The foundation of the United States has and always will be freedom. When many years ago, colonists were stripped of freedoms they thought to be birthright, they decided to form a country in which citizens would be free to protect themselves.

Talking about the past is not reflective of modern society—a society in which people now, as before, have a right as much as a need to protect themselves.

Nobody is denying the fact that there have been absolute tragedies relating to the unacceptable amount of innocent people dying from gunshots. Yet still, the God-given right for people to protect themselves—a right so taken for granted by people who have not faced the realities of the need for protection—is prevalent and is needed. 

In Peachtree City, many families take for granted the safety they are given, not grasping the protection that many families in lesser situations must have in order to not only feel safe but to be safe.

While there certainly are situations in which guns have hurt Americans, at the end of the day, they are what give people peace of mind and what protect them in dire situations.

All of this is not to say that weapons—especially guns—should be given to just anyone, and in some states, it is just too easy for citizens to get ahold of guns without any knowledge on how to use them. With this information, instead of pushing to ban all weapons, citizens should be working to strengthen the laws surrounding guns.

Although the idea of taking away all weapons does sound good in theory, it is simply not realistic.

As seen through drug use in the United States—despite the illegality of it—people still manage to get ahold of what they are not allowed to, but it is always going to be at a cost. If people truly want firearms, they will find a way to get them, but if safe firearms are not on the market, they may buy unsafe weapons or make them themselves.

This concept goes all the way back to prohibition. When the United States outlawed alcohol people resorted to making alcohol themselves or buying it from possibly unreliable sellers. 

People who follow the law and do not buy guns will be the ones unable to protect themselves from those illegally purchasing. 

The truth of the matter is that horrible things happen, rights are abused, but, as in most cases, the minority of catastrophes should not minimize the importance of people being able to own a weapon. 

The Second Amendment ensures the given right of all adult citizens in the United States to protect themselves and their families. It is a right which is so often taken for granted by United States citizens, a right people in many other countries do not have.

It is important to recognize and accept the horrible events that have come involving the abuse in the use of guns. It is equally important to understand the detriments taking away this right will bring.

Gun violence has become one of the most common types of crime seen throughout the United States. Firearms are now quite easy to get, yet such a deadly weapon should not just be handed out to people.

The right to bear arms was written in the Bill of Rights, but it is causing much more harm than good. Mass and school shootings were once a rare occasion, but now they have become normalized. Many lives could be saved through repealing the Second Amendment.

The Bill of Rights was written in 1791, and the problems which faced society then are much different than the issues facing society now. Yet, politicians are too scared to attempt to challenge any amendment written in the original Constitution, even though an amendment being repealed has happened before. 

The 18th Amendment banned alcohol, and the 21st Amendment undid this, so it has been done before. If it was done with alcohol, it can be done for lethal weapons as well.

Gun violence has been rapidly climbing, and in the past decade, over one million people have been shot. In 2021 alone, over 48,000 people were killed by gun-related injuries. The Second Amendment was originally written to allow self-defense, but guns are being used as dangerous weapons to hurt innocent people.

Would repealing the Second Amendment completely stop gun violence? No. Just like the outlaw of many drugs does not stop people from getting them. Black market dealers will always exist. 

Manufactured guns are much easier to keep track of and stay in control of due to their size, the other pieces needed (bullets, for example), and how they cannot be naturally grown the way many drugs can. By making guns illegal, we make them so much harder to get, which is ultimately the root cause of this uptake in violence.

School shootings have also become unfortunately more common and are one of the most horrifying types of firearm violence. But by outlawing firearms, making them so much harder to get, we can drastically decrease the frequency of school shootings, as 76% of firearms involved in school shootings are taken from within their home. 

Gun violence can never be completely eradicated, but through making them so much more difficult to get, we can decrease all types of gun violence, significantly saving lives that may be taken by this violence. 

No more sitting and letting so many innocent people of all ages, genders, and races be hurt and killed by easy to access firearms. It is time to take the necessary steps to save lives and make America a safer place.