Gun Control

7 Pages 1686 Words

was instrumental in fighting off oppression,
and they made the right to keep and bear arms a constitutionally
guaranteed right.

Over the years, some of the reasons for owning firearms have
changed. As our country grew into a strong nation, we expanded
westward, exploring the wilderness, and building new towns on the
frontier. Typically, these new towns were far away from the centers of
civilization, and the only law they had was dispensed by townsfolk
through the barrel of a gun. Crime existed, but could be minimized
when the townspeople fought back against the criminals. Eventually,
these organized townspeople developed police forces as their towns
grew in size. Fewer people carried their firearms on the street, but
the firearms were always there, ready to be used in self-defense.

It was after the Civil War that the first gun-control
advocates came into existence. These were southern leaders who were
afraid that the newly freed black slaves would assert their newfound
political rights, and these lead...