Guns have been a major part of American culture ever since the country began. Guns are commonly used in hunting, self-defense, and sometimes just for fun target practice. However, due to recent tragedies, people are debating whether we should keep those guns. I believe we should keep them because they are a constitutional right. Guns are necessary to keep our families and our country safe and even to prevent government tyranny.

It is completely unconstitutional to impose gun control. The Second Amendment reads: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed” (US Const. amend. II, sec. 1). That right applies to every law-abiding citizen so that they can defend themselves, hunt, or join a militia when needed. People for gun control say that the Second Amendment applies only to militia, but it very clearly says “right of the people,” not “right of the militia.” The government has absolutely no right to take guns away from law-abiding citizens or to make it more difficult to obtain guns.

Gun control will not work. Gun control would restrict the legal purchasing of firearms. According to Gun Facts, “93% of guns used in crimes are obtained illegally (i.e., not at gun stores or gun shows).” That means that theoretically, gun control would only stop 7 percent of guns used in attacks, but in reality, criminals would just obtain those 7 percent of guns illegally. Also, a Fox News poll shows that a majority of people that voted said that they believe that gun control will not stop crime and that they feel safer with a gun (Lott).

The Founding Fathers put the right to bear arms right below the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights for a reason. Guns are necessary for America to remain the best, safest, and freest country in the world. Guns are used in self defense. In fact, “[e]very day 400,000 life-threatening violent crimes are prevented using firearms” (Gun Facts). The Democrats say that there are other alternatives, such as pocket knives. While pocket knives are effective self-defense weapons at close range, they just will not cut it at long range. If someone were shooting at you from a hundred feet away, would you want a pocket knife or a gun? In Garland, Texas, two terrorists tried to attack a cartoon contest, and both were shot dead by an armed policeman, and they didn’t get to harm a single civilian. In San Bernadino, California, where gun laws are much stricter than in Texas, terrorists shot and killed 14 people and injured 21 others.

Having armed civilians keeps the whole country safe from invasion and tyranny. Just having so many guns saved us from a major land invasion during World War II. Isoroku Yamamoto said "You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass." Thousands and possibly even millions of lives were saved just because of how many guns we have. Imagine if guns had been banned back then. Another important role of arms in America is to prevent the government from taking away our freedom. If the government becomes too powerful, the people can revolt and win. Why do you think that the Nazis and the Islamic State banned civilians from owning guns?

Guns are a massive part of American culture. There are about 300,000,000 firearms in the United States today. The Constitution gives us the right to have all those guns. Gun bans are unconstitutional, stop few to no criminals, and let many more criminals commit deadly crimes. Our guns stopped a major land invasion from Japan, and there are people, such as terrorists, who want to invade the United States and murder innocent Americans. Gun control may make it possible. Even if they do ban guns, there is no way they can confiscate of all 300,000,000 guns in America without a massive revolt.