Of the State of Nature vs. DOI

In class, we recently read John Locke's Of the State of Nature. At the beginning of the essay, I agreed with everything Locke was saying. He presented ideas of perfect freedom and equality, which I'm sure many of us can agree on; however, he then took a drastic shift in to presenting new ideas very different to his original ones.

Locke asserts that creatures of the same species and rank should be equal among each other, which is a very relateable idea. It only makes sense that common people should be treated in the same way. However, I somewhat disagree with this idea. It is not right if people who are not alike, or hold different positions in society are treated differently from each other. True equality is when all people are treated the same. This is actually a very complicated idea because a person who had committed multiple crimes should not necessarily be treated the same as someone who has not committed crimes.

I found it very interesting that Locke presented only two states of nature, which were unity and chaos, there was no in between. And these two things depended on relationships and trust among the people. This is very similar to how the Declaration of Independence is stated. Most of it has to do with equality and the consequences that come with rejecting this idea. The Declaration of Independence states that "we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal", and the Of the State of Nature says that we need to "preserve the rest of mankind".

One of the main things I noticed that was different between the two was that Of the State of Nature is more blunt when concerning the death penalty and things of that nature. No pity was shown from John Locke concerning this subject which was very off putting to me. The transition from all men being created equally to punishing wrong doers was very unexpected.

I agreed with both of the writings on many points and believe that they bring about valid ideas that will make our society a better place.

Gun Rights

As many people can agree, there has been a lot of controversy concerning guns and gun rights in our society lately. With several deadly school shootings occurring across the country within the last decade, our government has been taking many serious steps in working on fixing this problem that has grown drastically over the last few years. Many laws have been reinforced in hopes of creating a safer environment for civilians and many protests and rallies have been held against the use and owning of guns. However, some people disagree, and think there is no harm in owning a gun for self-protection and that it is one of their rights to have one.

In Arkansas, there is a march this upcoming weekend where gun rights supporters plan to march the streets with their firearms to prove the point that a law, Act 746 to be exact, supports the open carry of handguns. Attorney General Dustin McDaniel disagrees with this march, and says that the act does not approve that people can openly carry handguns. Many people agree with McDaniel’s opinion.

With the help of police and prosecutors, the participating in the march plan to go through with the march and according to Fort Smith Police Chief Kevin Lindsey there wouldn’t be considered a violation unless one of the weapons are used on another person. The Second Amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms, but it doesn’t specify if they can be held by citizens publicly.

I understand both sides of this argument concerning gun rights. If someone owns a weapon, why shouldn’t they have the privilege to carry it in public? However, on the other hand, people may become tempted to use these weapons in everyday situations where they are not needed for protection.

Although both sides of the argument make sense, it would be far safer for people not to be allowed to publicly carry arms unless they are employed as a police officer, or any other job of that nature. With this simple change in our government, we can quickly avoid many deadly situations that could possibly lead to a decline in many other things such as education. The age of people who shoot guns will become younger which will lead to more youth in jail and our nation will have a lower education rate which will eventually lead to a decline in many other things that are very important to our society!