry a weapon in their vehicle or on their person for reasons of self defense.
The majority of gun owners report that they have undergone formal training in the safe use and storage of their weapons, whether from hunter safety programs, military training, or concealed permit classes. These are responsible, law-abiding citizens, and a credit to their communities and their nation.
Guns in the hand of criminals are indeed dangerous. By threatening an unarmed citizenry with the overwhelming force of a deadly weapon, an irresponsible and brutal person can force his will on the unprotected citizen. The news has reported stories of children who have deliberately taken guns to schools, and of madmen who have gone berserk in restaurants, churches, and trains. The unprotected citizens around them could only hide under desks and tables in these episodes, completely unable to defend themselves.
However, when armed citizens were present, tragedy was averted in several notable cases. In October of 1997, a student killed two classmates in Pearl, Mississippi. Assistant Principal Joel Myrick had been target shooting at his parent's country home over the weekend, and had left his handgun in his car that Monday. He retrieved this handgun from his car, and as the boy was driving off to a diner to continue his spree, ordered the young killer to stop.
In April, 1998, restaurant owner James Strand used his shotgun to hold a boy who had just shot his teacher in Edenboro, Pennsylvania. His actions were sufficient to avert any more bloodshed before the police arrived eleven minutes later.
Of the five school related shootings in 1997-1998, two of them were stopped by armed citizens, yet of 687 news stories, only nineteen mentioned Myrick's use of a gun to keep the peace, and only thirty five of 596 articles lauded Strand for his proper use of a firearm. [Lott]
The availability of firearms to the underage and uneducated populace is another matter of grave concern. Stories of children who find a pistol, and take it to school with them, strike terror in the hearts of all parents, as well they should. The result of this fear is, again, to demonize the object, and shelter children from any knowledge of firearms. An ignorant child, whose only exposure to firearms is from the television crime shows, animated cartoons, and nightly news horror stories may believe that a gun is a symbol of adulthood, masculinity, strength, and power.
A child who finds an unsecured weapon might feel that he has been educated enough from these fictional familiarities to wield the weapon in any situation. In fact, no one is. TV stories, movies, and cartoons rarely depict the proper handling of firearms, and rarely reflect the advanced training that professional police, guards, and military personnel receive before they are allowed to use weapons in their line of work.
These violent television programs and movies are much to blame for many of the recent tragedies. The Littleton, Colorado shooters are said to have gotten parts of their year-long plan from a movie, wherein a boy dreams of a revengeful rampage through his school. However, cries against the movie and television producers to cease these types of presentations are denounced as violations of our First Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution. Ignoring and tolerating these dangerous shows threaten us all with future killing sprees and other firearm mayhem.
On the other hand, Hunter Safety Training programs are offered for free in all states. Since 1995, in the state of Florida, no one under the age of 18 is allowed to obtain a hunting license without this training. This is as it should be, since the essence of hunting is to be alone with the weapon, and fully responsible for the proper handling of it. The course stresses safe handling of the weapon as the primary responsibility of the hunter and firearm owner. I have seen ten year old children at these courses, accompanied by an adult, of course, and would not hesitate hunt or travel with any of these educated children. A gun may be the best gift a youngster could hope for, a rite of passage on the way to adulthood that says, "We trust you to behave safely and responsibly."[Heston 43]
On the other hand, I have seen two different adults pick up a pistol for the first time in their lives, and immediately turn and point the pistol to their own temples, just to see what it feels like to do what they have learned from movies! Their ignorance and naivete could have led to disastrous results, and all as a consequence of sensational and misleading media representations of the proper use or abuse of firearms. Fortunately, the weapons these fools handled were not loaded, and, in my home, among strangers, never are.
If I ever do hunt with one of these well educated juveniles, it will be my responsibility to supervise their immediate possession of a firearm, since youngsters under sixteen are not allowed to even hold a firearm while unsupervised. This brings up the recently mandated trigger locks.
