For years, gun control has been a major discussion in our country. Every time there is a tragedy in our country that involves a gun, people are quick to blame it on the gun. Blaming an inanimate object for a wrong doing, in my opinion, is simply ignorant. We have all heard the phrase, “guns don’t kill people; people kill people.” And the oh-so-famous, “if guns are to blame for killing people, spoons are to blame for making people fat."

It is every American citizen’s constitutional right, once they reach the age of eighteen, to carry a firearm with them in unrestricted areas. Everyone has the right to feel safe, and if carrying a gun helps you feel safe, you have the right to carry one. There is an extensive process that goes into purchasing a firearm. However, like anything else, there are illegal ways of acquiring a gun.

Changing the law, and therefore the way that we interpret the Constitution, in order to place harsher restrictions on guns is not the answer. This route will not keep the wrong people from acquiring a firearm illegally.

If someone has made the decision to commit a murder, an act that breaks one of the oldest laws known to man and one that is considered morally wrong, giving them another law to break will not keep a person in that mindset from acquiring a gun.

Taking Constitutional rights away from the masses because a smaller amount of people have exploited these rights is not the answer. While it may seem far-fetched and extreme, to take away people's natural born rights is how revolutions are started.

Like the famous Spartan King, Leonidus said when the Persians came and told them to lay down their weapons, “Molon Labe”, which translates to, “come and take them."

Disarming Americans will not solve this country’s problem. If anything, harsher restrictions on guns will take away the protection responsible Americans have in unpredictable and catastrophic situations.

There is no law or regulation that can fix the mindset of the people that commit these horrendous crimes. The right to bear arms was put into the Bill of Rights for a reason. It was seen as an important right by early settlers in America, and by the drafters of the Constitution.

Even though the right to carry a gun is present in the Constitution, it does not require everyone to carry a gun or even like guns. But it does give people the freedom to choose, which is one of the greatest things about this country.

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