Gun rights are always a touchy subject because people have this distinct obsession with dangerous things that make them feel powerful.  Arguments I often hear include: “Well, it’s my 2^nd Amendment right…….it’s in the constitution,” or, “Are you Un-American?”  First, the constitution was created with the provision that Amendments CAN BE CHANGED.  Second, I am of the opinion this guarantee was granted in a time of hostility and constant threat of British oppression.  However, currently we pay taxes to have a powerful government with an impecible military and police force to protect us against invasion.  Additionally, the guns have changed dramatically since the Constitution’s founding and so should our laws.  In 1776, a man couldn’t walk into a school and take out an entire preschool with a gun, because a musket couldn’t have fired off 10 rounds per second.  It is a commonality that as our society changes, our laws should change as well.

My stance on gun legislature: There is no necessity to have an automatic weapon in your home. You want a shooting range for recreation? Fine, whatever, as long as the environment in which it takes place in is safe.  You want to hunt? Sure, as long as it takes place in a designated area with the proper registration and tags—- but hunting doesn’t require an AK-47. Now, I’m a fairly small guy, but I want to be able to protect my family when I’m the man of the house, and because of this I am pro-handgun. Handguns are fine but there is no necessity to have an automatic weapon for self-defense.  I believe that walking into in a daycare with an AK-47, holding the trigger,  and spinning in circles is just as dangerous as a throwing a grenade or a gas bomb, and should be regulated as such, meaning no civilians are allowed to have grenades or automatic weapons in their homes.

Unfortunately, our modern politicians seldom vote outside their party’s stance (even if they know it is wrong), for fear of being ostracized by their own party. Governor Carr was the Colorado governor during the time of WWII and the Japanese internment camps. He is known as the lone politician who stood against this Japanese oppression, which was “inhumane and unconstitutional.” Carr knowingly cost himself his political career to stand for what he knew was right and was never elected again. Recently, State Senate President John Morse and State Senator Angela Giron adopted legislation to “limit ammunition magazines to 15 rounds and to require background checks for private firearms sales and transfers,” —-which sounds pretty moderate, even to me. Unfortunately, the NRA flooded support into a recall campaign. The NRA flooded Columbine and nearly every other major shooting region for fear that the government would “take away their rights.” Beside the fact that people who object to legislation are 30 times more likely to be an activist against something than be a supporter of something, the state recalled Morse and Giron.

This pathetic and cowardly defiance of common sense gives a bad name to Republicans and makes me ashamed to call myself one. I would classify myself a Republican because I believe in common sense governing, family values, market solutions, and federal spending cuts, NOT because I fear a world where my AK-47 was limited to 15 bullets per magazine.

I’d  like to thank members of Air Academy’s debate team for participating in my research of this topic, namely: Morgan Smith, Matthew Barad, Savanna Smoker, and Hunter Neary. Thanks guys.