Gun control is a safety issue, an education issue, a racial issue, and a political issue, among others. Within each of these issues there are those who want more gun control legislation and those who want less. On both sides of this issue opinions range from moderate to extreme. guns are not for everyone. Certain individuals cannot handle a firearm safely, and some individuals choose to use firearms inappropriately.

Our society has passed laws regulating the ownership and use of firearms, and more legislation is being considered. Most of this legislation restricts, to some degree, the rights of individuals to possess or use firearms. Some restrictions may be necessary, but some recent legislation has gone too far. Attempts to keep firearms away from these citizens do more harm than good. to begin with, a definition of a responsible citizen is in order. The definition used in this paper was provided by steve rusiecki, a local police officer.

When asked what makes someone a responsible citizen in regard to firearms ownership, mr. Rusiecki replied, the citizen must be law abiding, with no felony record, must not abuse alcohol or drugs, must not be mentally ill, must not have renounced u.s. Citizenship, must not have been dishonorably discharged from the military, and must be in the u.s. This definition combines elements from the federal gun control act of 1968, and arizona's concealed carry law. the second amendment to the united states constitution states: 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. The founding fathers included this in our bill of rights because they feared the federal government might oppress the population if the people did not have the means to defend themselves as a nation and as individuals halbrook 65 84 .

The founding fathers' thoughts on the right to keep and bear arms were influenced by aristotle, cicero, john locke, and algernon sidney 7 . the militia referred to cannot be construed as meaning the army or national guard, in the words of samuel adams: the militia is composed of free citizens qtd. Additionally, george mason considered a well regulated militia to be one composed of. The revolutionary war was won with the help of an armed populace composed of partisans, militias, independent companies, and the continental army. It is obvious from this that the founding fathers thought that society benefited from firearms in the hands of the people. many years later we began placing restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms. In 1850 the louisiana supreme court ruled that the constitution did not grant the right to carry a concealed weapon although earlier court cases had ruled that the constitution did protect the right to carry concealed weapons 93 96 .

Shortly before the civil war, some southern states passed legislation denying slaves and freed blacks the right to possess firearms. They reasoned that since blacks were not considered citizens they did not have the rights of citizens, including the right to keep and bear arms 96 98 . The gun control legislation of this era resulted from prejudice against an entire race of people. These laws were in effect until after the civil war when the thirteenth and fourteenth amendments to the constitution were ratified.

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The legislation referred to here must be considered harmful to society. the rational given for most modern gun control legislation is crime control. The brady bill is named after james brady, who was shot by john hinckley during an assassination attempt on president reagan in 1981. Supporters of the brady bill used that incident to gain support for their gun control legislation, claiming it would reduce crime and save lives. The fact is that the background check and waiting period included in the brady bill would not have prevented john hinckley from legally purchasing the handgun used in that incident.

Records show that a police background was run on hinckley four days before he purchased the revolver he used to shoot president reagan and jim brady. Neither had hinckley any public record of mental illness guns 51 . an even greater shortcoming of the brady bill is that it only affects legal transactions. Criminals have many ways to obtain weapons without going through the process mandated by the brady bill.

According to studies only one firearm of every six used in a crime is obtained legally thomas 277 . Since the passage of the brady bill, only four felons have been apprehended trying to purchase a firearm nra, grassfire . When i asked steve rusiecki for a policeman's opinion of the brady bill, he replied: i think it is an emotional attempt at crime reduction rather than one based on legitimate facts 6 . In view of the facts presented, it is obvious that the brady bill is not an effective crime prevention tool. the brady bill is not effective in fighting crime, but it does affect crime victims. The five day waiting period during which the police conduct the background check is also supposed to serve as a cooling off period to prevent crimes of passion.

Fortunately, this five day wait is waived in states like virginia which have an instant background check system in place. The following article is an example of how waiting periods affect crime victims: marine cpl. Rayna ross of woodbridge, virginia, might be dead if a waiting period had been in effect. Instead, the instant check system in place in that state allowed her to defend her life against a former boyfriend three days after she purchased a pistol. The man, a marine under orders to stay away from ross because of previous assaults and threats, broke through a door and rushed into her bedroom with a bayonet. The shooting was ruled to be a case of self defense armed citizen . if the five day waiting period had been in effect, it is likely that an innocent woman would have been killed. During the debate in congress over the passage of the brady bill, supporters claimed passing the bill would be worth it if it saved just one life.

Surely the bill is not worth it if it costs just one innocent life. another example of gun control legislation that affects the wrong people is the assault weapon ban included in the crime bill of 1994. While supporters of the ban claim the firearms banned by this bill are the weapons of choice of gangs and drug dealers, the fbi uniform crime reports show this contention is unfounded rusiecki 7 . However, at congressional hearings held on march 31of this year, several people testified that they had used guns which are now banned to defend their lives and to prevent crimes survival . Society does not benefit from the death or serious injury of innocent citizens. as mentioned earlier, crime is not the only issue related to firearms ownership.

Hunting is a popular sport and, in some parts of the country, an important source of food. On the surface, it might appear that hunting is harmful to wildlife and the environment. Wildlife biologists have found that well managed and regulated hunting programs are beneficial to wildlife.

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If the wildlife population becomes too large, food becomes scarce and the population starves to death. Wildlife biologists take counts of game animals in a given area and study the habitat to determine the population level it can support. Then they make recommendations to state game and fish officials who set hunting seasons and bag limits. Hunting is a tool used by these officials to manage the wildlife under their care arizona 18 . non game wildlife is also protected by hunters, and even by firearms owners who do not hunt. Approximately 77% of the funds used to operate state fish and game and other wildlife agencies are derived from the sales of hunting licenses, excise taxes levied on sales of firearms and ammunition, and the sale of federal duck stamps. More than three billion dollars have been raised from these sources and used to protect both game and non game animals 22 .