To Gun or Not To Gun Pol 106

The Supreme Court recently issued a ruling which stated the Washington DC handgun ban was too broad and denied the people their Second Amendment right to bare arms. With this ruling the law will be changed or become null and the area must come up with a licensing plan to allow guns into the hands of citizens again. In Chicago, Mayor Daley was very vocal in his disappointment in the ruling and the potential for a suite against Chicago to lift its own ban on weapons. Being a citizen who grew up in a town that completely disallowed the owning and possession of a fire arm, hidden or seen, I have found this debate foreign. I have only shot a rifle once in my life and have never seen an animal shot in reality. It is this ignorance that plays at my mind when I try and form an opinion on the issue. My extended family lives in rural areas where guns are a daily necessity and I find it interesting to hear their arguments for keeping the Second Amendment alive and kicking. They feel that it is their right to bare arms to protect themselves and since they know how to use them and have valid license for them all, I find no fault in their argument. It is the use of and acceptance of guns in densely populated areas that worry me. In a city there are seldom wild animals which need to be shot and often the guns purchased are for personal protection. However, of these guns, how many people carry them around without understanding just how damaging they can be? I’ve seen an 18 year old boy almost die in the emergency room from a bullet wound to the stomach because a man did not know how to use a gun and accidently shot him. It is cases like these that I believe are important to understand and accept the idea for a stricter licensing protocol which would keep guns out of the hands of untrained hands.