Right to Bear Arms

When I was 11 years old, I flew to United States to get education. Frankly speaking, elementary school there wasn’t that different from Korea, so other than English, my skills did not improve. However, there is something more than school subjects that I learned- a broader world, a variety of people, and a whole new culture.

There is one story I heard there, a 15-year old boy being shot and killed by a police officer. It can still be viewed on internet- an unarmed black young man leaping out of the bushes, yelling profanities against two armed police officers. Honestly, how dangerous can that be? How could they just point the gun at a juvenile and pull the trigger, without hesitation? The most surprising part was that the police officers didn’t get any punishment whatsoever, regarded as self-defense. Mrs. Kim, a family friend, said it’s because they are white, and they are police. Such things always matter.

           That’s just one example; there are millions and millions of cases which people get killed by guns, especially 12-19 year old black males. Can you imagine the slum streets of African-Americans, where guns and drugs are everywhere, without anyone to lead you the right way? In a recent study by the UN, it was found that firearms cause an average 60% of all homicides. Not only that, some research shows an association between household firearm ownership and gun suicide rates. In the United States, firearms remain the most common method of suicide, accounting for 52.1% of all suicides committed during 2005.

           Surely not all states approve of gun carriage. There were attempts to prohibit gun possessions. However, in Macdonald v. Chicago, a number of residents in the city of Chicago sued arguing that they too also wanted the right to have a handgun for self defense purposes, but were kept from doing so because of Chicago’s law. The Supreme Court ruled that it is against the right to bear arms of the Second Amendment and the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Justice Alito determines that “self defense” is basic right and central component of the second amendment. As a result, the city of Chicago, Illinois had to strike down the law against handgun ownership. The same applies to all states. I was simply shocked that Justices are still that conservative. Isn’t it a time for a change?


related idebate hyperlink:
http://idebate.org/debatabase/debates/law-crime/house-would-limit-right-bear-arms