Dear Sir,

On 20 April in 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed twelve students and one teacher at Columbine High School. In the USA today, you can buy bullets and guns when you are out buying groceries. In spite of this Harris and Klebold had bought their ammunition at K-Mart. This upset me. Many people got touched by this tragedy, and I also lost one of my dearest friends, Rachel.

One out of three American homes owns a gun. The reason why, is that they feel a sense of comfort in it, and with a gun they can defend their family. According to The Second Amendment to the US Constitution, every American (over 18 years) has the right to own a firearm, based on self-defense. That’s why anyone can buy ammunition at K-Mart. Let’s say for instance that someone breaks in to your home. If you don’t have a gun, you’ll call the police because you know they have guns. If you do have a gun, you don’t have to wait for the police.

Almost 30,000 human beings are killed by guns every year in the US. In comparison, only 165 people are killed by firearms in Canada. Canadians don’t have the right to own or bear arms, and if we did not either, Harris and Klebold wouldn’t be allowed to buy their ammunition. My friend Rachel would probably still be alive!

The right to bear arms is based on self-defense, but if no one had a gun in the first place, you wouldn’t need it to defend yourself. We keep telling ourselves “violence doesn’t solve any problems”. Why do we still have the right to bear arms then? Do you solve any problems by shooting someone?

I think that our community would be safer to live in if only those who represent the law (the police) should have the right to bear arms. Considering the numbers of people getting killed by guns every year, we should be able to comprehend that the community becomes less safe to live in when every American has the right to bear arms. We are all searching for security, and if anyone is allowed to represent justice, how can we ever accomplish safety?

Sources

http://www.saf.org/

http://history1900s.about.com/od/famouscrimesscandals/a/columbine.htm