Guys, I saw the 2012 remake of “Red Dawn” over winter break. I was terrified; I do get easily frightened from scary movies, but this movie was different.
It made me want to go out and get a gun.
I didn’t want to just get a gun; I wanted to know how to use it.
With so much talk about gun control lately, oftentimes accompanied with the image of the stereotypical red-blooded southern American, gun in hand, I find it necessary to make a few disclaimers about myself. I have never owned a gun, no one in my family hunts or owns a gun (with the exception of police officer relatives) and I have actually never even shot a gun.
I have, however, been threatened with a gun, so there’s a gun experience I do have.
People will make the argument the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution (which essentially expresses the right to a well-regulated militia and to keep and bear arms, for those of you who have been living under a rock or didn’t pay attention in school from fourth grade onward) was intended to allow citizens to form a militia to protect the government from going all tyrannical.
The Second Amendment is supposed to  ensure citizens are not left helpless with no means to fight back.
However in the 2008 Supreme Court case of District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court ruled the amendment extends to protect citizens’ rights to personally own guns and use them in lawful ways, such as self-defense and protection of property. The amendment is clear in what rights it grants the citizens, and although they are always open for further interpretation, this right is pretty clear.
For those who think America is not under the threat of a leader who will turn on the nation, or even a foreign invader trying to occupy America, consider that part of this security may be because we are so well-armed.
We are a large country, geographically speaking, and we are defended not only by the government, but by the people.
Do we really want to test what would happen if we take that protection away?
In the wake of massacres such as those at Sandy Hook Elementary and Aurora, Colo., we, the people, of course empathize with the families who lost loved ones, but we have to remember one thing: you can’t stop crazy.
If a person wants to go get a gun and kill a bunch of people, they will find a way to get a gun and try to kill those people.
The solution to tragedies such as this is not making obtaining guns more difficult and limiting the legal kinds of guns. These people will find a way to get something that will do the job.
The solution is to invest more money in accessible mental health care and to regulate health insurance’s coverage of such health care.
The whole “guns don’t kill people, people kill people” thing is true; so why aren’t we focusing on the mental health of people?
Just because I think people should have guns doesn’t mean I think you should be able to go to Walmart and just pick one up.
From what I understand from the process of purchasing a gun and obtaining a gun license in Mississippi, (not that I have ever personally done it, as previously mentioned) it is not exactly a difficult feat. 
I do think the process should be beefed up a bit and encompass mental health tests as well. If you have a gun, you should know the appropriate time to use it and way to use it. I understand the intentions of those who are in favor of stronger gun control laws; they are not evil intentions, but they are simply un-American.
The Second Amendment is such a large part of what allows our country’s people to be free and protected and is an integral part of the core of our nation.
I spent the past few months in Dublin, where the police didn’t carry guns, and, as a result, I have never felt more unsafe in a city. (And I’m from the New Orleans area, so that’s saying something.)
While I understand that is an extreme on the spectrum of gun control, I do not want to be heading in that direction.
When you start tearing away at the foundations of a country, you begin to scratch away that country’s identity; I hope America stays America, with its people strong, defended and armed.