Presently our nation is faced with quite a few controversial issues. One of which I feel particularly strongly about, is gun control. I do not support the notion of stronger gun control in America. Gun control breeches our constitutional rights as citizens, leaves us defenseless against criminals and government, and increases crime rate. Gun control is based on the misguided conception that the average American is too clumsy and ill-tempered to be trusted with weapons. Only through the blatant abrogation of explicit constitutional rights is gun control even possible. It must be enforced with such violations of individual rights as intrusive search and seizure. It most severely victimizes those who most need weapons for self-defense, such as minorities and women. How would a 5-day waiting period help a stalking victim? How would banning affordable firearms protect the poor from neighborhood criminals? Would prohibiting females from carrying a gun aid in their escape from a rapist? Would keeping your gun unloaded and locked up save you from a home invader? Would keeping you from owning semiautomatic firearms stop a criminal from getting any gun he wants? What about limiting how many guns you can buy in a month? These are only a few of the questions that can be asked in any discussion on the subject of gun control.
             Statistics show gun control costs lives, as evidenced by cities which enforce near total bans on firearms ownership. This is because criminals don't obey gun control or any other kind of laws leaving law abiding citizens to be rendered defenseless. This is an exert from a research library archive with 154 similar entries for the state of Georgia alone. The Augusta Chronicle in Augusta, GA 08/23/2002: "American Rifleman Issue: November, 2002. A 90-year-old Augusta, Ga., resident shot and killed an intruder during an attempted robbery and assault. Gilbert Klemann, a retired doctor, had an argument at his home...