Modern technology seeks to make firearms fool-proof, and theft-proof. These technologies range from simple mechanical locks, operated with a key or combination lock, to the concept of as-yet undeveloped devices which would scan the user's retinal patterns through a scope device, and only allow preprogrammed users access to the firing sequence. [Ripley 82]
Florida laws require that every firearm sale include the transfer of a trigger locking device, and some counties require that all accessible firearms, that is, those not secured in a locked box or safe, be equipped with one of these devices. This may prevent an ignorant child from casually detonating the weapon, but it will not allow a person in a life threatening situation to make use of the very tool which may save his life! It is said that rapists love trigger locks. This is an ironical reference that cuts to the very heart of the trigger lock debate, by pointing out that criminals prey on those bound by laws, and that a trigger lock may prevent self defense at the most critical moment of attack. A disabled defensive weapon makes a mighty poor throwin' rock.
In Merced, California, a safe-storage law caused John Carpenter to leave his firearms locked away from his fourteen year old daughter, Jessica. When an intruder, Johnathan Bruce, broke into the house, the young girl, who had been taught responsible firearms handling and safety, was unable to access these defensive weapons. Bruce stabbed to death two of Jessica's siblings while she escaped out a window, and ran to a neighbor's house. When police finally arrived, Bruce charged them with his pitch fork, and they used the tool that is "never the solution," their guns, to stop him. The girl's great-uncle, Reverend John Hilton, said, "If (Jessica) had been properly armed, she could have stopped him in his tracks." [Suprynowicz 14]
Proponents of gun control cite the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in their arguments: "A well regulated malitia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." They see this awkwardly constructed sentence to mean that only members of a militia shall be allowed to bear arms, and feel that the Framers of this document never meant to encourage or allow ordinary citizens to have the same armaments as the standing army. They point to the technological advances since the Eighteenth Century, high-capacity rapid-cycling center-fired rifles, over the smooth-bore muzzle-loading flintlocks of that era, as further proof that the Framers did not intend the freedoms that we hold today.
In that awkward Amendment, it has been pointed out [Amar 24] that the phrase, "the people" is not the same as, and wasn't meant to mean, "all persons," another phrase used in the first ten Amendments. The Militia was meant to be a group of voting citizens, apart from the government's army, just as a jury is that same group, empowered by the state, yet separate from the court officials, which stands as a check against the unbridled power of its formal cousin. A rabble of armed men is a gun club. A gang of twelve who decide to execute a cattle rustler is a lynch mob.
However, the Framers were aware of brigands who roamed the land and preyed on rural farms. For this reason, they included the word, "keep," in their Act. Despite the advances in technology, and perhaps because of them, all men are able to access the same weaponry. Colt Firearms Corporation has long advertised, "God created all men. Samuel Colt made all men equal." It is this sentiment which vociferous gun rights activists today claim gives them the right to modern firearms, equal to those held by the government.
"There is no such thing as a free nation where police and the military are allowed the force of arms but individual citizens are not. To those of us who've seen the terrors visited upon the human race this century know: From Hitler and Stalin, to Mao Zedong and Pol Pot, every genocide we've seen began with the denial of the right to keep and bear arms." [Heston 42] This quotation is the root of most patriotic gun owner's beliefs.
It is easy to see that, despite the danger of modern firearms, they are a fact of life today. And if we are to live in peace and security in this world, we must be able to enjoy the fruits of our technological advances. Whether hunting or target shooting, defending our liberties or our very lives, overly restrictive gun-ownership laws should not prevent a responsible citizenry the freedom to posses modern weapons.
WORKS CITED
Amar, A.R. "Second thoughts: What the right to bear arms really means"
The New Republic Jul 12, 1999: 24-27
Congressional Digest "Guns in American households: Results of a nationwide survey."
Nov, 1999: 263-265
Facts on File World News Digest
August 3, 2000: 533D3
Gibaldi, J. MLA Handbook for writers of research papers, 4th Ed.
New York: MLAA, 1995
Goldberg, J. "Playing with firearms."
New York Times Magazine Jun 13, 1999: 24
Heston, C. "Our first freedom."
Saturday Evening Post. Jan-Feb 2000: 42+
Lott, J. R. Jr. "Gun show: Why new gun laws wont work"
National Review May 31, 1999: 32+
Ripley, A. "Ready. Aim. Enter your PIN"
New York Times Magazine Nov. 21, 1999: 82-83
Suprynowicz, V. "Shouldn't we repeal the gun laws...if it'll save a single child?"
Shotgun News Nov. 10, 2000: 14
