Monday, October 18, 2010

A bullet for my valentine...

This is a speech for tomorrow.  Enjoy.


You’re alone in your house at night.  You wake up to a load banging.  Did you lock the door?  No matter.  Picking a lock is simple. Do you really think that deadbolt is going to protect you?  It is after all, DEAD.  And you will be too, if you don’t do something.  You know what’s not dead?  The live fire of a 9 milimeter. 
I believe gun control is unconstitutional and ignorant.
So the police will come and save you.  Do you really think that at 3 am when your loved one is being held at gun point that you are going to be able to call the police?  And even if you do, how long do you think it will take them to get there?  It takes less than 1/1000 th of that time for a bullet to go into your chest.
And do you think that police actually are required to come to your rescue?  According to Lynch v. North Carolina Department of Justice, "Law enforcement agencies and personnel have no duty to protect individuals from the criminal acts of others; instead their duty is to preserve the peace and arrest law breakers for the protection of the general public."   There are so many horror stories that this precedent goes along with.  Almost every state holds “sovereign immunity” for their officers.  That means if you call the police and they don’t come, and by law they are not required to, you are S O L.
Even if you do believe in the police, what’s standing between you and a telephone?  A man with a gun?  I’d rather be packing. 
Maybe I’m being naïve.  Maybe not everyone is comfortable owning a gun.  I went to my first gun show on my eleventh birthday.  It was great.  There was so much going on, so much to see and learn.  I still go to gun shows with my dad.  And after every single one I think, “These people aren’t criminals, why are they being punished?”  It’s stupid!  The people who own guns legally are fine, upstanding citizens.  Being a registered gun owner is not a piece of cake.  There are background checks and you must show ID.  In many states there is a waiting period in which the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms checks you out too.  Owning class three weapons is even more intense, you have to have a lot of money and patience to be licensed for automatic weapons.
Right now the government is trying to shut down the “private sale” loophole.  Private selling means that you can privately sell your guns and are not required to fill out the paperwork for them.  Therefore, the gun you are selling is still registered to the last person who bought it through a business.  Obviously, people think this is dangerous because no background check is required and a gun could easily fall into the wrong hands.  This is true. But that is not the government’s decision to make.
During the Revolution there were no registered guns. The British wanted us to get rid of our guns, because without weapons, we were no threat to them.  They could control us without any risk of uprising.  This logic leads to my personal belief that if you support gun control, then you need to get out of America.  The second amendment, which limits gun ownership to sane, responsible citizens mind you, is one of the most important freedoms this country fought for.  It’s second on the list.  Only below free speech.  You can’t pick and choose.  If you want to trash talk our current, or past president or share you views on religion then you better support all the other amendments too.
So maybe you’re afraid of guns, maybe you think that if we take away guns from all, we take them away from the dangerous few.  Really, it’s the other way around.  How many people do you know that partake of illegal drugs?  How hard are they to find?  Guns are the exact same way.  Even if the “private sale” loophole was eliminated, guns would still be in the hands of the criminals.  Hell, I bought fake Chanel earrings.  It’s illegal to sell those, but you can find them.  Just like everything else illegal, if you want it bad enough, you can get it.
Except in this case, it really is a matter of life and death.  Where our liberal, utopian government is going right now is complete socialism.  What people don’t seem to realize though is, if we take guns away from our sane and responsible citizens, then no one will be able to protect themselves against the armed criminals.  There is a magazine named “America’s First Freedom.”  In every issue there are several news stories about how armed citizens have saved lives and property by safely using their weapons.  If you’ll notice in these stories, they are not shooting to kill, just to protect.  Guns do not have to be violent weapons.
Guns don’t have to be dangerous.  They can be used for recreation just like they can be used for crime.  You can’t make the gun the criminal.  My pen isn’t a bad speller, I am.  So maybe we should take away all writing utensils so there are no more misspelled words.  Would that solve the problem of ignorance?  Nope.
You may not feel strongly about this issue, but remember that it’s easier to keep a freedom than to fight to get one back.
If you do feel strongly and don’t know how to stand up for your gun ownership rights, it’s easy.   Know who you’re voting for.  Many candidates for office take a clear stand on the issue of gun control.  Research before you vote.  If gun control is being favored in your district, write your congressman or representative.  They are here to stand up for your views, but they can’t do anything unless they know how you feel.  But first and foremost, work for gun safety education.  If you tell a child not to touch something, what’s he going to do?  Touch it.  An easy answer to decreasing gun related violence is to teach gun safety.  It lessens the number of accidents and fear.
Keep these things in mind the next time you are ready to vote for our public officers.

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