Changing the Gun Debate

The right to life should be more important than the right to own a gun

“We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Before the Constitution  was ever drafted, the Founding Fathers had a vision for what they wanted their lives to be like.  In the Declaration of Independence, the right to life was the first right that they decided was God given to every person in this country.  But the violence that plagues the black community these days keeps many of us from realizing our full life’s potential. Earlier this year, the Children’s Defense Fund released their Protect Children, Not Guns 2012 report and noted that the leading cause of death among Black teens, ages 15 to 19 in 2008 and 2009, was gun homicide.  There are people who have died because someone intended to kill them and there are also people who have died because of a bullet intended for someone else. Whether their murders were intentional or unintentional, these people are not given an opportunity to fulfill the things that our Forefathers deemed granted by God.

During the second presidential debate, one person, toward the end of the debate, asked a question about gun control, especially as it pertained to AK-47s.  President Obama and Governor Romney were given an opportunity to address the issue.  During his remarks, President Obama expressed his belief that we have to enforce the laws that we have, make sure that we keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill, and ensure that background checks are done thoroughly.  The president also noted that we need to do more to reduce violence, acknowledging that the problems in cities like Chicago aren’t usually the result of AK-47s but of “cheap handguns.”