“The Benefits of Legal
Gun Ownership in America”
By: Jeremy Vought
She was beaten from behind and shoved inside her vehicle. Registered sex offender and escaped criminal Joe Covington wrestled and dominantly forced himself on top her. Today, Shirley Bennett is well. “I honestly believe I would not be here today if I didn’t have a gun,” Bennett told reporters with the Akron Beacon Journal last year (Trexler). George Washington once wrote, “The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere restrains evil interference – they deserve a place of honor with all that’s good.” It was Bennett’s .38-caliber revolver that saved her last November in Ohio. The benefits of legal firearm ownership in America ensure the individual rights of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” from the United States Declaration of Independence are upheld and realized.
Personal gun ownership is key to the first inalienable right of “life.” Throughout history, humans have carried weapons for self-defense; they still do. In a U.S. Department of Justice study on guns in America, Cook and Ludwig (Pg. 8) show that in 1994 alone, over one million people used firearms to defend themselves, their families, or others from harm. Our founding fathers respected these important tools and placed a protection in the Bill of Rights, as the 2nd Amendment, so all people could protect their lives. Many who disagree with the personal carrying or ownership of firearms for self-defense often argue that it’s the police department’s job to protect citizens. Unfortunately, this line of thought is not probable. Attacks occur in seconds. In Atlanta alone, investigative news reports and standards from the Atlanta Police Department say that a 5-minute response is the standard for high priority 911 calls – a standard met only 9-percent of the time (Judd). Looking at police response times alone, any reasonable person should conclude that the police simply couldn’t be at all places preventing murder or assault on everyone. For that main reason, many people keep a firearm at home or carry a concealed weapon when away from their home in an effort to protect life. Opponents may argue against ownership saying, “What if these weapon-bearing individuals are careless with their firearms or may not be trained to use them?” First, there are laws on the books on the negligent or careless discharge of a firearm. Persons found negligent or careless should and are prosecuted. Owning a firearm comes the added responsibility to using it in accordance with the law of the land. It is much like the freedom of speech. There are still laws, which require speech to be responsible such as libel, slander, or screaming “fire” in a crowded movie theater. Secondly, nowhere in the Constitution does it say that a person must be trained to exercise a right. While most firearm owners will tell you training is imperative to the skill and safe deployment of a firearm for self-defense, very few will say that training should be a requirement. This train of thought in legalese is known as the “slippery slope.” Laws cannot prevent all unfortunate things from happening, which is why there are laws that can penalize an individual after committing a crime.
Gun ownership also plays into protecting the inalienable right of “liberty.” The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states 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.” Having just fought against the forces of tyranny in the Revolutionary War, the founding fathers understood how important an armed population was to keeping their government from taking away their liberty. In a letter from Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, Jefferson wrote that, “What country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance. Let them take arms” (“Quotes on the Second Amendment”). People may say that this is 2012, times have changed, and there is no longer a need for resistance. The Arab Spring in 2011 is a perfect example, though, of citizens sending very clear messages to their leaders about the direction of their country. The Civil War, in my opinion, was also resistance movement by both the Southern States and abolitionists. John Brown and his raid on Harper’s Ferry, for example, led the first armed resistance against slavery setting in motion the war to happen. Throughout history oppressive governments, as well as non-oppressive governments, have outlawed firearms for citizens. In turn, atrocities are nearly always carried out on the unarmed. After invading Russia, Hitler said, “The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to permit the conquered Eastern peoples to have arms. History teaches that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by doing so” (Browne). Liberties are nothing if they can’t be defended and fought for – arms allow that to happen.
Lastly, we come to the “pursuit of happiness” and how legal gun ownership can assist with this liberty. Plato once wrote, “The man who makes everything that leads to happiness depends upon himself, and not upon other men, has adopted the very best plan for living happily” (“Plato Quotes”). As Plato explains, self-reliance leads to happiness. Owning firearms can be one important aspect of self-reliance. A gun owner takes responsibility to protect himself, his family and his property. While studies like the 1993 New England Journal of Medicine “Gun Ownership as a Risk Factor for Homicide in the Home” paint a statistical picture of increased homicides by family members within a home with firearms, studies like this don’t go into the statistics of legal home-ownership of firearms. A majority of the cases in this study involve people with illicit drug use and past occurrences of physical abuse. Both of these factors would legally disqualify these felons from owning or being around firearms. Another part of the pursuit of happiness and self-reliance is that many gun owners are hunters. What then is more self-reliant than going into the forest, skillfully killing an animal to feed yourself and family? One deer can feed a small family for weeks or even a few months. Our founding fathers knew that self-reliant people who were free were a happy people, so they protected such things as speech, religion, and arms.
To Washington, "Firearms stand next in importance to the constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty teeth and keystone under independence … from the hour the Pilgrims landed to the present day, events, occurrences and tendencies prove that to ensure peace security and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable.” From the founding of the United States to present, those indispensable traits of gun ownership still ring true. For Bennett, “I’m just glad I’m here today and not in the obituaries tomorrow.”
Works Cited
Browne, N.A. The Myth of Nazi Gun Control. Gun Cite, 21 July 2001. Web. 26 May 2012. <http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_gcnazimyth.html>
Cook, Philip, and Jens Ludwig. Guns in America: National Survey on Private Ownership and Use of Firearms. U.S. Department of Justice. National Institute of Justice, May 1997. Web. 23 May 2012. <https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/165476.pdf>
Judd, Alan. “Calling 911, but where are the police?” Atlanta Journal Constitution 22 Nov 2009. Web. <http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/calling-911-but-where-208859.html>
Kellerman, Arthur, et al. “Gun Ownership as a Risk Factor for Homicide in the Home.” The New England Journal of Medicine 7 Oct 1993. Vol. 329 pg. 1804-91. Web. 30 May 2012. <http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199310073291506>
“Plato Quotes.” Squidoo, n.d. Web. 26 May 2012. <http://www.squidoo.com/plato-quotes>
“Quotes on the Second Amendment.” Cap’n Ball’s Old West, n.d. Web. 26 May 2012. <http://cap-n-ball.com/fathers.htm>
Trexler, Phil. “Woman fires gun to ward off man trying to steal her car, Akron police say.” Akron Beacon Journal 12 Nov 2011. Web.
<http://www.ohio.com/news/local-news/woman-fires-gun-to-ward-off-man-trying-to-steal-her-car-akron-police-say-1.244963>
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