Gabler 1

Matthew Gabler

Aughenbaugh

English 12

18 February 2017

The Amendment for Protection

John F. Kennedy, the thirty-fifth president of the United States, strongly believed and

supported the second amendment rights of Americans:

By calling attention to a well-regulated militia for the security of the Nation, and the right

of each citizen to keep and bear arms, our Founding Fathers recognized the essentially

civilian nature of our economyThe amendment still remains an important declaration of

our basic military-civilian relationships For that reason I believe the Second

Amendment will always be important. (Hawxhurst)

This statement explains the pro-gun stance our former President held on gun rights, but the right

to own guns is not a one sided topic. Since the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791 there has been

an ongoing argument as to what actions and weapons the second amendment protects. The right-

wing conservatives primarily endorse guns and believe they are useful for sport, show, and

maintaining our freedom and other rights. Left-wing liberals mostly view them as unnecessary

for protection, a danger, and the cause of most of our nations murder, robbery, and other

miscellaneous crimes. Gun ownership and use is a right that belongs to all law-abiding

Americans for protection and recreation.

Guns have been used for hundreds of years for many purposes. While militaries have used

guns for war and peace-time control, everyday-people use them for hunting, competition, and

self-defense. The use of guns for defense is one of the most important reasons for the second
 Gabler 2

amendment, but not just for personal defense. The second amendment shoots to help the people

to protect their states as a militia, and is one of the reasons that the amendment is necessary. As

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. This wording is meant to help prevent the

government from taking away guns or using gun control to take advantage of people and creating

a tyrannical government. This need is expressed by former U.S. Vice President Hubert

Humphrey said, The right of citizens to bear arms is just one more guarantee against arbitrary

government, one more safeguard against the tyranny which now appears remote in America, but

which historically has proved to be always possible(Hawxhurst). Humphreys quote tries to

explain how even though we may not have an evil government, they can still arise to take control

of a country. His statement is thoroughly backed by a massacre in September of 1941. Hitlers

forces used the weakness of recently unarmed Jewish people to kill 34,000 defenseless civilians.

The Jewish people's weapons had been banned by laws that they obeyed, by a government they

thought was good at the time (Bernstein). It was on November 11, 1938 that the gun restrictions

were passed by Adolph Hitler (Root). Three years is all it took for Hitler to enact and use anti-

gun laws against his country and the second amendment stops that. Even Hitler himself stated

that, History teaches us that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms

have prepared their own downfall by doing so(Bernstein). By keeping the second amendment,

it is possible to make sure that this does not happen to the United States and that people can

remain free.

A smaller but more notable reason for keeping and even expanding pro-gun laws is data

studies on crime. Many Democrats believe that more background checks to make sure people

are safe to purchase guns, bans on handguns, and restrictions on certain gun magazine sizes will
 Gabler 3

stop large shootings and lower crime numbers. The opposite seems to be true when you look at

states that started allowing concealed carry of handguns in 1977. A drop of 10% of murders and

4.4% of violent crimes was seen by 1994 in these locations. (Bernstein) Even felons admit that

an armed-citizen affects their actions during a crime. Criminals in 11 state prisons showed that

34% were scared or stopped by a gun during a crime, 40% stopped a crime because of the idea of

an armed-citizen, 69% know another criminal who faced the same situation, and 57% of inmates

interviewed fear gun-carrying citizens over police. (Root) Cities with handgun bans show a 5:1

ratio of handgun crime rates to cities without bans. This all seems very good for gun lobbyists,

especially when you see that there were less mass shootings in the 2000s than in the 1980s and

1990s. (Bernstein) Overall, in 2000, nearly one million crimes and violent acts were stopped

with guns. Civilians in that group shot 1,527 acting criminals where cops took down only 606.

(Root)

Guns for protection is something the second amendment not only states, but guarantees the

people of the United States of America. Statistics from prisons and crime analyzers show that

owning a gun can protect you in a time of need. Hitler and a former U.S. vice president both

agree that letting people own guns protects said people from being controlled and destroyed by

their own governments. The second amendment is necessary to maintain these things and keep

America free for many generations, the loss of weapons means the loss of liberty and other

important rights.
 Gabler 4

Works Cited

Bernstein, Andrew. To Protect the Innocent, We Need More Guns in the Hands of Honest

People. Forbes. Forbes Media LLC., 26 Dec. 2012. Web. 25 Jan. 2017.

Hawxhurst, Joan C. The American Heritage History of the Bill of Rights: The Second

Amendment. New York: Silver Burdett Press, Inc., 1991. Print.

Malcolm, John G., and Jennifer A. Marshall. Gun Control Wont Prevent School Shootings.

School Safety. Ed. Noah Berlatsky. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2016.

Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from The Newtown Tragedy: Complex Causes Require

Thoughtful Analysis and Responses.heritage.org. 18 Jan. 2013. Opposing Viewpoints

in Context. Web. 24 Jan. 2017.

Pennsylvania Constitution. Pennsylvania General Assembly. N.p., 2017. Web. 24 Jan. 2017.

Root, Wayne Allyn. Allowing Armed Citizens Reduces Gun Violence. Gun Violence. Ed.

Noel

Merino. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2015. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from

Guns Save Lives. Townhall, 23 Dec. 2012. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 24 Jan.

2017.