One question I am often asked is “how do you argue with someone who is against guns?” It’s not always easy. Sometimes facts and statistics can go against us if we don’t have all the information. For example, after posting the article about how the shooter from the Bronx Lebanon Hospital shooting was legally able to purchase the AR-15, my dad called me to ask some questions. Now he has never been someone who was avidly into firearms. When it comes to my immediate family, I’m sort of the lone wolf, but they have become more and more interested with my advancing interest. He asked wouldn’t that article open yourself up for arguments from anti-gunners to corner me. And my responses were simple. It always falls back on the Constitution.
The United States has an iron clad policy. We call it the Constitution of the United States, and when specifically talking about firearms, we have the Bill of Rights. This protects us from losing our guns all together. Our rights can be restricted, as we’ve seen in place like NYC, Chicago and California. But they can never be completely taken away because of that specific document. I feel when you live in a place that is 2A friendly; we tend to take the Second Amendment for granted because it may not always be on the line like it is in those above-mentioned places. In some places you may even be shooting buddies with your legislators, so what do you really have to worry about, right? However, it’s those places like where I live and Chicago and California that give us a reason to worry.
The Second Amendment was theoretically put into place to give the people the means to do the same as our Founding Fathers. They wanted to ensure that the American People would be free and they would have the ability to remain free. When you take away the right of someone to defend him or herself, you leave them defeated. So many today worry about America becoming a police state and in the same breath, want to take away the one right you have to ensure that won’t happen. The Second Amendment protects every other Amendment in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. It protects the American People and their freedom.
When talking about specific firearms, that all comes down to education and understanding how a firearm works. Some people will never understand that because they don’t want to. They won’t understand how an AR-15 is no different than any other firearm. Then try to explain how it can be chambered for .22, 5.56 and .223 and forget it. You’ve totally lost them. But education is our greatest tool and sometimes you don’t need to argue to get that across. If you have the ability to speak to someone who is against guns and teach and inform, do it. Knowledge is our greatest power and we need to use it.
