Franklin Deleanor Roosevelt once said in a speech referring to guns, "freedom from fear is one of the four essential human rights" (Kopel 14). One person speaking out against guns says that peoples freedom to not have to worry about encountering guns is being violated as long as people are allowed to own and use guns. The main barrier between eliminating guns in the United States is the second amendment. In the court case state vs. Miller, Miller was found guilty on the grounds that his gun was used in private interest where as the second amendment protects freedoms for armed militia. Miller was convicted of, among other things, illegally altering his guns. One such alteration is the shorting of a shotgun barrel. The second Amendment, the biggest barrier to pass in gun control, states "The right of the people o keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, and this without any equal, frication as to their condition or degree"(constitution). Is this amendment, made by our founding fathers, not the main reason guns have not been banned today? Was it not laws that, also made by our founding fathers, held back the elimination of slavery over a hundred years ago. Our "founding fathers" were unethical in the most important part of life, slavery, where every natural right was taken away. Should the same men that themselves had slaves be allowed to govern whether or not we should have guns as well? The issue of slaves very nearly split our country apart, and guns could have the same effect. .
Do guns kill people? or do people kill people? This is a question for the ages. A gun is only an instrument in an activity, just as a needle is an activity in sewing. A needle can be used to kill someone, must we outlaw needles as well? Many anti-gun activists believe that we should attack the guns that kill people instead of the person behind the gun. They have a choice to pull the trigger or not. One philosopher of the 19th century further elaborated on the second amendment saying "This may be considered as the true palladium of liberty.