This subject has bugged me since the event happened.  On 8 January, 2011, Congresswoman Giffords of Arizona was shot while meeting with her constituents at a grocery store.  While this event was a tragedy in itself, there was a severe injustice to the events that followed.  Across the country, lawmakers scrambled to write and sponsor bills to be proposed to their respective houses of Congress.  The event has quite obviously caused a ripple effect; the extent of the damage is not yet known.

This new "Call to Arms Against Arms" as I call it is not surprising.  It's just saddening.  More strict gun control measures means that we will be falling into the hands of the enemy.  Think about it.  Criminals are criminals.  They are going to get guns whether they're legal or not.  That's what makes them criminals.  It's not about whether the gun that the mugger is using is legal.  He doesn't care, because he's not using it for legal means, so what's one more charge if he gets caught?  What matters is whether his intended victim (the law-abiding citizen) is legally able to defend himself, not to mention his home, property and, most importantly, his family.

How does this sound? In any given time, in any given place, if weapons are illegal, then the criminals are going to be more willing to commit violent crimes.  Why? because they worry less about their intended victim having the means to defend him/herself.  If everyone could legally arm themselves, then the potential mugger would be less inclined to commit violent crimes against individuals, because, guess what? there's a much greater likelihood of having a bigger gun pulled on them.  It's all about self-preservation.  A great example is the state of Indiana.  One year after they passed their concealed-carry permit class, violent crime had dropped by 37%, with expectations of continuing declines in crime.  Why, then, are we taking away each and every red-blooded American's God-given RIGHT to defend themselves?  A call to arms for greater gun control? I say NO, I say a call to arms AGAINST gun control, so that if a tragedy such as what happened in Tucson would happen again, the "innocent bystanders" could do something about it.

One last thought: for those of us that own, love, and want to protect guns, it's not us giving them a bad name.  We use guns responsibly: to provide for and defend our families, or recreationally by legal means.  The ones that are abusing their rights to own guns generally don't have the right at all anyways because they are convicted felons, or they are felons who haven't been caught yet.  Everyone else doesn't just have a RIGHT to own guns.  Everyone else has a RESPONSIBILITY to own guns, care for them, and use them (legally) to keep our rights ALIVE!

"When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny."
-Thomas Jefferson