JeanC
Member
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=070703&ID=s1377970
Monday, July 7, 2003
Commentary
Right to bear arms necessary to keep government responsible
Zach Schlegel - Home-schooler
The right to bear arms is more important to me than freedom of speech, freedom of religion, a speedy trial, peaceful assembly and freedom from censorship.
Why do I feel this way? If the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights is not defended and does not carry the same force of law that was intended, then all of the other rights contained in the Bill of Rights are meaningless. The point I am trying to make is that the right to keep and bear arms gives the citizens of the United States the ability to arm themselves and defend all their rights from an abusive and totalitarian government.
I can make a list of trusted governments who took away rights from people after disarming them. After World War I, most of the nations of Europe allowed their soldiers to take their rifles home. In the mid 1920s, many Eastern European countries, as well as Germany, Russia and Italy, started confiscating and registering firearms. Within a few years, most of the individual rights these citizens had taken for granted were gone.
There are many people in the world today without the personal rights that we Americans take for granted. If you don't think so, just get your globe and start looking at the countries that have a Bill of Rights comparable to U.S. citizens. There are a few
countries that have a limited Bill of Rights, but I discovered that more than two-thirds basically have no Bill of Rights and not one of those countries allows its citizens to own firearms.
In the last few years, England has enforced a gun ban. The ordinary citizen can not own a firearm. I read in the Wall Street Journal that crime has increased there. One of the biggest crimes has been break-ins during the time people are home. The hoodlums simply knock on the door and, when it is answered, they burst in and do whatever they want. This type of crime is getting worse every day. The same thing happened in Australia right after it copied England's new gun law.
If you think our government, even with our Bill of Rights protecting us, is fully accountable to its citizens, then consider the Randy Weaver shootout, which happened 80 miles from our community in 1992. During the trial, federal law enforcement and Justice Department employees were charged with 22 counts of perjury and falsifying evidence.
The federal government had to pay Weaver $3 million but still refused to deliver the federal agents to Idaho to face indictment.
Gun safety is another issue. As a member of the National Rifle Association, I researched FBI statistics and made some important discoveries: Accidental gunshot wounds have dropped every year since 1976 and with every state that has adopted a personal right to carry a firearms permit, crime has dropped.
Gun ownership is a responsibility and must have some limitations. But the overall right to keep and bear arms is absolutely necessary to keep a democratic government responsible to its citizens.
Zach Schlegel, 15, of Ione, Wash., won first place in a writing contest sponsored by the Pend Oreille County Library.
Monday, July 7, 2003
Commentary
Right to bear arms necessary to keep government responsible
Zach Schlegel - Home-schooler
The right to bear arms is more important to me than freedom of speech, freedom of religion, a speedy trial, peaceful assembly and freedom from censorship.
Why do I feel this way? If the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights is not defended and does not carry the same force of law that was intended, then all of the other rights contained in the Bill of Rights are meaningless. The point I am trying to make is that the right to keep and bear arms gives the citizens of the United States the ability to arm themselves and defend all their rights from an abusive and totalitarian government.
I can make a list of trusted governments who took away rights from people after disarming them. After World War I, most of the nations of Europe allowed their soldiers to take their rifles home. In the mid 1920s, many Eastern European countries, as well as Germany, Russia and Italy, started confiscating and registering firearms. Within a few years, most of the individual rights these citizens had taken for granted were gone.
There are many people in the world today without the personal rights that we Americans take for granted. If you don't think so, just get your globe and start looking at the countries that have a Bill of Rights comparable to U.S. citizens. There are a few
countries that have a limited Bill of Rights, but I discovered that more than two-thirds basically have no Bill of Rights and not one of those countries allows its citizens to own firearms.
In the last few years, England has enforced a gun ban. The ordinary citizen can not own a firearm. I read in the Wall Street Journal that crime has increased there. One of the biggest crimes has been break-ins during the time people are home. The hoodlums simply knock on the door and, when it is answered, they burst in and do whatever they want. This type of crime is getting worse every day. The same thing happened in Australia right after it copied England's new gun law.
If you think our government, even with our Bill of Rights protecting us, is fully accountable to its citizens, then consider the Randy Weaver shootout, which happened 80 miles from our community in 1992. During the trial, federal law enforcement and Justice Department employees were charged with 22 counts of perjury and falsifying evidence.
The federal government had to pay Weaver $3 million but still refused to deliver the federal agents to Idaho to face indictment.
Gun safety is another issue. As a member of the National Rifle Association, I researched FBI statistics and made some important discoveries: Accidental gunshot wounds have dropped every year since 1976 and with every state that has adopted a personal right to carry a firearms permit, crime has dropped.
Gun ownership is a responsibility and must have some limitations. But the overall right to keep and bear arms is absolutely necessary to keep a democratic government responsible to its citizens.
Zach Schlegel, 15, of Ione, Wash., won first place in a writing contest sponsored by the Pend Oreille County Library.
