guncontrol

     The controversy surrounding the issue of gun violence was discussed last night in a forum hosted by the American Political Society of American University.
     Both sides of the gun debate cited the Constitution during this debate, titled "A Forum on Gun Control and the Second Amendment." The second amendment to our constitution guarantees a well regulated militia, said Michael Beard of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. "It says what it means and means what it says," he said. It does not guarantee the right to personal ownership of firearms, Beard said. According to him, it simply guarantees states the right to have organized militias.
     "The case for gun ownership, said Larry Pratt, founder and executive director of Gun Owners of America, "lies in the Constitution." The Bill of Rights, he said, protects individual rights. All of the other first ten amendments protect personal rights and the second amendment is no exception. Pratt also cited the Military Act of 1792 which said that all men of military age should keep ready a rifle and ammo. This, he said, is clearly not an organized militia but personal ownership.
     The argument was not limited to the Constitution. Beard said, "My biggest problem with hand guns in our society is that...they are one of the most unregulated products on the market." To make nearly any other product, he said, you have to meet standards for consistent safety. But, there are no such regulations on the gun market.
     Beard said the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence advocates licensing and registration of firearms, limits on gun sales, background checks at gun shows, and enforcement of all existing laws.
     Pratt said that, "More guns means less crime." He said that when gun control laws, such as the Brady Law, are in effect deaths from guns increase. When there are not such laws, deaths decrease.
     The pro-gun control argument that guns enable teenage suicides is not valid, said Pratt, because in Japan, where there are very few guns, suicide rates are higher than in the U.S. Gun laws only keep hands out of law abiding citizens' hands, he said, while leaving them in the possession of criminals and those with disregard for the law.
     Guns, in the hands of law abiding citizens, are an effective means of self defense, said Pratt. In cases where there is an intruder into the house of a gun owner, the simple presence of a gun for self defense is effective in preventing crime. Ninety percent of the time there is never a shot fired, he said.
     "We have not only the right of self defense," said Beard, "but the responsibility of self defense." He, however, said that guns are not an effective means for this because they simply bring the possibility of danger and violence into the home.
     Michael Epstein, of the Campus Coalition to Stop Handgun Violence, said that gun violence and suicides effect college age people more than other age groups. "We don't have the laws we need," he said. But, "We need to enforce the ones we do have."
     The forum, which was moderated by Ben Wetmore, of the American Political Society, brought this current issue to the American University campus and gave students and faculty the opportunity to hear and question the panel members.

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