American citizens have the fundamental right to defend themselves. Americans also have the right to resist any crime that as the potential to cause great bodily harm or damage. To ignore these rights would be completely ignorant. Here in America, the right to carry weapons to defend oneself is a huge privilege that citizens of some other developed countries do not have. Healthy American citizens should rightfully carry weapons to defend themselves from any act of violence committed against or directed towards them.
John Lott once said, ”Some people use guns for horrible things, but some people use guns to prevent horrible things from happening”(Interview with John R. Lott Jr.,4). It is legal to use guns to prevent great bodily injury or death. The second amendment allows the individual to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation (Right-to-Carry, 1). The definition of resist is to, “withstand, strive against, or oppose.” Healthy American citizens have the right to do just that when it comes to any crime that can potentially cause them great bodily harm, or has the potential to kill them. Criminologist Gary Kleck concluded,” robbery and assault victims who used a gun to resist were less likely to be attacked or suffer an injury than those who did not use a gun or any other method to resist, or those who did not resist at all”(Right-to-Carry,1). Concealed handgun laws lower violent crimes for two reasons. First, criminals are afraid of potential victims that can defend themselves. Second, victims with guns are capable of protecting themselves (Interview with John R. Lott Jr., 1). Criminals who face higher penalties, like a gunshot wound, tend to not commit crimes. For every year a concealed weapon law is effective, murder r...
... middle of paper ...
...9 September 2008. Gun Owners of America. 3 April 2014. https://www.gunowners.org/sk0802htm.htm
“Guns and Violence: A Summary of the Field.” Catb.org. 8 April 2014. http://www.catb.org/esr/guns/point-blank-summary.html
“Gun Ownership at an All-Time High.” Nraila.org. 15 February 2013. National Rifle Association. 7 April 2014. http://www.nraila.org/news-issues/2013/more-guns-less-crime-2013.aspx?s=self+defense&st=&ps
“Majority of Americans Say Guns Make Homes Safer”. Washingtonpost.com. 18 April 2013. www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/04/18/majority-of-americans-say-guns-,make-homes-safer/
“Right-to-Carry”. Nraila.org. 28 February 2012. National Rifle Association. 11
Strahinich, Helen. Think About Guns In America. United States of America: Walker Publishing Company, Inc., 1992
Richman, Sheldon. "The Seen and Unseen in Gun Control." The Freeman 1 Oct 1998: 610-611
In Louisiana, gun ownership is one of the most valued rights because many see it as the only means for self-defense. Though it is a right, if crime rate increases due to gun violence, should self-defense hamper with the enforcement of gun-control laws? Currently, gun related crime is at “18.9 [...] deaths for every 100,000 people [...]” (“States With The Most Gun Violence: 24/7 Wall St.”). This statistic places Louisiana in one of the top spots for gun related crime, thus reminding us that gun-control is necessary. Gun-control measures can include restricting weapons such as the AK-47; a gun designed for battle-like encounters. Why would ordinary citizens need AK-47's anyway?
Ring, Ray. “Guns R Us.” High Country News (Paonia, Co) Vol. 39, No. 14 Aug. 6 2007:10-17. Sirs Issues Researcher. Web. 6 Oct. 2015.
Miss Strangeworth is a delusional perfectionist with a god complex. Throughout the story she manipulates
In the short story “The Possibilities of Evil” by Shirley Jackson several symbols to tell her story about Miss Strangeworth are very mystifying. The tell how she is and her personality. Her symbols in her life that are very important to her would be her roses. She love her roses because the were planted by her grandmother tended by her mother and now she does the same as her mother. Miss Strangeworth never gave any of her roses too anyone “At botherd Miss Strangeworth to think of people wanting to carry them away, too take them into strange towns and down strange streets…”. Her roses are something really ecstatic too her. The symbols that are very important to me in my life is family. To me family is everything, an at should always come first.
