2nd Amendment

On a daily basis, our 2^nd Amendment right is being challenged. Does the government have a right to change their mind on something as significant as our right to keep and bear arms? How far will they go in limiting us in one of our first and most important freedoms?

We are all aware that this is our 2^nd Amendment. In the degree of importance, this is right up there with our freedom of religion. This right was considered to be of utmost importance to our founding fathers. After all of the turmoil that our country went through in dealing with our separation from England, they wanted to make sure that we retained the right to defend and protect ourselves. Is it up to the government to regulate everything that we do? Are we supposed to just lay our guns down at the feet of the government and then hope that criminals do the same?

It has been proven that laws only affect the law-abiding. If a criminal is going to get a gun and shoot up a school, they are not going to follow the standards and protocols that are set forth to make sure that all the proper channels have been followed. They will meet someone downtown, behind a building, etc. and pay cash to purchase a lost/stolen fire arm. It is not the law-abiding, licensed gun owner who is shooting up our country.

The media presents a bias outlook on the destruction that firearms cause. No one is going to debate that they are deadly. However do they provide an honest comparison of deaths by firearms compared to deaths by traffic accidents? In a post on the CDC website, it lists deaths by traffic accidents as 10.6 per 100,000 and deaths by firearms as 10.5 per 100,000. Yet, if you went by what we see on TV, you would think that this number is completely off.

Don’t get me wrong. I do not have a problem with there being standards set or even background checks done before someone can purchase a firearm. I do think it is important that people are taught the dangers involved and the safety precautions that need to be used. Doesn’t our generation say “knowledge is power”? Knowing about guns and how to safely using them, empowers people. Knowing that I have the right and the ability to defend myself and my family against personal harm is paramount to my feeling of safety. Those that are true 2^nd Amendment supporters are not out there to buck the government or to shoot up the country, they just want to preserve their rights as free citizens. Since when did personal accountability go by the wayside? Why is the gun the guilty party and not the mindset of the person that used it? It is not the gun that kills people but the person behind it that pulls the trigger.

Healthcare

On, March 10, 2017, Chip Roy wrote a piece for the National Review titled Repeal Obamacare. In this commentary, Chip discusses the plight of healthcare for our country. He describes the extreme need that exists in comparison to the faulty program that has been put in place. There are so many problems that have been introduced by this plan that it seems to be more harmful than it is helpful. He expresses the conflict that exists between wanting to provide healthcare for all and yet eliminating the ability for companies to compete to provide this coverage. By removing the competitive edge to this, the government has in a sense, driven the price of healthcare up; the complete opposite of the plan’s original intention.

This article is written for all of the citizens in the United States that are affected by the high costs and the limited coverage that Obamacare provides. The opinion is stated in a very clear, factual basis, laying it out for us to read and evaluate the evidence for ourselves. I believe that he expresses genuine concern for where healthcare coverage stands today in our nation and the limitless possibilities with which it can improve. He even goes as far as to provide suggestions in ways to make this better. The points become valid when you realize that they come from someone who is actually touched by this situation as well. This is not from someone in government who has ties to this bill and who receives benefits from it. When we hear honest words from someone who truly wants to fix the program and make the system better, it becomes easier for us to accept and understand. Coming from someone who appears to have a conservative view, he is not afraid to call Republicans out on their faulty plan for fixing this system. To present a viable plan, you must be independent of either party and truly be speaking for the good of the whole country not just a political group.