Recently there have been a string of shootings at universities in the United States of America. And being a citizen of this fine country I find the rates of these incidents increasingly disturbing. Since the deadliest school shooting our country has ever seen at Virginia Tech in april of 2007, we have had seven separate incidents, all but one of them occuring in a secondary edcuation environment, and one in an elementary school. Just having these incidents is frightening, but a more frightening aspect of this situation has appeared in newspapers, blogs, and of course the internet social networks. The idea of arming the public to protect themselves from another incident.
Being far from a scholar of self protection and public protection, I will take the perspective of a layman with access to Wikipedia and other online resources to support my arguments. I will take both sides of the argument and develop the legitimacy of both to allow the reader to understand both sides. I will not say which is the correct choice because there is no correct choice, there too many variables in the system for me to make a decision.
No, No one can arm themselves. Using information taken from Wikipedia, an online resource, and Reuters.com , we can see that the more weapons we have the higher rate in homicides per 100,00 inflicted by firearms. Also the more people there are with weapons, the more likely the use of weapon will occur due to probability. Also it allows the option of using a weapon instead of your mind to handle a potentially violent situation, and pulling a trigger is much easier than reasoning with an insane individual. And anyway, it’s the polices job to take care of dangerous people
Of course we should be allowed to defend ourselves! The second ammendment is right to bear arms, in event of a tyrannical regime. Even though the second ammendment is a little out of date, it is still within our constitution, and it must be upheld. Also, a weapon allows an individual to fight back if there is no other option. A maniac screaming at you with a knife charging at you, and your backed into a corner, or a deluded lunatic with an uzi? Words would do very little in a situation such as this, and would probably do more harm than good. Only being armed and prepared would save your life in a situation such as this. And police might not arrive in time or even be readily available.
These are the arguments that I have heard on both sides, and I have not been able to decide which one is right. The only thing that I have decided is that if we pick either one, we potentially endanger ourselves and those around us, either by someone to gun us down without us giving so much as a struggle, or an over eager protector of the public shooting someone who is acting suspicious. Two Choices, No One Wins.
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