This is caused because the more guns there, are the less violence there is. Dangerous criminals will think twice about robbing someone that has a gun. A victim with a gun is no longer a victim because they can not fight back against the attacker. Therefore, they can save their lives and save lives of the public which need help at that moment. Lott states, “The estimated annual gain from 1992 from allowing concealed handguns was over $5.74 billion” (House Report). This states that when a decline in violence goes down the amount of money goes up. Concealed guns can only benefit everyone in multiple ways. Concealed weapons can help create the feeling of safety and reduce violence. No one wants to live in
America is the most well-armed nation in the world, with American citizens owning about 270 million of the world’s 875 million firearms (Marshall). Indeed, this is more than a quarter of the world’s registered firearms. The reason why Americans own so many guns is because of the Second Amendment, which states, “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.” (Rauch) This amendment guarantees U.S. citizens the right to have firearms. Since this amendment is relatively vague, it is up for interpretation, and is often used by gun advocates to argue for lenient gun laws.
Carter, Gregg. Guns in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture, and the Law. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2012. Print.
Americans have made it clear they reject most government intrusions on their basic civil rights, including the right of gun ownership. According to an April 18, 1994 study by Penn and Schoen Associates, Inc. as many as 85 percent of American adults said they are unwilling to forfeit basic civil liberties even if it could enhance their personal safety. 75 percent agreed that police and the justice systems couldn’t protect them; people said they have to take more responsibility for safeguarding themselves. 62 percent said the need for personal guns ownership is increasing, and a majority is unwilling to accept laws that restrict gun ownership greatly.
Wilson, H. (2007). Guns, gun control, and elections. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Supporters of gun control state that to decrease crimes committed with fire arms (which amass a high majority of crimes) guns should be banned from private ownership. This removes guns from the public, therefore taking away the instrument of easily accomplishing crimes. Arthur Kellermann and Donald T. Raey, two gun control advocates, did their own research into the issue and published a discovery of their own; the 43-1 Statistic. In this statistic, Kellerman and Raey state that a gun will be used in a justified shooting one time, while forty three other people are killed by a gun unjustly, either by suicide, accident, or criminal (Heumer 9). According to these two researchers, gun ownership is not worth it. Private ownership of guns saved one life wh...
Every neighborhood has that one old lady that looks so sweet but really isn’t. The lady in Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Possibility of Evil”, is a perfect example. Miss Strangeworth looks like a sweet old lady, but she has a side that nobody knows about. Miss Strangeworth‘s character can be analyzed by considering what she does, what the narrator says about her, and how other characters interact with her.
The setting in Possibility of Evil wasn’t clear and wasn’t given to the reader directly. You’ll have to infer a lot of the description of the setting by the dialogue and narration. The physical setting, the place was Mrs.Strangeworth’s town, mainly her house; which was surrounded by her beloved roses.
“Their best defense against injury is to put no defense and give them what they want” (Kates). Critics may argue that concealed handguns are not an effective form of self defense. To the contrary, robbery and assault victims who used a gun were less likely to be attacked or suffer injury, “Neither a martial art skills nor chemical sprays provide a real option for victims faced by attackers who are stronger or armed” (Kates). People feel safer when they carry a concealed weapon because they feel that criminals will avoid attacking them. Citizens want to conceal carry a handgun because every day there are dangerous individuals who prey on the weak. In addition to that, concealed handguns are an effective non-lethal form of self defense a majority of the time. Gary Kleck from the Federal Bureau of Investigation “estimated that, 2 million to 2.5 million victims annually use handguns to repel criminal attackers” (Kates). The surprise of being armed is the advantage for the victim, which the victim has the disadvantage of knowing the time and place of being attacked. Concealed carry actually provides protection to citizens that do not carry because the criminals are not sure who is able to defend themsel...
McClurg, Andrew J. Gun Control and Gun Rights: A Reader and Guide. New York: New York UP, 2002. Print.