Guns in the United States

Ho Fai Tung, 14, St. Marks School, Mass., USA

“A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government.”

-George Washington

When George Washington fought for the independence of the United States of America, he did so on the foundation of freedom and liberty for its people. He managed to break free of one of the largest empires in human history. This would not have been possible had the citizens of American not been armed and able to fight. Whilst guns have been responsible for many acts of violence, it has been shown throughout history that guns have been responsible for a lot of good as well.

Weapon ownership has been a controversial topic for a long time, escalating in recent history with the invention of automatic firearms and high explosives. I believe that the many positives of weapon ownership outweigh the negatives of it. The historical reason for owning a weapon is self defense; it was the reason that our ancestors created the most basic of fighting tools. On a larger scale, this includes the defense of people or an ideal, such as those of George Washington. His revolution would not have been possible if not for the firearms that he and his forces possessed.

In the modern day, this must be emphasized further as the advancement of technology means that governments have an unprecedented amount of control over their citizens. It is a common pattern that the worst dictatorships in history are also the ones with the most control over the weapons in their empires. Many countries have guns to thank for their freedom, such as in Mozambique, where the national flag shows two AK-47s as a symbol of their rebellion.

There are those that would argue against gun ownership by stating the acts of violence that have recently been committed through those means. However, could this not have been prevented if there was an armed person with good intentions and training to stop them? If guns were to be outlawed, this would effectively give the government complete ownership and control over its people. Not only that, but it would also give more control to the criminals who know how to illegally acquire guns, allowing them to commit whatever atrocities they wanted until the police arrived after the average 15 minute response time. If guns were to be eliminated, the average citizen would be forced to live in fear of oppression from both the government and the hardened criminals.

The quote above has been proven correct many times throughout the course of human history, with examples of successful armed revolutions and unsuccessful unarmed protests. Many countries that are now free are in this state due to weapons. In the event of gun illegalisation, the government would have even more control over the people than it already does and armed criminals would roam freely as long as they could get away within 15 minutes. This is not the kind of country that was envisioned when George Washington founded the United States and it is only the people who are ignorant to these dangers that believe that gun ownership is negative for society.