On Gun Control example essay topic

'From My Cold, Dead Hands!' When anyone mentions "gun control", it makes me cringe with disbelief. It is impossible for me to understand why people want to (and might some day) take away my right to gun ownership. They defend their cases by using examples of school shootings and gang violence; this is unremarkably insane to me. The idea that today's politicians could change the laws of our great land by using the examples of a few misguided youngsters brings back into view other leaders who have done the same.

Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, Idi Amin, Mao Tse-tung, and Pol Pot were powerful tyrants. After taking power, these men took all guns from the civilian population. Our own government has been taking the necessary steps to abolish the second amendment. Owning a gun is a right not a privilege. We, as citizens, have to protect our rights to gun ownership so we can protect ourselves if necessary. James Madison, stated, 'I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. ' (web or gun control. htm) Changes are made slowly so that the general population doesn't notice what is happening until the changes are made.

For instance, Lenin started out his carrier with everyone looking at him as a great respectable leader. But, over the 6 years of Lenin's dictatorship more and more evidence of his cruelty emerged. Most people of his time still believed the notion of the "good Lenin" and the "bad Stalin". When in reality few of Stalin's policies were without roots in Leninism: Lenin built the first concentration camps; Lenin, who disbanded the last vestige of democratic government, the Constituent Assembly, devised the Communist Party as the apex of a totalitarian structure; Lenin, who first waged war on the intelligentsia and on religious believers, wiped out any traces of civil liberty and a free press. In his short reign, from 1917 until his death in 1924, Lenin created a model not merely for his successor, Stalin, but for Mao tse-tung, Hitler, and Pol Pot; three of the worst tyrants the world has ever seen. (Remnick, web) Thomas Jefferson once stated, 'When the people fear the government you have tyranny... when the government fears the people you have liberty. ' (web) Tyranny, it has happened before and will happen again.

It is up to us to take a stand, to hold the government back. Charleton Heston is a great example of one who has taken that challenge. As president of the National Rifle Association, he has continually worked to assure our freedom from tyranny by securing our ability to own guns. Heston's dedication to this cause was shown when he raised a rifle above his head and yelled, 'From my cold, dead hands!' (web) Bill Twist's, From My Cold, Dead Hands, discusses the reasoning behind this great statement. "It is a direct reference to those who gave up their lives so that we could have freedom.

And while we have grown as a nation, that spirit is alive and well today, as it was that spring day of April 19th, 1775, when poor farmers and tradesman stood their ground against the might of their own government. Why did they stand up to the British troops at Lexington and Concord? The answer is rather simple. The duly appointed government was going to take away their arms and ammunition. In other words, they fought because of gun control. While there were numerous underlying causes to the War of Independence, gun control provided the spark that exploded into this great nation.

Those farmers were resisting the confiscation of their best guarantee against tyranny, and they knew it". (http: //216.117. 156.23/features / barrel twist/2000/may / dead.'s html) During the time that Lenin, Stalin, Mao tse-tung, Hitler, and Pol Pot walked the earth, people lived in fear. Fear isn't something that happens in an instant; it's something that takes years to instill while nurturing it along the way. Why was it that the Jews allowed Hitler's solders to corral them like animals and to lie them down by the thousands in mass graves, just to shoot them in the back of the head when the number of Jews to soldiers was over a thousand to one? Why didn't they fight back?

They would have undoubtedly been victorious in many instances. The reason was fear. Not a fear that Hitler had instilled in them, but a fear that had started with Lenin moving on to Stalin and finally aiding Hitler in his quest for supremacy. As a nation, we must not fear the government, but make sure that the government fears us and then look forward to liberty and justice for all. (Remnick, web) U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, 1928 stated 'Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers.

