My philosophy on life is that freedom should be of the utmost importance in the human mind. Call me a crazy libertarian or an anarchist, but I feel government should have as hands off of a role as possible. Two men (or women) getting married has no effect on me, so why prohibit it? If someone wants to shoot up heroin in a back alley I don’t care until that person gets into a car and puts others at risks– that’s when the government and laws should intervene.

The recent shooting in Arizona has sparked an outcry for a limiting of the 2nd Amendment and even NBC anchor Brian Williams called for a revival of the Assault Rifle Ban. Sorry Brian, but the gunman used a handgun not an assault rifle so call for a ban on what was used, at least.

In my opinion, one of the worsts parts of any tragedy is when freedoms are stripped away for “the safety of the people”.

Taking away the guns of law abiding citizens won’t solve anything. The majority of criminals that use guns have aquired their guns illegaly. Even if you ban the guns, the criminals that legally aquire their weapons will begin to seek them illegally and the law-abiding citizens will be stuck defenseless. It’s not fair to strip freedoms away from those who didn’t cause the trouble in the first place.

I feel that freedom is more important then simple safety. The only way to have complete safety is a total lockdown of freedoms. What’s the safest places on earth? A prison cell with cameras watching your every move and rules to abide by would keep you safe but isn’t exactly a place anyone would like to live their life.

I understand that some will disagree and find firearms a pointless dangerous possession. However, if it starts with a gun where does it end?

The enemy of freedom is apathy. If no outcry is heard when one freedom is taken away, more and more will slowly be taken away until you can’t even say what you think without being breaking the law.

I don’t feel like that will be the case anytime soon in America, but it is a slippery slope and freedom is one of the most important aspects of life in order to achieve life, liberty and happiness.