Second Amendment suits U.S. citizens

By: Vinny Napolitano

Posted: 3/5/08

The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution clearly states "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed." Though U.S. citizens disagree on a number of issues, the American people are united behind this amendment, reinforcing the right of an individual to own a gun.

A recent USA Today/Gallup poll found that 73 percent of adults believe the Second Amendment guarantees an "individual right" to own a gun, with only 20 percent believing it supports gun ownership as a right reserved for "state militias."

While one can attempt to argue that the starting sentence of the Second Amendment ("A well regulated militia…") indicates against individual gun ownership, they must then be prepared to explain who "the people" described elsewhere are. "The people" mentioned in the First, Fourth, Ninth and 10th Amendments in the Bill of Rights, are these "people" different from "the people" mentioned in the Second Amendment?

It cannot be feasibly argued that in one case this phrase means the entire citizenry of the United States, while in another it applies only to the members of state militias - it simply does not make sense.

Advocates of gun control often point to shootings, such as Virginia Tech, as reason enough to push for tougher gun control laws. But does the data match up with their logic?

School violence only involved guns in 4 percent of all incidents, as reported by the Department of Education. In almost every single one that actually did involve a gun, the gun was acquired by illegal means. Thus, the argument that tougher laws on citizens, gun shows and gun selling businesses will lead to less gun crime in schools does not add-up. As it is, very few even do involve guns and in the ones that do, it isn't the legal guns you need to worry about.

If anything, gun ownership has led to an overall decrease in criminal activity where gun laws are looser. Forty-four states have state constitutions in which the right to keep and bear arms are protected; as reported by the FBI, states with the least gun control also have the lowest rates of violent crime. In addition, the FBI found that crime rates and trends have gone up since certain states (such as New York and New Jersey) have implemented "waiting periods" for guns and restricting the types of guns that normal citizens may possess.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) also released a report on gun ownership and crime rates which reached similar results as the one conducted by the FBI. The BATFE report noted that violent crimes only involve firearms 25 percent of the time, with few of those guns used having been legally acquired. In addition, individuals who legally own guns were found to be the least likely segment of society to wind-up in jail. About 150,000 crimes are stopped per year by gun-owners, with less than 10 percent of those involving the actual having to fire the gun.

We have seen what happens to nations who ban guns - like in England, where crimes with firearms skyrocketed after the handgun ban was passed by Parliament, as reported by The Express. A similar phenomenon occurred in Australia, where left-wing lawmakers passed legislation to only allow guns for hunting and sport. Shortly thereafter, crime rates increased across their nation. This isn't limited to overseas, however; when the so-called "assault weapons" ban was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1994, the crime rate in America began an upward climb, particularly in states that already have tough gun control laws.

An FBI study showed that nations with stricter gun laws are among the highest in crime rates with guns, while those who permit high gun ownership enjoy generally lower criminal activity using a firearm. Not coincidently, the nation with the lowest crime rate in this study is also the nation with the highest civilian gun ownership: Finland.

Members of both political parties in the United States have now seen this data, and are fighting for the Second Amendment rights of Americans to be preserved. Even the Democratic Party, home to the most avid gun control supporters only a few years ago, added into their 2004 platform the promise that they would "protect Americans' Second Amendment right to own firearms," finally returning their party to the belief held by National Rifle Association (NRA) lifetime member President John F. Kennedy. Modern Democrats are not perfect on the issue, but if the candidates they put into office in 2006 are any indication to what they will fight for in the future on gun rights, even the party I so often disagree with may have some glimmer of hope.

We as Americans have a solemn duty to never allow such laws to pass here. When lawmakers allow the people to vote on attempts at gun control, there has not been one instance where the people have not shot it down, as noted by The Weekly Standard. As a card-carrying member of the NRA, I am proud to be a part of the majority of Americans fighting to keep our Constitutional rights preserved and safe from politicians who seek to rob us of an American freedom.

In 2008, when you hear any candidate in either political party advocating for taking the guns out of 45 percent of American homes against the will of 73 percent of Americans, simply reply as the great Charlton Heston once did: "From my cold, dead hands!"

Vinny Napolitano is a senior political science, American history and political philosophy major. He is the Executive Director of the College Republicans. His columns appear every Wednesday. He can be reached at vsnapoli@syr.edu.