Josh MoreauEnglish 122Persuasive Essay Rough DraftThe issue of gun control has always been a hot topic among the American public. Almost everyone, if asked, will tell you that gun control is an issue that needs to be addressed because of the event that took place at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. The American public has struggled with gun control long before then . . If we take a look at August 1, 1966 at the University of Texas, a man armed with a shotgun committed one of the most violent mass murders in history. Gun control refers to the government imposing restrictions on the American public from purchasing, owning, and selling firearms. If we read the Constitution, our Second Amendment right is the right to bear arms. This has been the ongoing controversy over this issue. We the people say that our constitutional right to purchase and possess firearms is being taken away from us. The government is using violent incidents in our society as cover to impose restrictions and bans on firearms. The purpose of this essay is to provide evidence that purchasing and owning firearms is our constitutional right and that our government is trying to attack the wrong corner when trying to combat crime involving firearms in United States. If we take a closer look at the United States Constitution, you will find that James Madison stated in Federalist 46 that people must have access to the same weapons that the military has access to, in the event of a tyrannical uprising, people would not be forced to government oppression. Now some people's rebuttal is something like "well, our founding fathers had no idea what AR15s were at that time." If we take this statement and apply it to other amendments to the Constitution, our… middle of paper… takes time to educate and promote safe gun practices and firearms proficiency. The official motto of the NRA is “Guns don't kill people, people kill people.” I believe this is the only valid argument when it comes to gun control. If we consider almost all gun-related accidents, most of the time the person involved has some motive or is mentally unstable. Shootings do not simply occur from the gun itself, but from the person behind the gun. The NRA's sole purpose is to take the negative and misleading information that the government and media are spreading and turn it into truthful information used for the purpose of educating Americans about the safe operation and proper use of firearms. Knowledge in this context is power. If the NRA could educate people to understand that guns are not the problem, views across the country would change and the Second Amendment would remain intact.