universal background checks r a common sense solution to gun violence

Power is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as "the ability or right to control people or things." In this sense our government certainly has power. They certainly have the power to take away our rights, but will we as a people allow them to do this? It is therefore only up to us the people to safeguard our own rights. I think Pro has a short memory, or at least has never studied history. Rome was a Monarchy at first (like the Colonies under British rule). Rome was then a Republic (Like we are now). Then Rome was made into an Empire (hopefully we will never be under the rule of an emperor). Are we so forgetful? Are we so proud to think that we are an exception to the rule? You are correct that our rights are not absolute, but that is only because nothing is absolute. Our freedom that we have right now is not absolute, and can be lost overnight without the ability to arm ourselves. Do you need a more recent example? What about Communist China, Communist Russia, Nazi Germany? All of these nations right before their moment of radical change urged (and forced) people to turn over their guns. This occurred right before each respective radical change because the people when disarmed could no longer oppose tyranny. The list goes on and on, but if you still need more proof research the Tytler Cycle. It is an actual cycle still studied today that describes the different phases a civilization will go through before returning to bondage (that is if the society can survive until then). You can argue that every civilization ever (including the US) has followed the phases in this cycle. http://static.prisonplanet.com.... This is a poster from Russia that translates into "Turn in your WEAPONS comrades." This poster was dispersed throughout Russia right before they nationalized (stole) independent farms from their citizens. Notice they said weapons and in the picture their are swords as well as firearms. This perfectly illustrates that they want the security of knowing they have disarmed their citizens, and therefore their opposition. In other words their goal wasn't for brotherly peace among their own people, but rather more power. I would like to point out that it is very racist and closed minded of Pro to associate criminals with black people in the ghetto. Pro needs to understand that not all violent criminals are black or live in the ghetto. But Pro also rejects the fact that again a criminal who has already decided to commit a violent crime (premeditated risk) will not be stopped by the legal parameters set in place to prevent them from obtaining the means to commit the crime. They will buy a firearm off the street, smuggle one, or buy one from the deep web, and those are just the options I can think of off the top of my head. I am not ignoring anything, rather Pro is. She is saying that a hate filled lunatic who has already premeditated a mass shooting will stop because his background check didn't clear. No that person won't stop because they are still bent on destruction. They will either obtain a firearm through illegal means or simply find another means to destroy (arson, stabbing, bombing). Don't believe me? http://www.telegraph.co.uk.... This article describes a mass stabbing at a train station in China that left 29 people dead. It is sad that no armed citizen was able to save innocent lives since China bans it's citizens from possessing firearms. The point that Pro can't ignore from this article is that a person who is bent on destruction will use whatever means they can to destroy. Humans have waged war, committed mass homicide, and just killed each other for as long as history has been recorded. People who wish to commit violent atrocities will stop at nothing to commit them, for they have already made up in their minds and in their hearts to hurt another as much as they hurt if not more. I couldn't find the statistics in Pro's argument that she said shows that more guns in an area means more overall death. Is this a typo, a technical error, or did Pro simply not include any statistics? Don't worry, I have some statistics for us. http://www.wnd.com.... Since 1982 Kennesaw, Georgia (population 32,400) has mandated that every head of household own a firearm. Since then, "not a single resident has been involved in a fatal shooting " as a victim, attacker or defender." So this proves that guns are not the problem (and possibly the solution), but rather bad people and people who are products of a bad environment are the problem. But I'll continue with the UK. The United Kingdom (England, Scotland and Wales) bans the private position of all automatic, semi automatic rifles and shotguns, as well all handguns. Essentially you can only own a gun for hunting and sport (bolt action rifle or a hunting shotgun). This is a 2009 article from the Daily Mail http://www.dailymail.co.uk.... "The latest Government figures show that the total number of firearm offences in England and Wales has increased from 5,209 in 1998/99 to 9,865 last year - a rise of 89 per cent." "Lancashire suffered the single largest rise in gun crime, with recorded offences increasing from 50 in 1998/99 to 349 in 2007/08, an increase of 598 per cent." "The number of people injured or killed by guns, excluding air weapons, has increased from 864 in 1998/99 to a provisional figure of 1,760 in 2008/09, an increase of 104 per cent." All of these statistics are from 2009, a decade after the ban of all the firearms listed above. This proves that violent crime is not directly related to the number of firearms, but rather the culture that produces the criminals who commit violent crimes. Pro thinks that guns are inherently evil, and that less guns would mean less dead. I believe that this is not the case since a violent criminal will use any means to commit the crime. Pro has provided no statistics, and suggests that we simply take her word for her argument. A firearm is ultimately nothing more than a mechanized piece of inanimate metal. It takes a person filled with fear/anger to commit a violent crime using a firearm. A background check would ultimately only filter some of the criminals out of the system, but would also filter some law abiding citizens out of the system as well. The only difference is that the criminals will then pursue illegal means to obtain a gun, and the law abiding citizens will not pursue illegal means since they obey the law. This would disarm law abiding citizens, preventing them from protecting their self, their families, and most importantly their freedom. Remember Rome was a Republic before it was an Empire, and we are still a very young Republic.