Freedoms in Practice: Second Amendment

[Rose Escobedo]

Carrying Guns in Public

Anytime I see a gun I quickly evaluate the situation and setting that I am in looking for whether there might be any people around that I should mistrust or be leery of. Unfortunately I have never looked at guns in a friendly manner I believe most if not all guns belong in conflict situations and should only be used by trained and clearly indicated professionals.

As chapter four in our text book clearly indicated that Americans disagree about how the Second Amendment of the Constitution should be interpreted, this reality makes it even difficult for the highest court in the land to agree or disagree with the law's limits, as we see in this article I have posted above. As we the court refused to decide whether the right to bear arms extends outside the home.

I chose this article because I understand the right to bear arms and the fact that we should have it, I just cannot agree with a law that is open-ended and cannot be questioned or regulated. I would propose the ability to have a gun only by taking a state or nationally mandated class and test. Just as driver licenses aren't passed out to all that need transportation or want to own a car. I submit that we could have a "driving-test", both written and practical, for guns and a probation period that allows for anyone wanting a gun to show they are responsible enough to own one. I believe that many people's lives would be saved from untimely deaths and reckless accidents. As well as many people's sence of guilty for pulling the trigger. Proverbs 28:17 any deterrent from having someone else's blood on anyone's hands should be discouraged according to this passage. 

[California McKay]

The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the rights of citizens to keep and bear arms.

Chapter four in our text book speaks a lot about how Americans disagree about how the second amendment should be interpreted, I for one am glad I have a choice.

Texas is a Concealed Handgun State.  The Concealed Handgun Licensing Act, was amended by the 83rd Legislature, R.S., 2013.  Texas Code Chapter 411, Subchapter H.

There is a process of eligibility requirements that a citizen who wishes to carry a concealed weapon must meet. A person who is eligible to carry a concealed handgun must be at least 21 years of age, at least 6 months, legal resident of the state of Texas.  He or she can not be convicted of a felony,  and not charged with a class A or Class B misdemeanor. The list goes on for 2 pages of other eligibility criteria.  The applicant must undergo  a background and medical check,

When applying for a Concealed Weapons License the applicant must submit, the completed application, passport photographs, a certified copy of the applicant's birth certificate, proof of residency, two complete sets of legible and classifiable fingerprints, taken by a person trained in recording fingerprints by a law enforcement agency and submit  all this along with a nonrefundable application and license fee of $140.00, and the certificate of evidence of handgun proficiency.  This handgun proficiency certification is awarded after the applicant completes a 4-6 hour classroom training by a Qualified Handgun Instructor certified by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement or under Chapter 1702, Occupations Code, to instruct others in the use of handguns. The proficiency training in the classroom provides emphasis on four major areas.

These areas are: 1. The laws that relate to weapons and to the use of deadly force.

                             2. Handguns use and safety.

                             3. Nonviolent dispute resolution.

                             4. Proper storage practices for handguns with an emphasis on storage practices that eliminate

                                 the possibility of accidental injury to a child.

At then end of the classroom training the applicant is required to pass a written exam.  The second part of the class is shooting instruction.  This is when the applicant must demonstrate his or her ability to safely and proficiently use a handgun.

I personally have a concealed handgun license.  For protection and sport.  My father taught my brothers and I how to shoot when we were growing up in the deserts in California, just outside of Las Vegas and across the Nevada border.  That was many years ago, but my brothers and I regularly took turns shooting at targets that my father arranged for us.  My father taught us to respect a gun, there was no fooling around when we were target practicing.  We were each taught the proper way to hold, load and unload a gun, and how to safely put the gun away.  My father believed that gun safety and training were smart preventive measures when it came to guns.  There were gun rules in our home, of course.

Always treat a gun like it is loaded. 

Always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction.

Keep the gun unloaded until you are ready to use it.

Put the gun back safely and unloaded after use.

Even if citizens were not legally allowed to have a gun for protection, that would not stop the criminals from acquiring a gun. I personally would rather have a form of protection to fall back on.

No they did not have guns in the biblical years, but they had swords for protection.

Luke 22:35-36

Then Jesus asked them, "When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?"

"Nothing," they answered.

"He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell

your cloak and buy one."

 

[Megan Tyson]

I see the appeal of having a sort of test that one must take before being able to purchase a gun, but would not the same rules then have to be applied to other harmful objects such as knives or even cross-bows? There are many 'weapons' in circulation today that have the potential of taking someones' life if misused by the handler. It is therefore in the fault of the person using the object not the object itself. I'm sure some people are familiar with the analogy that it is not a spoon that makes a person fat, it's their abuse of the eating utensil. 

  There will always be evil in the world and putting constraints on the objects that some people use to carry out this evil can only do so much. The issue lies more in the evil rooted in a person's heart then just the potential abuse of the said object.