Barack Obama on Gun Control
Q: You said recently, "I have no intention of taking away folks' guns." But you support the D.C. handgun ban, and you've said that it's constitutional. How do you reconcile those two positions?
A: Because I think we have two conflicting traditions in this country. I think it's important for us to recognize that we've got a tradition of handgun ownership and gun ownership generally. And a lot of law-abiding citizens use it for hunting, for sportsmanship, and for protecting their families. We also have a violence on the streets that is the result of illegal handgun usage. And so I think there is nothing wrong with a community saying we are going to take those illegal handguns off the streets. And cracking down on the various loopholes that exist in terms of background checks for children, the mentally ill. We can have reasonable, thoughtful gun control measure that I think respect the Second Amendment and people's traditions. Source: 2008 Politico pre-Potomac Primary interview Feb 11, 2008
My Answer
Personally, as a citizen of these United States of America, I have a major problem with the basic ideals of any presidential candidate that even entertains the idea of further restricting our gun rights. I think this represents one of the biggest double talks that the gun control lobbyists keep bringing up. They tout they only want to remove the illegal guns, however that's not what they go after, they instead try to remove the legally owned guns. They make no apologies for doing this, in fact, this is there full intent.
If you are wondering at this point, whatÂ’s the difference, so long as guns are removed from the streets, won't that make us safer?
The answer is a resounding “NO”; it will not make us, you, or anyone any safer. The problem is not the law abiding people that have a handgun, long gun, or any gun, they are not the issue. The problem is the people that have the illegal guns, the very people that are committing the crimes. The problem is the way our laws protect the very people that are violating the rights of the law abiding population, the ones that hide behind lawyers, screaming about police brutality, that their rights are being violated, all while breaking into your home, ransacked the place, and even threatened your family. If that very individual gets hurt while inside your home, while you were trying to defend your family, your possessions, your home, your very way of life, then you end up in a law suit. You end up being forced to defend yourself, spending many hundreds of dollars, while the state provides food, shelter, and legal support to the criminal. It's these delinquents we need to deal with, it's these criminals that the law needs to punish, not the rest of us.
There are many examples of where gun control has caused problems, look at what has, and is happening in Africa, Australia, and other places where guns were taken from the law abiding population. Just look at any of the places where people were forced to turn in their protection. Now they have many times the incidents of burglary, of innocent people being killed in their homes, all because the government saw fit to take away their defense. The government that is in place to protect, gets too greedy, wants to control too much, and in the end, instead of allowing the citizens to protect themselves, tries to make them as helpless as possible.
This is where we will be, if the politicians in this country succeed in removing our firearms. We will then be helpless to defend ourselves, our homes, our families. For those of faith, you as a man, as head of your family, it is your responsibility to provide for your family. Part of providing for your family is protecting them, giving them a safe place to live. Let the government take away your right to own a gun, let them take away yet another piece of freedom, the very freedom this country was founded on, and you are failing miserably, you are giving up your wife, your children, placing them in harms way.
Think about it for a while, if youÂ’re no longer able to defend yourself, what then. If the government tells you leave your doors unlocked, to leave the keys in your car, that others have the right to use it whenever they want, would you be willing to do that. Would you sleep well at night knowing, at any time, someone could just walk right in and take whatever they wanted.
What society would you like to live in, one where the criminal is in full control or one where the citizen is allowed to defend himself? Even if you do not want to own a firearm, having a right to do so leaves the criminal guessing. Will someone in this home be armed; will they try to defend their home, family, property? Forcing the criminal to second guess the situation, forcing the one wanting to commit the crime to wonder, will I get shot if I break into this residence? The very possibility that you may have a gun, may be able to counter the criminals threat, may have a way to defend what is yours may be all the protection you need.hat doesn't count, then look at
