Is it any coincidence that the states with the loosest gun laws in America tend to contribute to the highest amount of national gun deaths and injuries? This is one of the main questions we should be asking when deciding what is best for our country and its citizens. Although gun control has been an ongoing issue, certain events like the Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, and the Aurora, Colorado mass shootings have increased our attention to this topic. Although I believe that Americans possess the right to own a firearm, I believe there should be detailed screening and control systems to keep guns out of the wrong hands, to prevent more gun violence from happening in the future.
I don’t necessarily think that gun ownership should be completed prohibited. In order to make the United States safer, stricter gun laws should be placed. With more gun laws comes less gun tragedies such as mass shootings and accidental shootings. Although many people believe that placing gun laws on American’s is an act against our own personal freedom and “right to bear arms” in the long run we should be thinking more about how to reduce the amount of tragedies that happen every year in the United States. Surely, if your own family member or friend was involved in such violent acts as these, you would feel much safer if gun laws were in place.
After watching the video, Innocents Betrayed, I still stand strong with my advocacy for stricter gun control laws. This video brought an interesting side to gun control by showing the negative affect that these laws could play on our country that I had never really thought about before. I don’t believe that these specific instances in history relate in any way to our present day problems with gun control. Within each of...
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...ter. Hunters and people who use guns for sport should have no trouble possessing guns if they are emotionally sound so it isn’t exactly a problem for anyone.
In conclusion, enabling stricter gun control laws will help to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill, criminals, and children and teens. With these laws put into place there will be more assurance of the safety of American citizens. It is not necessary to strip citizens of their right to own a gun, but we should be able to make it harder to get guns. If you are someone with a clear record and using a gun for recreation use, you will have no trouble obtaining a gun. In the long run increase the laws on gun control hurts nobody. Despite historic events where governments seized firearms and killed millions of citizens, today we have a different problem, which is making sure guns are in the right hands.
As a result of several recent mass shootings, gun control has become a popular topic. Gun control refers to the laws, background checks, and more protections against mentally ill individuals purchasing firearms. Some of the population believes that gun control should be strengthened, while the others are against it. There have been many situations in which firearms were used to harm innocent people, but gun control is not the solution to the problem we face as a nation.
In America guns have been a part of the country’s society since it’s birth. Throughout history the citizens of the US have used firearms to protect the nation, protect their families, hunt for food and engage in sporting activities. The issue of Guns and gun control is complex. Weighing the rights and liberties of the individual against the welfare and safety of the public has always been a precarious balancing act. In the United States, gun control is one of these tumultuous issues that has both sides firmly entrenched in their positions. Those parties in favor of gun ownership and the freedom to use and keep arms, rely on the fact that the provision for such rights is enshrined in their constitution. In this climate of growing violence, rife with turmoil and crime, gun advocates feel more than ever that their position is justified. As citizens of the “Land of the Free” possessing a gun is a fundamental right, and may even be a necessity... Anti- gun lobbyists point to the same growing violence and gun related crimes in an effort to call on the government to take action. By enacting more laws and stricter control, these people not in favor of guns feel society would be better safer.
Aroung the time of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, the controversial and widely argued issue of gun control sparked and set fire across America. In the past decade however, it has become one of the hottest topics in the nation. Due to many recent shootings, including the well known Sandy Hook Elementary school, Columbine High School, Aurora movie theater, and Virginia Tech, together totaling 87 deaths, many people are beginning to push for nationwide gun control. An article published in the Chicago Tribune by Illinois State Senator Jacqueline Collins, entitled “Gun Control is Long Overdue” voiced the opinion that in order for America to remain the land of the free, we must take action in the form of stricter gun laws. On the contrary, Kathleen Parker, a member of the Washington Post Writers Group whose articles have appeared in the Weekly Standard, Time, Town & Country, Cosmopolitan, and Fortune Small Business, gives a different opinion on the subject. Her article in The Oregonian “Gun Control Conversation Keeps Repeating” urges Americans to look at the cultural factors that create ...
This essay will discuss the pros and cons of gun control. Some U.S. States have already adopted some of these gun control laws. I will be talking about the 2nd amendment, public safety, home safety, and do gun control laws really control guns. I hope after you have read this you will be more educated, and can pick your side of the gun control debate. So keep reading and find out more about the gun control laws that the federal and some state governments want to enforce on U.S. Citizens.
Gun control laws aim to restrict or regulate firearms by selecting who can sell, buy and possess certain guns. Criminals do not obey laws and stricter gun control laws or banning guns will have little effect on reducing crimes. There are many myths about gun control reducing acts of gun violence, which are simply not true according to research. People are responsible for the crimes, not the guns themselves. Taking guns away from United States citizens that use them for many reasons, shooting practice, competition, hunting and self-defense, should not be punished for the acts of criminals. As stated by Mytheos Holt, “Guns in the right hands help public safety. Guns in the wrong hands harm public safety”. Research shows that defensive use of guns discourages criminals and reduces crime (Holt 2). Not only is it wrong to penalize law-abiding citizens, it is against the Second Amendment. It is unconstitutional to pass laws that infringe on the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
With all the shootings and random acts of violence, such as the shooting at the movie theatre in Colorado, or the Sandy Hook shootings, stricter gun control laws have been a hot topic in politics and the national mainstream media. The government thinks that gun control being stricter would help to make less of these tragic incidences occur. I am against this thought because I believe that the law-abiding citizens will be the only ones to give up their guns and criminals will then have an upper hand on the innocent. Even though banning guns is supposed to save lives, cities such as Chicago have already shown that stricter gun laws should not be passed because violent murders are still prevalent in these types of cities and strict gun laws have not worked like they were supposed to.
