Too many people in America think in terms of absolutism regarding gun control. People on the far right think that there should be no restrictions on guns whatsoever. They argue that automatic assault weapons should be perfectly legal or that guns in general should be allowed in cities, etc. Many on the far left think that all guns should be outlawed. They argue that this would minimize gun crimes and that people don’t really need guns anymore anyway; they have out lived there usefulness for the general public.

Both sides also differ on the interpretation of the 2nd Amendment of the constitution. Pro-gun controllers argue that the amendment refers to right of militias (interpreted as the National Guard) as the only ones allowed to bear arms, while anti-gun control people argue that it refers to every individuals right.

Personally, I believe it is a right of all individuals. However, there is a strong case for both sides. The one thing that no one ever talks about is the different realities regarding gun control between the cities and the country.

The fact is, people usually develop their views on gun control depending on where and how they were raised. Rudy Giuliani was always a gun control guy, of course he was, he is from New York City. What need do most people have of guns in NYC or other big cities? There isn’t much of one. As a result, I would never fault Rudy Giuliani or any other mayor of NY or another big city of imposing strict controls on guns.

That being said, leaders like Giuliani have no right to impose their gun control views on the entire country. In rural areas guns and hunting are a great hobby. Why should we allow someone from NYC to dictate to a rancher in Taos, New Mexico what he can or can not do? Their perspectives are completely different.

In the same vein, a leader like Mike Huckabee, from rural Arkansas and apparently a keen hunter should have no right to go into DC or NYC and say that there should be no restrictions on gun ownership. That would be ridiculous and he would be asking for gun fights to break out in the streets.

There is a reason why we have local, state, and federal government. The issue of gun control should be dictated at no higher than the state level. Mayors and governors understand their people better than congressmen, senators, or the President. Let people choose how to live, where they live.

This issue is indicative of a larger issue that we face in our country and that is the increasingly dominant federal government. State’s have virtually no meaning whatsoever anymore. The federal government dictates everything; and they tend to dictate wrong. The government is so bent on protecting us from everything, including ourselves, that they are chipping away at our freedoms. I am too the point where I am safe enough and so is the rest of America. With freedom comes risk; bad things happen and tragedies will occur, but they are hardly worth losing our freedoms to prevent. “Give me freedom or give me death.”