The Positive Side of Fire Arms
By Zhaohan Zhang
One of the fundamental ideas within the American Constitution and who we are as a nation comes from the simple but critical American Bill of Rights, where the First Amendment talks about the individual rights of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom to petition, freedom to assemble, the establishment of religion and the exercise of said religions. While we consider these our inherent human values(James Madison,1791 ), the First Amendment is not what we're talking about. Instead, we talk about the second, the right to bear arms. While the exact understanding of the Second Amendment has been very loose, explicitly saying, "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(James Madison, 1791)." Only those in the militia have the freedom of the Second Amendment, which was set in stone in June of 2008 and decided by the Supreme Court that the individual has the right to bear arms, not just the militia.
Many arguments have arisen regarding the free exercise of guns, especially recently with the higher aggression of the modern era of technology and the rise of school shootings and threats in general. The use of firearms is constantly being put into question. And reasonably so, the use of arms has played a significant use in most acts of violence within the nation, including school shootings, bombings, threats on people's lives, and hate crimes. However, all of these issues don't come from just guns; most of these ideas are genuinely from the acts of the individuals and how those people are brought up or affected. Statistica shows that the average person causing school shootings is white males from the age of 15-18(Statistica Research Department, 2024) (Statistica Research Department, 2025). The biggest reasons for these school shootings to occur are the students being bullied; they aren't getting enough attention that is required, physical abuse, or the place they grew up in is not exactly great. This leads to thoughts of aggression or the idea of "getting revenge," no longer valuing life, and an increase in mental issues(Alfred University, 2001). This truly puts into perspective the primary reason for these acts of violence. Yes, we have access to these weapons. However, we must also consider changing these students' systems and society instead of focusing too much on eliminating weaponry.
The use of guns isn't only used to cause harm and damage; the original interpretation and reason for the creation of the Second Amendment was to allow the carrying and possible usage of firearms lawfully for self-defense and protection. And although we have this second amendment, it also comes down to whether or not the state mandates violent action in self-defense. Such as California, with no rules allowing you to defend yourself with a gun directly. However, you get examples such as with Michael Chastain in Salem, Indiana, where he would drive his care into his ex-girlfriend's parents' house and hold her father at gunpoint in retaliation, the mother would retrieve her firearm and shoot Mr. Chastain, and he was pronounced dead in the hospital not long after. (Emma Colton, 2023) Mr. Chastain did have a criminal record and had no provable reason to attack this house specifically. The woman who shot Mr. Chastain was not charged with the killing because, well, it was a defense, and Indiana has stand-your-ground laws allowing you to defend yourself with a firearm, assuming it's warranted. Imagine this law had not been in place or the second amendment did not stand; the lives of the two citizens likely would have been lost, and although the life of Mr. Chastain was lost however, the loss of two unsuspecting innocent individuals could've been by far more impactful. This is all to say that the Second Amendment and its derivatives are important.
Now, what of the solution of just banning guns or making them significantly regulated, like in the United Kingdom, where the acquisition of firearms is largely more demanding and strict, and they have way fewer issues with weapons? Well, not necessarily. Inherently, the idea of harm doesn't come from just the gun; it comes from the person and their ideals. This is very clear if we look at the UK. Although they have limitations on firearms, there are still objects that can be used as a weapon, like a simple kitchen knife or even a broken bottle. In fact, in the year 2024, there were 50,500 instances of stabbings and 244 homicides relating to sharp objects, roughly 41% of all homicides in the UK that year(UK Parliament). This pattern is repeated in other nations with higher gun regulations, such as South Africa, Brazil, and India(World Population Review, 2025). America is already a country of freedom compared to other nations, plus our decently high population. The solution of simply banning guns isn't something that will help. First, there will be significant backlash and protest, especially in a state like Wyoming. Still, there are also issues regarding all the guns that are already in the hands of the citizens. They can't simply register them all or take them away. That would take way too long.
All of this only considers the ability to commit crimes with guns and self-defense. Still, guns are also very commonly used, especially in America, for hunting, with over 20 million citizens participating in the activity(Delta Waterfowl, 2023). The most common tool for hunters is, of course, guns. Along with being an activity enjoyed by people, it's also a way to help stabilize and maintain wildlife populations, albeit less critical in the modern day, which is still a key point in the use of guns. Along with hunting, there is a large variety of shooting sports mainly done in America due to our unique perspective on guns, including action shooting, skeet shooting, bullseye shooting, and more. All of these play a role in the identity of America and even expand into other nations, with some of these being introduced into national sports and in the Olympics.
So yes, the use of guns can be dangerous. Still, by analyzing the truthful purpose of the Second Amendment and understanding people, we come to a state of realization that the use of guns doesn't have to be in such a negative way and doesn't necessarily need to be seen in such a negative way. Highlight how naturally we’ve adapted to the allowance of guns and how it positively affects our nation as well, so yea maybe guns aren't so bad
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