The debate on gun control is a highly controversial topic in our nation at the moment. This is especially due to an increase in shootings at schools and other locations. A commonly proposed solution to this problem is to limit/end the right to bear arms. People believe that if one cannot walk into a store and legally purchase a firearm it will bring an end to these atrocities. However, this is not the case as the people who commit these crimes are still able to obtain illegal firearms.

Guns are meant to protect, not to destroy; although they may be used in this way, they are for the greater good of the people. If guns are not legal and a person with an illegal firearm or any form of weapon attempts to harm one, the victim would have no way of safely defending themselves. Guns are not the only items capable of inflicting harm on others; even seemingly ‘harmless’ possessions, such as cars, can be used as weapons of destruction.“If firearms are banned people can always find other, illegal ways to get them,” junior John Billingsley said.

Gun ownership is constitutionally protected in the Second Amendment. It is a fundamental right that all U.S. Citizens have had in America since our Founding Fathers implemented the Bill of Rights in 1791. With the protection of guns, the government would not be able to become a tyranny and attempt to take over as gun-toting citizens will be able to defend themselves. According to the Second Amendment, “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

Guns don’t kill people, people kill people. There are no so called ‘bad guns’ or ‘good guns,’ there are just guns. If a gun is put into the hands of a person with bad intentions, it can have a bad outcome but that is due to the individual with said firearm. If a gun is put into the hands of a good man, it is no threat to anyone other than bad people.

When guns are used for good, they can be a blessing. If select teachers in schools are trained and certified to carry a firearm on school grounds we could put an end to these all too often school shootings. No, this does not mean that teachers should be walking around holding an AR-15. Instead, they should have handguns hidden in high security safes that are in close proximity to the select teachers. Schools are gun free zones, and, “the problem with gun free zones is it’s like offering up candy to bad people,” POTUS Donald Trump said.

Dennis Child

Opinion Editor