The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding. ' Men have and will continue to in act laws in their best interest without looking at the issue or at the consequences of their actions. (web quotes. html) As parents we must teach our children the importance of gun safety so that politicians can't find reasons to in act laws that lead to tyranny. Since day-one my father instilled in me a respect for firearms. He taught me that by using them properly we could have fun and be protected at the same time. By allowing me to handle his guns and never making them a secret, I never had a desire to seek them out without proper reason. Unlike most cases I hear of where a parent hides their guns and the child sneaks around to see what it is.

This leads to accidental shootings that could have been prevented with proper education. Guns have been a passion of mine ever since I can remember. From the black Ruger. 22 I learned to shoot with, to the assortment of guns that I own today. My first gun was a Red Rider BB gun that I got when I was 7 yrs old. I must have gone on over a hundred hunting trips down to the river bottoms.

But with me being only seven and the gun of such a wimpy stature, I assure you, no one or thing was in danger. By the age of 11 I felt that I was ready for more than just a BB gun and to my surprise I guess my parents did also because they gave me a Benjamin Air Rifle. Instantly I became the talk of the town since Benjamin makes the most powerful Pellet guns on the market. It was with that gun that my love for hunting began. I would go rabbit hunting with my dad or out to the farm with my grandpa to try and kill the pesky rodents living in his hay. Now it wasn't but a year later that I attended Hunters Safety where I received my Blue card.

The Blue card signifies that someone attended the safety course and was able to show knowledge about guns and the ability to use them responsibly. With the blue card, it enabled me to purchase my small game license. Speaking of licenses, when I was growing up no one was allowed to hunt until they were 16 yrs old. By the time I was 12 I felt that I was ready to hunt but the laws prohibited it. But the neatest thing happened; in 1980, the year that I turned 14, the law was changed. From that point on anyone 14 years or older that had passed the Hunters Safety course could hunt big game.

So from that year forward I have yet to miss a deer or elk hunt. Hunting gets into your blood and into your soul. It helps you become one with nature while allowing you to share special times with those you care most about. Hunting was the time that I got to spend one on one with my dad. He was a great hunter, he taught me to bow hunt, rifle hunt and the joys of black powder. During the years I have been hunting I have used a lever action 30-30 and a 30-06 with a 3 x 9 scope.

Hunting helped me become a better person and allowed me to learn to supply food to my family in times of need. With the world in such term oil at this time no one knows what might happen or if food will be available tomorrow. Ask the majority of the public where milk comes from and they will tell you "the super market". It's the same with all other life giving sustenance. It is important that people learn how and have the ability to provide food, protection and peace of mind to their families. Protection has a lot to do with my desire to own guns.

In the summer of 1999 I exercised my Constitutional right and obtained my Concealed Firearm Permit. Since then I have purchased a handgun that I keep with me mostly when I travel. But I have and will continue to take it anywhere I please. The Second Amendment states that we as Americans have the right to bear arms. I honestly feel safer knowing that over 16,000 people have concealed carry permits in the state of Utah. It deters crime since the criminals don't know who is caring a gun.

Gun Control would only put honest people in more danger. Removing guns from the family man, store owner and innocent person would lead to more crime. Yes there would be fewer guns in the hands of honest, law abiding citizens; but the criminals would still get the guns and with those guns and the knowledge that no one has the right to protect themselves, crime would increase and many more people would die from guns. Guns have been part of American tradition since the first pioneers signed the Constitution of the United States. Those men were guided by God to form this great nation and with that guidance came the building blocks that hold together this magnificent democracy that we have today.

The Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights allows all American citizens the right to possess firearms. I don't believe that guns kill people, I believe people kill people. Gun control activists don't want to admit this; they don't show the number of people killed by other types of attacks. In my mind if gun control is going to go into effect than we need knife control, car control, and cigarette control. I hear about far more people killed by these three items than by guns.

