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Lanae Freeland

Mrs. Duedeck

American History

12 December 2017

Should Citizens be Allowed to “Open Carry” in Public?

Should citizens be allowed to open carry in public? The answer is yes! “The phrase

‘open carry’ refers to the act of law-abiding citizens carrying a properly holstered handgun in

plain sight, wherever it is legal to do so. This includes regular day task such as driving to work,

walking the dog, grabbing a cup a coffee, or going to the park. Those who choose to open carry

are just going about their business while armed, just as do the 6 million-plus Americans who

hold concealed-carry permits. The only difference…open carriers have their weapons visible.”

(-John Pierce) Citizens should be allowed to because it is a Second Amendment right. But there

are problems with the current law. Here are some examples: 1) People don’t have to have a gun

permit to open carry in public if the gun is visible…so that means ANYONE can carry a gun

around on them; ANYONE! 2) When someone walks around with a visible weapon it can make

others very uncomfortable. 3) If there is a shooter and a person has a visible weapon on them, the

shooter will most likely shoot at them before anyone else. Citizens should be allowed to open

carry because, for one, it is a Second Amendment right. Another reason is citizens have the right

to defend themselves. Lastly, citizens have the right to defend their family and any others from

someone who might want to harm them.

It is a Second Amendment right. It is in the constitution! The 2nd Amendment- "A well-

regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a Free State, the right of the people to keep

and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." “The 2nd Amendment guarantee, which is fundamental
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to a free society, in turn ultimately depends on personal responsibility.” (-Ted Bromund) ” Some

people can just be irresponsible and kill or hurt someone; that does not mean that everyone

should have their gun right taken away. This is not easy to change because the constitution is the

highest law in the land. No other law or court can take away our gun rights.

“Citizens have the right to defend themselves, their families and property.” (-Ted

Bromund) In the past years people needing to defend themselves with weapons has become

greater because of some people going crazy with weapons. There might should be a few limits

on open carry but not taking away our right completely. Say for instance, there are two teenage

girls at the age of eighteen. (Eighteen is the age you are allowed to get a gun permit so then you

can conceal carry.) So say these girls are at the movies and a man walks up to them and pulls out

a gun and then threatens them by saying to give him all their valuables or else he will shoot

them. If these girls have no weapons to defend themselves he could take their money and kill

them or do anything else he wanted to do with them. But since these girls can open carry a gun

they can defend themselves against this man.

People have the right to protect their family and others who might want to do them harm.

Public shootings have been constantly happening over the past years. “The federal government

should not have the power to infringe the right of the people to keep and bear arms…” (-Lund

Nelson.) On the 8th of November 2017, there was a mass shooting in Texas. The shooter was

shot and killed by an armed civilian. Although the man did kill 20 people, he could have killed

many more people if that civilian was not armed. Although people having guns or any weapons

visible can make some people nervous, it can also help us. In the past two years over 200,000

more women have started to open carry in the U.S., and over 800,000 more men. People also

have the right to defend their families and themselves from animals. Humans are not the only
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living thing that can harm us. For example: say a family is out in a city and they come upon a

snake. Hopefully, the father or mother has a weapon so they can kill the snake, otherwise it will

not end very well for this family. There has been many shootings over the past few years, and so

many people have died from guns. Either a crazy psychopath with a gun has killed people or just

people playing around with guns and accidentally shooting themselves or someone else.

In conclusion, citizens should be allowed to open carry in public because it is a Second

Amendment right and citizens should be able to defend themselves and others with weapons.

People say guns are dangerous and have killed so many people they need to be banned! Yes,

guns can be dangerous, but it is not necessarily the gun itself that kills people, it is the person

behind the trigger. Guns help protect us.

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Acosta, Luis: “United States; Gun Ownership and the Supreme Court.” NP, 26 June

2015. Web. 29 September 2017.

Bromund, Ted: “Protecting Second Amendment Rights.” Solutions 2016, 22 June 2015.

Web. 29 September 2017.

Lund, Nelson and Wrinkler, Adam: “Amendment II- Right to Bear Arms” Common

Interpretation. 19 February 2016. Web. 30 September 2017.

Pierce, John: “Why ‘Open Carry’ Gun Laws Work.” U.S. News 15 April 2010. Web. 30

September.