If you outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns
924170651@gsc.edu
Caitlin O'Dell
Issue date: 2/4/08 Section: Opinion
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After incidents such as what happened at Virginia Tech and Columbine, the issue of gun control gets addressed again in the public domain. Who should be allowed to carry guns? What regulations or restrictions should there be on gun ownership? Should guns be outlawed all together?
As stated in the Second Amendment of our Constitution, "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
Now come the arguments. Who are "the people?" What does "bear arms" mean? Does "the people" refer to the "well regulated militia?" Should our states still have "a well regulated militia?"
All these details make arguing difficult and keep many picky and persnickety people from seeing the truth. Self-defense is protected by law. The Constitution says the people have the right to keep and bear arms. And that right "shall not be infringed."
Why, then, is there still an argument?
If one or two students at Virginia Tech could have had concealed weapons, or if a classroom could have had a gun stashed under the teacher's podium, the massacre may have only been a one- or two-fatality incident, rather than a shooting spree that ended in suicide.
I do realize that there are harms with agreeing that people are protected by law "to keep and bear arms." There are some crazy individuals out there who, given the right to carry a gun, would endanger society.
However, with substantial background checks and training, gun ownership could be easily regulated.
Many people I've talked to - both students and parents - agree that in order to get a weapon, there should be an age restriction and the person should go through training (just like police officers who carry guns). The training would include safety classes, learning how to use a gun and getting a license, which should have to be renewed every few years.
Unlike drivers' licenses, though, you'd have to be re-tested every time you go for a renewal.
I would personally feel much safer if I knew that I had a professor or a classmate (who wasn't crazy) carrying a concealed weapon. Or if I could carry a concealed weapon. Not that Gainesville is a dangerous campus or that I'm paranoid…but you never know.
Just last year, there was a huge police chase going on in Flowery Branch, right near the high school. I was in class at the high school at the time of the chase. No one knew about it. What would have happened if one of the suspects had run into the school?
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