"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." These are the words expressed in the US constitution from 1787. There is no doubt that we all should have the right to protect and defend ourselves and our loved ones, but where is the limit of how and with what we protect and defend ourselves? In this essay I will account for the positive and negative sides of the increasing use of firearms and the consequences of the increasing use of weapons in private. How much does it really mean for society and the common security that children are now at are now introduced to firearms in an earlier age?.
In Denmark, we think that U.S. has an extreme form of defense in private homes and that is probably because we do not see the same kind of extreme violent crime at home. In 1999, figures showed how big the problem already was at that time. Many had either been injured, killed or committed suicide by a firearm. Because of the recent history of terrorism and the rise of crime and newer adopted laws in some states, we can now state that it has become even easier for an American to acquire a weapon. This is to a certain point worrying.
A good initiative came from the organization Youth For Safety as they are trying to get people to wake up and see how bad it actually stands with all these weapons and they simultaneously try to prevent more school shootings. But when one of the major mistakes is completely legal, the so-called gun clubs in American schools, it seems like the Youth For Safety are on a "mission impossible.".
Allan Gotlieb, a former Canadian ambassador for the United States, says that it is a good idea to have gun clubs. They keep the children away from the street and keep them in school and it is a legitimate business. Josh Sugarman, the executive director and founder of the Violence Policy Center and the author of two books about gun violence prevention and against Gun Clubs in schools is concerned that there might be a chance for new "Columbine shooting" if this continues.
