The document discusses the author's opinion on gun control and rights. The author feels that originally citizens had a constitutional right to own firearms for protection based on their understanding of the Second Amendment. However, the author recognizes that views have changed with the types of weapons now available and increased gun violence in society. While the author would not personally own a semi-automatic weapon, they have not been given a legitimate reason for why anyone would need one. The author is also not educated on whether citizens should have the right to such high-capacity weapons but believes gun control limits law-abiding citizens rather than those who would commit gun violence.

1. Brittany Cummings
Harold Blanco
16 February 2014
Opinion on Gun Control/Rights
There are much larger questions than whether or not I think there should
be stricter legislation that governs the purchasing of firearms. With the little I
know and (pathetically admitting) care to know about the detailed context of
which the Second Amendment was written, I feel as if the nation the nation was
originally at a good understanding that a citizen had a constitutional right to own
a firearm for their protection, whatever they might need to protect themselves
from. I fully recognize that not everyone agrees with this in the present day and I
see this dispute yielding from a change in not only the types of weapons that
citizens are now capable of purchasing, but also a dramatic change in gun
violence in society. Now, with a background check, one can purchase semiautomatic weapons. Being the type of person who would rather not hold a gun
even with the bullet chamber empty, I do not plan to ever have any sort of semiautomatic weapon but also have not been presented with a legitimate reason for
anyone to need one. This being said, I’m not educated enough to know if citizens
should have a constitutional right to weapons with such capacities for
ammunition. But I do believe that gun control legislation largely limits the wrong
group of people, that being the people who abide laws and would never commit
gun violence anyway.