When you hear the term "gun control", many things may come to mind such as school shootings, like Columbine or Rocori, "kids killing kids", the Brady Law and second amendment rights. As Americans face an ever-growing problem of violence, these issues have all prompted a controversy over how firearms in our society should be regulated. We can't afford to ignore the damage that criminals are doing to our society and we must find a way to stop the violence. However, the efforts of some misguided individuals to eliminate legal gun ownership, does not address the real problem at hand and simply disarms the law-abiding citizens who are most in need of defending themselves. We must preserve the right of Americans to own and carry firearms. To fully understand the different reasons behind gun control efforts, you must understand the major role of firearms in the history of our country.
             The Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States makes firearm ownership legal in this country and states that "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." This amendment clearly states that the citizens of America have the right to own firearms. When the colonists of early America felt that the burden of the British oppression was too much for them, they took up their personal firearms and went to war against the greatest military forces of the time. If these citizens had not been willing to form a militia to fight against the British Armies, we never would have won the independence that we have today. The founding fathers of this country knew that arming the general population was instrumental in fighting off oppression. This is why they made the right to keep and bear arms a constitutionally guaranteed right.
             As our country expanded westward into unsettled territo
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