An over-glorified freedom

You can feel it the moment you hold it in your hands. Some people feel comfort and safety. Some people feel strength and prestige. Everyone can feel the power of it.

It is the feeling you have when holding a gun. You hold in your hands the power to take someone's life in an instant.

No one should be allowed to have that much power.

Guns are only used for one purpose: killing. Guns are everywhere today.

From police officers to gang members to little old ladies - everyone seems to feel the need to carry a gun.

We need guns to protect ourselves from other people carrying guns. If they were not as accessible, perhaps we would not feel that need. In my opinion, guns should be illegal.

Every few minutes a death occurs as a result of a shooting. According to the National Safety Council, 10 to 15 percent of accidental fatalities in children under five are caused by handguns.

The number grows from 50 to 55 percent for children under 15 killed by handguns, including suicides and accidents.

Every day we hear on the news about robberies, rapes and drive-by shootings. We hear about car jackings, burglaries and suicides.

We hear about innocent children becoming the victims of a passing bullet, just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

We see mothers sobbing because their sons were shot by a gang members, when in fact their sons were carrying guns themselves. What is this world coming to?

Now, more than ever, people seem to feel the need to buy a gun for their own personal protection. Whether they leave it at home or carry it on them, people feel comforted knowing they own a gun.

Unfortunately, many accidents stem from having possession of a gun. We hear about children who accidentally shoot themselves or others because a gun was not properly hidden and secured.

How can people prevent this type of tragic accident? Lock the gun in a place inaccessible to children. How to assure? Do not own a gun!

Granted, I do believe that people should have the right to protect their families and their property.

I also realize that in this day and age, people feel that carrying a gun will provide them with protection. But the cycle keeps spinning.

People buy guns to protect themselves from other people with guns. Even when using a gun to protect oneself, the purpose of using that type of protection is ultimately death.

Some people actually take pride in owning a gun. They collect them and display them on their walls.

They can argue that it is just decoration. But can anyone please explain to me what is so beautiful about displaying an instrument of death?

In my opinion, an ideal world would be one in which guns would not be legal to anyone. In my ideal world, guns would not exist.

But, of course, this is not an ideal world. Crime will always exist and people will continue to use and carry guns to commit crimes and to protect themselves from it. People still have a legal right to own a gun. Americans need to fight for stronger gun control laws.

Owning a gun should not be a right, but a privilege. But the bottom line is guns are only good for one thing - death.

Only God should be allowed that right.

Melanie J. Frost is a public relations major at CSULB.