I am allowed to carry a handgun for protection, as a resident of Indiana.

Though I do not own a gun, keeping me from accessing the freedom that is entitled to me, I am glad that the option is there in case I ever wish to utilize my right to bear arms.

Due to the heavy media coverage of recent events, guns have been taken off the back burner and forced to our outermost consciousness. Tragedy tends to get everybody talking.

For those who are afraid to discuss the controversial issue, allow me to start the conversation by saying that I am wholeheartedly against the notion of gun control.  In my mind, it just doesn’t add up.

The general fear that serves as the base argument for gun control is that, since anyone with the legal permit(s) can have access to guns, there are going to be some dangerous people sporting them.  And I can’t rebuke that claim.

However, even if we made it illegal for “just anybody” to own guns, I don’t believe the problem would be solved.

Think about it.  Are the people you’re concerned about owning a gun law abiding citizens? Are they reasonable people who work within the confines of the legal system? Or more likely, are they people who are going to act on their own willpower, regardless of what political or legal mumbo-jumbo we thwart them with?

Even though I don’t want these kinds of people to have guns, I would like the option of defending myself, just in case they aren’t so noble. And I certainly don’t want a system to be imposed where the only way to defend yourself against a criminal is to become one.

On campus, at the zoo, in the park – almost anywhere is fair grounds for guns in Indiana, and I think that’s the way it should be. Once we start picking and choosing, the bad guys win.