Supreme Court shoots down gun ban

About 80 million Americans own more than 223 million guns. Of those 80 million, 60 percent of Democrats and only 30 percent of Republicans favor stronger gun ownership laws.

According to a recent 5-4 Supreme Court decision, Americans nationwide have a constitutional right to have a handgun at home for self-defense, even in cities that have outlawed handguns until now. This decision reversed a ruling that upheld the city of Chicago’s ban on handguns and, according to The Huffington Post, this decision also declared the 1982 ordinance unconstitutional.

The article also reported that Mayor Richard Daley will “rewrite its gun ban ordinance because a Supreme Court ruling today has made the current law unenforceable.”

The right to bear arms has been debated for many years now, with some people believing that the Second Amendment grants them this right. Others, however, think it is limited to the states and militias. Despite that, the “right to bear arms” is not a good idea.

Why do you need to carry around a pistol? It seems like the only reason people do this in some cities is for one purpose: Because they can. The U.S. has the highest rate of gun ownership and gun homicide in the developed world.

Besides police and other government-employed personnel, who has or needs firearms besides criminals? In the U.K., the crime rate for rapes, burglaries and muggings is about the same as in the U.S. The only difference is that when it comes to murders, the rate is about one-fifth. So why in the world did the Supreme Court just support more potential murders?

Furthermore, if there is a nationwide ban on guns then cities like Portland will possibly be protected from unreasonable police shootings because officers feel threatened. The Huffington Post article reported that the mayor of Chicago said his primary goal would be to protect police officers, paramedics and emergency workers from being shot when responding to an incident at a home. He said he also wants to save taxpayers from the financial cost of lawsuits if police shoot someone in the house because an officer felt threatened.

When police officers know there is potential that the person they are trying to arrest has a gun, they are more likely to respond more aggressively and, ultimately, it could result in a shooting fatality. 

The Supreme Court is wrong for passing a law allowing people to bear arms because it only makes living in the U.S. more dangerous than it already is.