Guns Really Do Kill People

Guns really do kill people.

Any discussion involving gun control, in any sense, will most always bring about the comment - "Guns don't kill people.  People kill people".  If we take guns to be only inanimate objects then this statement would be factually correct.  To more clearly understand, we must place these guns in today's violent culture.  Guns give the owner power and control.  Guns give people the ability to deliver justice when they feel wronged.  Guns cause people to react in ways they would not normally react.

Many would agree that we have wandered far from  the Second Amendment to the U. S. Constitution which was ratified on December 15, 1791. This amendment, along with nine others are known as "The Bill of Rights".

The Second Amendment states:  "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."

When courts use the second amendment as authority for gun ownership, they simply leave out the words "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State . . ."  In 1791,  the sanctity of a home was threatened on all sides and neighbors would band together for the purpose of protecting each other.  The framers of the Constitution knew that people needed to be able to protect their family and their property, so an amendment to allow people to legally own guns was added.



The "arms" that people were given the right to bear were single-shot muskets.  These guns would only fire one shot and then had to be manually loaded with powder and ball for each additional shot.  It would take several minutes to reload and be able to fire the gun again.  On Friday, December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza was able to fire some 300 rounds in approximately five minutes.  In 1791, a person might have been able to fire two or three shots in that time frame.  In the heinous events that occurred in Newtown, Connecticut, there can be no doubt that it was the type of gun being used that resulted in so many deaths.  If Lanza only had access to a single shot rifle or even a revolver, lives could have been saved.

The following is an excerpt from an article in The Washington Post blog, posted by Ezra Klein: ' “Since 1982, there have been at least 61 mass murders carried out with firearms across the country, with the killings unfolding in 30 states from Massachusetts to Hawaii,” they found. And in most cases, the killers had obtained their weapons legally.'

Rapid-fire assault weapons were designed for use by the military.  These guns have one purpose - to kill a large number of people.

People should be able to own guns and pursue a hobby of hunting or some other gun related sport, but the problem lies in the fact that people want to use 18th century legislation to defend the use of 21st century weapons.  People shouldn't require an AK-47 to go deer hunting.  People do kill people and the type of gun being used determines the number of people they kill.

This is a highly debated issue and I can understand both sides. I would like to hear what you have to say. Please join me on LinkedIn and Google+.

As a freelance writer, I write on many other topics outside government and politics. If you need some help writing those high quality blog posts, you can get in touch over here. - Ken