Owning a gun is a touchy subject these days for some people. Unfortunately those who oppose the Second Amendment seem to have the biggest mouths and get the most press, continuing to give the illusion that the minority is somehow the majority.
It has been said and even put on bumper stickers that "guns don't kill people, people kill people". Or as another sticker said, "If guns kill people then the fork made Rosie O'Donnell fat." The reality is that people will kill each other with any tool, be it fist, stick, knife or gun. The Second Amendment was established to allow every citizen to own a firearm for protection. If you don't want to own a gun, by all means don't. Defend yourself with what ever weapon you prefer. The point is that if someone is considering breaking into my home they have to think twice about taking the chance of dying for their crime. That's what we call a deterrent.
You can't ban every tool that could be used to kill. We would have to use our fingers to butter our bread. How would we brush our teeth? A toothbrush can be used to stab when sharpened with a rock. Oh no! We have ban rocks too. You can stone someone to death. Of course I am being sarcastic but the point is made. The problem lies in the human heart not what is in the hand. A murderer is going to kill my whatever means necessary.
Here is recent proof that the Second Amendment works.
When the “Heller” decision was handed down in 2008 striking down Washington, D.C.'s handgun ban and gunlock regulations, Chicago's Mayor Richard Daley predicted disaster. He said that overturning the gun ban was "a very frightening decision" and predicted more deaths along with Wild West-style shootouts and that people "are going to take a gun and they are going to end their lives in a family dispute." Washington’s Mayor Adrian Fenty similarly warned: "More handguns in the District of Columbia will only lead to more handgun violence."
Yet, Armageddon never arrived.
Washington’s murder rate has plummeted -- falling by 25 percent in 2009 alone. This compares with a national drop of only 7 percent last year. And D.C.'s drop has continued this year.
Comparing Washington’s crime rates from January 1 to June 17 of this year to the same period in 2008, shows a 34 percent drop in murder. This drop puts D.C.'s murder rate back to where it was before the 1977 handgun ban. Indeed, the murder rate is as low as was before 1967.
Other gun crimes have also fallen in Washington. While robberies without guns fell by 7 percent, robberies with gun fell by over 14 percent. Assaults with weapons other than guns fell by 7, but assaults using guns fell by over 20 percent." Fox News (Read the full Story)
The problem is if you take it from law abiding citizens then the lawbreakers know they have easy targets. Some people want to make this about homicides alone but the data shows overall reduction in crime. Often, anti-gun arguments use the death rates by gun in England where they have a ban, verses the US as proof that a ban works. There are problems with the figures and the argument. Mainly the numbers are different. England doesn't have the same population as the US and murders are only a part of the picture. All crimes using a firearm have to be considered. There is a lot of data that can be thrown around on both sides so really only one point needs to be made.
You want to live where there is a ban on guns? Go to England. This country was founded on the right to bear arms and if you don't like it, with all due respect, MOVE.