Americans generally look at liberty as freedom: freedom of choice; 'liberty of opinion;' 'liberty of worship;' 'liberty to think or feel or do just as one pleases. ' Liberty is all of these things and much more. Benjamin Franklin, 1759, said, "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!" (web) For instance, Liberty gives us as Americans the right to a militia. In the Second Amendment it states, "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", The second amendment in the "Bill of Rights" is intended to limit the power of the federal government, and not the power of the States. By letting the states determine realistic firearm legislation: no mater if it the definition of a "well regulated militia", the definition of a firearm, or the age that an individual can own a firearm.

It is the "RIGHT of the STATE", to determine firearm legislation with no infringement by the federal government. (Cramer, web) George Mason, named the father of the Bill of Rights, said, 'What is the militia? It is the whole people. To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them. ' James Madison, named the father of the Constitution, said of tyrants, ' [They were] afraid to trust the people with arms,' and lauded 'the advantage of being armed, which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation. ' (web) Alexander Hamilton, replying to accusations that the military power granted to the federal government in the Constitution would lead to tyranny, pointed to the armed citizen as a counterweight: 'that army [the Regular Army] can never be formidable to the liberties of the people while there is a large body of citizens, little if at all inferior to them in discipline and the use of arms, who stand ready to defend their own rights and those of their fellow citizens". (web 039300. htm) The government would want us to think that firearm ownership is a privilege. But it's not a privilege; it's a right.

It's a right that should never be taken away. If we let it be taken away we can never get it back. Take the Jews as an example. What was the first thing Hitler took from them?

Their guns. Benjamin Franklin once said, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little "temporary safety" deserve neither liberty nor safety". (web) The government has proposed one idea that I think is a great example of temporary safety. This action is known as Gun Registration. It's the same thing that Hitler put into place during his reign.

It starts out by demonizing the firearms, making them look bad. Then once the population is convinced that firearms are bad, they vote for a registration. Then once the registration is in place the government knows where all of the guns are and they merely pass a law banning them and then they begin to confiscate the weapons which eventually leads to total civilian disarmament. At that time the government has power to enslave the people and is guaranteed little resistance since no one has guns for protection. Through strength in numbers we can keep this great government in check.

We must first look deep into the issue and find out what side we are on. Will we sit back and be scared into compliance or will we stand up and be one that helps keep our land free? Abraham Lincoln once stated, 'If there is anything which it is the duty of the whole people to never entrust to any hands but their own - that thing is the preservation of their own liberties and institutions. ' The ability to choose our own fate is a blessing from God that we as Americans enjoy while very few other people can even dream of. To keep our dreams alive we must once again ponder the words of Charleton Heston, "From My Cold, Dead Hands!" Don't be deceived into letting the government take away your freedom.

I encourage everyone to stand up and be counted as one who will help protect our liberty. Let's make sure that our children and our children's children can enjoy the great free land that we have today. Work Cited Twist, Bill. "From My Cold, Dead Hands" Planet times. com. Updated 24 May. 2000.

Retrieved 2 Aug. 2003. http: //216.117. 156.23/features / barrel twist/2000/may / dead. shtmlRemnick, David. "V.I. Lenin" Time. com. Retrieved 15 July. 2003. web Ken. "Freedom or Gun Control" kc 3. com. Retrieved 21 July.

2003. web or gun control. htm Burton, Ken. Retrieved 21 July. 2003. web or gun control. htm " As The Frog Boils" Retrieved 21 July. 2003. web "Heston to Gore: Take My Gun 'From My Cold, Dead Hands' " News Max. com Updated 22 May. 2000.

Retrieved 15 July. 2003. web "On Gun Control, Gun Rights & The 2nd Amendment" Retrieved 15 July. 2003. web quotes. html Fulton, Roger. "Common Sense Gun Control" Retrieved 15 July. 2003. web Clayton... "The Second Amendment and State Constitutions" Updated Feb. 1992.

Retrieved 15 July. 2003. web "Issues: Gun Control" Email received 17 July. Retrieved 15 July. 2003. web Edward F. "Guns and Gun Control" Houghton Mifflin. Retrieved 15 July. 2003. web 039300. htm Goodman, Chez.

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