The Right to Bear Arms

Two law students, John Pierce and Mike Stollenwerk, started an organization in 2004 that promotes a US citizen's right to bear arms (the Second Amendment of the Constitution) with their "Open Carry Movement". Their motto is: "A Right Unexercised Is A Right Lost."

Everyone has an opinion about having a gun on them and/or in their home and others' rights to owning firearms. I personally don't really understand guns and know I do not want one in my home at this time. This is simply because I have no training in the use of a firearm, but know of the possible negative consequences in owning one. Then again, I have never had the experience of being attacked in my own home, have never had to live in fear for my life, and have never feared being attacked in the streets (because of my height of 6-feet and the safety precautions I take when I am out).

Anyhow, what I do know that almost every home in Switzerland has a firearm of some sort. The gun crime rate is very, very low. So low, in fact, that statistics are not kept on this type of crime.

Why are guns so accepted in some parts of the world, but not others? "Guns kill," is something one might say. But I have to agree with those who say people kill, not guns. Since the beginning of time, humans have been creative in the instruments they choose to used to harm others: stones, sticks, sharp objects, karate chops, poisons, etc.

Whether you agree one should always have a gun or not--or even sometimes, OpenCarry.org shows maps of the US that indicate how different states interpret the Second Amendment: from open carry laws in each state to travel rules of each state to how old one has to be to recieve a gun permit (as young as 14!) to guns on college campus, in restaurants and hospitals, etc. How does your state compare to others?