Gun violence in the United States is higher than ever, and criminals with guns will “…kill as many as 1000 people each day” (Alpers&Wilson). Taking this into perspective, it is only right to fight fire with fire or, in this case, use a gun to protect yourself and those around you. Gun control does not only decrease the ability for protection, it also decreases our rights as U.S citizens. The constitution clearly states that we are given the right to bear arms, meaning we may carry fire arms. Even if we have stricter laws for guns, it will not stop killers from shooting innocent people. These men and women causing damage to the lives of numerous individuals do not care if there is a law banning guns, because all they truly want to do is hurt others. The pain citizens endure every day from losing a family member, friend, or even just a colleague is repulsive. These permanent deaths continue to make people fearful and it causes damage in their lives; unless something is done. Most people agree that action needs to be taken to stop this inhumane cruelty, but the question is; what can be done? Americans need protection, rights, and power to break this inexcusable gun violence circling America. Gun restrictions for trustworthy and reliable gun owners have not been proven to weaken gun violence in the United States; therefore, gun control should be limited because it is only hurting America, not helping it.
Many shootings sere committed by those diagnosed with a mental illness. “Laws cannot regulate responses to emotions, mental illnesses, or past events that foster the concepts and motivations of a killer” (O’Brien and Stanton). What causes these laws to not regulate certain people is that they have a certain mental illness or emotion. Laws cannot regulate the internal emotional force. Laws can only imply to those who are capable of understanding and complying with them. “Emotionally unsound people who wish to find weapons will find weapons through any means necessary” (O’Brien and Stanton). A person who happens to have a certain mental illness may not realize that what they are doing is wrong. Usually the mentally ill find their weapons through taking them from their family members or from purchases that they have made. People that have a mental illness or are on a medication are just one reason why gun control needs to be implied more. A person that hap...
In conclusion, enforcing gun laws would not be the best solution in reducing violence in the United States. Educating people and telling them to always contact police if they cannot handle a situation is always the best option. Guns provide protection and can save a family from a home break in or protect a store owner late at night from robbers who may threaten him or her for money. Not only are guns protected in the constitution, but they are also a part of the American tradition.
“A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” The right of all Americans to bear arms is a right the Founding Fathers held to equal importance as the Constitution itself. Gun control laws directly violate this right and therefore should not even be under consideration. Even if that issue is overlooked, gun control advocates state that in order to reduce firearm related violence, gun control laws must be implemented to remove the violence caused by firearms. Although this may seem reasonable, the consequences of such laws are ironically counterproductive; they exacerbate the problem instead of fixing it. Besides the fact that the American Constitution guarantees its citizens the right to bear arms, the idea of restricting gun ownership in order to reduce firearm-related violence would ultimately fail given the previous experiments of gun control in England and in numerous states.
There is an American consensus for some form of gun control. “…[F]irearms were involved in two-thirds of all murders in the United States and [t]he United States leads the world's richest nations in gun deaths…murders, suicides, and accidental deaths due to guns - according to a study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the International Journal of Epidemiology” (Lepore). There might be some far extreme people who think that all guns should be banned but most sane Americans do not think that gun rights should be abolished. Americans regard self-defense as the most compelling reason to have a gun and twenty-two percent of households have handguns in the United States. However many people do think that gun control laws must be enacted and enforced. Pro-gun extremists and the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) must understand that there is a real for many people at the uncontrolled s...
Gun control will be beneficial to our society because it will provide an opportunity to make our neighborhood and communities more safe. In addition, it will help in decreasing the crime rate, help in keeping guns out of the hands of people who are mentally unstable as well as criminals. It is most American's dream to live life, be successful, and be safe; containing guns provide the key to do that.
Many advantages and drawbacks have been debated concerning gun control. Over the years, the federal government has made various laws restricting gun possession and use (O’Neil 56). Congress has reinforced the 1938 gun-control law that now denies a gun dealer from selling handguns to buyers under the age of twenty-one (O’Neil 56). Gun control laws also prohibits a gun dealer to sell a firearm to the mentally ill, convicted felons, and selling a rifle to buyers under eighteen (O’Neil 13). Gun control eliminates some factors relating to firearm violence and illegal possession which is the top priority for this law (O’Neil 60). Recent laws have become stricter regarding firearms this can be viewed as a good idea but, to any law there is a disadvantage (O’Neil 61). In the near future if firearms become heavily restricted, the only users will be the users who flaunt the law which are the very people who should not possess a firearm (Bernards 23). Even if it was possible to ban guns there are several hundred million firearms in private hands right now (O’Neil 84.) People have discussed this decision thoroughly it may or may not reduce gun violence in America (O’Neil 67). One such example that banning guns could work is Great Britain who, after a severe massacre that occurred in 1996 decided to ban firearms (O’Neil 64). Great Britain banned all semiautomatic and handguns also encouraged their citizens to hand their weapons to the British government (O’Neil 65). Gun control is viewed as positive and a negative on how the government will ands controlling guns around the United
Gun control does not only take guns away from criminals, gun control also limits law-abiding citizens from protecting themselves and their families when necessary. Those who argue for gun control usually state guns are a part of most violent crimes. However, this is not always true. While it is true that limiting gun ownership with laws could prevent individuals from possessing guns, it does not prevent people from illegally having or using guns. Those who carry guns legally are not the problem.
After the tragic incident at Sandy Hook many were for the banning of firearms in the US; however, after our government has enforced gun safety laws shootings continue to occur. Guns have existed in the United States for a very long time and have affected the course of history. We the people of the United States have the right to bear arms. Our leaders believe that removing them from the country will lead to a better and safer country; however, I am here to tell you otherwise. Banning guns in the US is a terrible idea because it will not keep guns out of the hands of criminals, it will hurt law abiding citizens, and most importantly may leave citizens at the hands of a tyrannical government.