Gun Rights Issues
Gun rights organizations like the National Rifle Association and the Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership argue each non-criminal person has a right to self-defense, and the most effective way of doing so is by the individual keeping and bearing of arms. These organizations point out warlords and governments in conflict areas will always have access to weapons, and disarmament efforts only serve to disarm the population, creating more defenseless victims.
On the other hand, gun control organizations like the Small Arms Working Group argue the prevalence of small arms contributes to the cycle of violence between governments and individuals. Some of these organizations argue civilians should only own weapons for sporting or hunting purposes, if they decide to at all (ANC alley COSATU, SOUTH AFRICA, ARTICLE 77). These organizations do, however, support the right of governments to keep arms.
Gun rights organizations also argue that disarming the citizens while allowing the government to maintain their arms leaves the civilians defenseless against non-representative governments, such as in Nazi Occupied Europe, Iraq, Rwanda, and Sudan.
Read more about this topic: Small Arms Proliferation
Famous quotes containing the words gun, rights and/or issues:
“What cannot stand must fall; and the measure of our sincerity and therefore of the respect of men, is the amount of health and wealth we will hazard in the defence of our right. An old farmer, my neighbor across the fence, when I ask him if he is not going to town-meeting, says: “No, ‘t is no use balloting, for it will not stay; but what you do with the gun will stay so.””
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“What men value in this world is not rights but privileges.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)
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—Penelope Leach (20th century)