By Abby Cianciolo
Photography Editor   

We’ve heard our parents and grandparents say it time and time again, that the world is a much different place from when they were growing up. After the events at Sandy Hook Elementary, it can be seen that this has never been more true.

What is not agreed upon is that taking away different types of guns and high capacity magazines will keep our society safer. This argument goes completely against the United States Constitution, which states that an individual’s right to keep and bear arms will not be infringed. Even so, many politicians have been pushing for restrictions and even banning of certain weapons.

Even here in Westford, town officials were working on a proposal in the heat of the gun control debate. After a such a large turnout at the meeting to discuss this issue, the selectmen decided to withdraw the proposal. This was a smart move on behalf of the selectmen as the proposal lacked support of the townspeople and groups largely impacted by the proposal such as the Westford Sportsmen’s Club.

The proposals sought to have a town wide ban of magazines holding over ten rounds of ammunition. Also, many semi-automatic guns would be subject to surrender under the proposal. Semi-automatic and assault guns are still firearms under the law, and one’s rights to own such weapons still falls under the Second Amendment.

Approximately 40 percent of Americans either own a gun or a member of their family does according to recent Gallup polls. Many people see this as a danger to society with the amount of gun violence there is in the United States. Less than three percent of all guns owned in the United States are assault weapons according to the National Rifle Association.

Furthermore, The Wall Street Journal found that only approximately two percent of crimes can be attributed to any type of rifles.  Responsible gun owners’ rights to have firearms should not be limited because of the irresponsible actions of others.

With the banning of assault and semi-automatic weapons, brings upon the concern that other firearms could potentially be banned as well. Right now that is not in the plans, however once the government is allowed to take away a civil liberty, it can serve as justification to take even more of those rights away.

If events such as the banning of all firearms were to ever happen, the effects to personal safety could be detrimental. Many people have guns illegally and so it would be nearly impossible to take away guns from those people, who statistically tend to be the ones using guns in a criminal manner. This would mean that those Americans who legally own guns and use them for security or recreation would have to surrender their weapons.

When the Second Amendment was first created, one facet that went into the decision was the ability to protect oneself against the government. Although our government has been around for several hundred years, our economy is weak and unstable.This factor makes many Americans dissatisfied with the administration and government as a whole. If weapons were to be surrendered, there would be very little means to protect the people from the government or rebellions against this establishment.

Gun sales are also a large industry for the United States. This past December had record sales across the country, with around 2.7 million background check applications for gun ownership. Six billion dollars is brought in in revenue from gun and ammunition sales. There are about 210,000 jobs in the United States related to the gun industry, which is up by thirty percent over the last few years. The U.S. government also benefits with 5.1 billion dollars in tax revenue from the sales.

Eliminating or decreasing the amount of these sales would be harmful to independent gun retailers’ revenue as well as potential revenue for the government. At a time where the economy is so weak, taking away sources of money could be disastrous to the overall economic climate.

At the national level, background checks on gun sales are another aspect many pro gun-control politicians hope to implement. These records can access a large amount of personal information including criminal history, school records, drug testing records, and many others. Many people also argue that if Americans were not allowed to have guns, then events such as the Sandy Hook shooting never would have happened. However, it does not seem far fetched that the shooter would have found some way to cause harm to the twenty six people killed that day with or without a gun when his rage was at such a high level.

Furthermore, if someone in the school had been carrying a weapon that day, there is a possibility that the shooter could have been stopped, rather than run rampant around a school of defenseless students and teachers.

As much as we all hate to admit it, our parents and grandparents are right. The world is a much different and sometimes different place. However, taking away guns is not the way to solve these problems. Having guns and firearms ensures our personal safety and the protection of our unalienable rights.

Information provided by Time Magazine and The Wall Street Journal