Gun Control: Is It Limiting Your Freedom?

Gun Control: Is It Limiting Your Freedom?

One of America's leading controversies is over limiting the legalization of private firearm ownership. Both sides of the issue are quickly claiming ground on the fuzzy, unsure Americans. Many of the undecided are people who didn't grow up around firearms, and may have never fired a gun or participated in a shooting sport. One of which whom have never used a firearm is Sammie Foust. Sammie Foust, just a normal person, loved to leave her windows open, and watch the sailboats pass by near her Florida home. On May 9th, 1996, Sammie was cleaning her house, and came across a .25 semiautomatic pistol that a friend had given to her for self-defense. Sammie fell asleep with the gun loaded, next to her pillow. Later that evening, James Wayne Horne, a 3 time prison inmate that recently was released, entered Sammie's window. James cut Sammie's face with a box cutter, jobbed her money, and claimed he was going to kill her. Sammie managed to buy some time to grab her gun when James was looking through her Jewry. Sammie pointed the gun, and fired. Nothing seemed to happen, then James began to punch Sammie in the face, braking many of her bones. Being beaten and cut, even with one eye out of the socket, Sammie managed to rang 4 shots into James Wayne Horne. He continued to pound on her, until finally he died from blood loss. Although she was badly hurt, Sammie's life was saved because of the pistol that she owned.

Gun control activist want more gun restricting laws passed. Laws that keep firearms out of the hands of law abiding citizens. Canada is one nation that has gone the gun control rout. The NRA points out that

From 1978 to 1988, Canada's burglary rate increased 25%, surpassing the U.S. rate. Half of burglaries in Canada are of occupied homes, compared to only 10% in the U.S. From 1976 to 1980, ethnically and economically similar areas of the U.S. and Canada had virtually identical homicide rates, despite significantly different firearm laws.

Imagine if guns were kept from American homes. Would home burglaries increase or would normal life be more hazardous? It is claimed by David Johnston that "But highly publicized shootings, no matter how rare, can prompt people to buy guns for self-protection, an act that, many experts say, actually increases the likelihood that the buyer or a member of his or her family will be shot." (95) On the contrary, many self-defensive handgun owners don't even have to ring out a shot to defend them selves. Often handguns are simply brandished and the attacker will flee, these non-fatal cases are rarely reported to the police. You actually have a greater risk of being killed or injured from an attacker when you don't have a gun. (John R. Lott Jr. 87)

Guns have been a great tool for mankind because they have many uses. Some people make guns out to be ruthless killing machines, this is simply not so. Hunting is the most common outdoors shooting sport. Although all hunters hunt for food, some heavily depend on their guns to supply the meat they need to feed them and their families. Hunters also help the environment in two ways, first, hunting keeps the deer population controlled. Without hunters, deer would become over crowded, cleaning the forest out of food, causing the deer and over