In the world violence is increasing; terrorism and even common crime seem to be hijacking the freedom that we took for granted, so far. Now we depend on CCTV cameras and overstretched police, security and military forces.
Firearms in the hands of civilians has always been an issue; many politicians as well as a lot of politically-motivated people frequently state that civilians should not have firearms at their disposal but the truth is that having weapons has always been a natural prerrogative of humankind since the advent of tools, back in the Palaeolithic.
And while it is true that firearms hurt when they are used, the same could be said of cars, forks and electrical circuits. Many things are able to kill, but weapons allow people and whole societies to be defended. A gun is a survival tool, and in countries - like in Switzerland - where they are understood as such, there is no particular incidence of crime related to the fact that citizens are armed with rather heavy weapons.
In countries like Canada, the ratio between guns and inhabitants is higher than in the United States yet, there is no apparent relationship between that fact and violent crime. In other words, violent crimes develop from other factors instead on guns.
In Europe it is really difficult to own a firearm yet, is crime non-existent there? Are terrorist deterred in any way by that? If Europe has had a violent past it is not because of guns, but due to particular sociological factors.
Having guns in the hands of civilians not only guarantees more security for the owners - if they are properly trained to use them -; it also means that countries where that is allowed are harder to control by dictators, tyrants or invading forces, and security and defence budgets are better used.
Should people carry guns then? Yes, absolutely, because they are the tools that anyone would need for self-defence. No one can really take you the right to defend yourself from robbery or terrorists; this has been the right of people since we became capable of using tools, as I wrote. It is only a natural thing to have weapons for survival.
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