The “Right” to Bear Arms

Between the years 1968 and 2017, 1.5 million souls were lost in the US from gun related wounds, says the BBC. That’s more than the number of soldier deaths in every US conflict since the Revolutionary War. The number, sadly, doesn’t count (or reflect) the wounded, the traumatized, and the families’ resultant grief, all effects of gun violence. Why is it that so many Americans, including those who have lost people to the barrel of a gun unnecessarily, hold on so tightly to their right to have one?

According to the Brady Centre to Prevent Gun Violence, a non-profit organization leading the initiative to end gun violence, 321 people in America are shot everyday on average, and an additional 22 children are shot. Every year, 117,345 adults in America are shot by guns and 40,620 adults will die from them. Another 7,957 children are shot and 1,839 children will die from gun violence. This raw data was collected from 2015-2019.

More recent data from the CDC shows that in 2020, there were 45,222 people in America who were shot and killed - equating to about 124 people dying everyday - which only shows that the numbers are rising higher than ever.

The Small Arms Survey, a Swiss-based internationally recognized research project, shows that in 2018 in the US, for every 100 residents, there are 120.5 firearms owned, putting us in first place against all other countries on the planet when it comes to the number of firearms owned by civilians. This ratio more than doubles that of the country in second place (Yemen) and more than triples the ratios of all other countries. Considering this, it makes sense for us to be topping global gun homicide charts by a landslide. Unfortunately, it’s not something we can or should be proud of - we should feel ashamed of ourselves.

The US federal government should ban guns for individual, commercial usage. In an ideal world, there would be no need for guns at all. Personal protection is the main reason why people choose to buy guns. In a crime-free world, there is nothing to protect us from, making guns completely unnecessary. America has always been seen as a safe harbor and a land of opportunities, leaving its citizens free to chase after the American dream. But in reality, all too many chances are taken away by the finality of a gun going off.

The Second Amendment of The American Bill of Rights, part of America’s treasured Constitution, gives gun owners the right to bear a firearm, stating that, “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.” However, the world of 1791, when the amendment was written, was vastly different from the one we live in today. Back then, single-shot pistols were often used as a means to make a living or to fend off foreign terrorists and invaders in war, the latter of which is where militias come from. A militia is defined by Merriam-Webster as “a part of the organized armed forces of a country liable to call only in emergency.” And common sense dictates that a school yard full of children is not an emergency that needs eliminating. Today, the use of modern guns always seems to result in the most horrific news headlines.

Recently on May 24, 2022, the Uvalde, TX shooting resulted in the deaths of 19 children and two teachers. One little girl, Miah Cerillo, was forced to cover herself in her classmate's blood to play dead. During the infamous Parkland shooting, Nicholas Dworet’s Olympic dreams were crushed by the bullets from the shooter’s gun. They, along with too many others, were people with dreams, and lives, and families. It’s not fair for all these victims to have everything taken away by a gun. It’s not fair that teens today don’t feel safe at school because a school shooter could burst in any minute. The deaths of innocents was never what the makers of the Second Amendment had intended and yet it is the inevitable result.

Works Cited

Eastmond, Aalayah, performer. Aalayah's Story | Sandy Hook Promise. Directed by Sandy Hook Promise. YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHlQHSihze8.

"Fast Facts: Firearm Violence Prevention." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4 May 2022, https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/firearms/fastfact.html.

"Key Statistics." Brady, https://www.bradyunited.org/key-statistics.

KXAN. 15 June 2022, www.kxan.com/news/texas/uvalde-school-shooting/uvalde-girl-who-played-dead-victims-family-to-speak-in-washington-dc/.

"Mass Shootings: America's Challenge for Gun Control Explained in Seven Charts." BBC News, BBC, 12 Oct. 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41488081.

Merriam-Webster. www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/militia. Accessed 6 Dec. 2022.

Schaeffer, Katherine. "Key facts about Americans and guns." Pew Research Center, 13 Sept. 2021, www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/09/13/key-facts-about-americans-and-guns/#:~:text=Personal%20protection%20tops%20the%20list,in%20an%20open%2Dended%20question.