I’ve grown up in a family where guns have always been prominent. I was raised to believe that it is and always should be our right to have them in our homes whether it be for hunting or personal protection. Everyone in my family who is at the appropriate age has their concealed carry permit and is always packing. It is not uncommon to go to hug a cousin at Thanksgiving dinner and feel a gun tucked into the belt of his or her jeans. As I have grown old enough to form my own opinions, I still stand by my family’s beliefs.

We no longer live in a safe world. Tragedy strikes all the time. It has gotten to the point where most people aren’t even phased when they see the latest story on the news.

Everyone needs someone or something to blame when tragic events happen. In most cases, the blame falls on an inanimate object.

Most guns being used in violent attacks are semi-automatic. Most of the guns in circulation are semi-automatic. The only difference in a Glock .45 and an AR-15 is the intimidating body style of an AR-15. Both guns fire at the same speed, which is as fast as a person can pull the trigger, so banning the sale of an AR-15 because it “looks scary” is not an okay reason.

Along with guns, the blame is often placed on the National Rifle Association (NRA). Contrary to popular belief, the NRA does not actually campaign for human beings to buy guns and go out and kill other human beings with them. The NRA does, in fact, campaign for the banning of sale and circulation of ‘bump stocks’. ‘Bump stocks’ are pieces that can be added to semi-automatic guns to turn them fully automatic, in turn, making them far more lethal.

I feel like the threat of possibly losing my sense of protection is an attack on my second amendment rights. We cannot be forced to give up our freedom because of some people that take advantage of it. Laws do not prevent tragedy. People are going to hurt others because it is their mindset, and taking away guns is just going to prevent people from protecting themselves.

People will kill people, that is just the world we live in.

I understand that gun control is not ‘gun taking,’ but if we begin to allow certain restrictions, ‘gun taking’ will not be far off. Making guns inaccessible is not a practical solution. Just like drugs and alcohol, people will always find a way to get their hands on them.

As a young woman, I will get my concealed carry permit when I can. I will be living on my own at some point and I see it as a way to protect myself.

Charles W. Cooke, in Why Would Anyone Want a Firearm? puts it this way:

“A five-foot-tall, 110-pound woman is in a certain sense “armed” if she has a kitchen knife or a baseball bat at her disposal. But, if the six-foot-four, 250-pound man who has broken into her apartment has one, too, she is not likely to overwhelm him. If that same woman has a nine-millimeter Glock, however? Well, then there is a good chance of her walking out unharmed. From the perspective of our petite woman, there is really no way for the state to endorse her right to defend herself if it deprives her of the tools she needs for the job.”

There is always a possibility of something happening. You cannot always defend yourself by being aware of your surroundings and locking your doors. Our pink pepper spray keychains are not going to stop a bullet.

Guns don’t kill, people do.