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Public policy on gun control
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An Analysis of the Gun Control “Circus” through Political Satire Gun control in America is a “hot button” issue that typically gets attention in the mainstream media following gun related tragedies. In recent years, these tragedies usually involve mass shootings. While there is nothing funny about the mass murder of American people, the debates that often follow these events can sometimes resemble a “three ring circus”. Proponents of gun control believe that current laws do not address the issue of gun violence. Advocates of gun rights feel that the current laws either go too far or that more regulation would be too much. The following political cartoons address some of the issues in American gun control policy. The right to own guns is provided for in the second amendment of the U.S. Constitution. In Figure 1, President Obama has used his executive order “stamp” to stamp “void where prohibited by law” on the second amendment. This action implies that Obama could use an executive order to prohibit the right to bear arms. In actuality, Obama did issue twenty-five executive orders regarding gun control in 2013, none of which banned the right to own firearms (Bramble 2014). The second amendment states, “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a Free State, the right of the …show more content…
Figure 3 depicts the “gun nuts” telling Uncle Sam that the Navy Yard Shooting was caused by mental illness. Uncle Sam is “clearly” not impressed with this explanation. The fact is that studies show that mental illness is not a predictor of future violence. A history of violent behavior is the best indicator of future violence (Bramble 2014). Uncle Sam may be alluding to the “gun nut’s” mental state. However, ultimately it’s impossible to know if someone with a mental disorder or without a mental disorder may become violent. This comic “clearly” illustrates what is wrong with the mental health
"The Controversy of Gun Control." Open Discussion about Various Controversies. N.p.. Web. 3 Dec 2013. .
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.
The Second Amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms, but only in cases of self-defense and hunting for food. However, the use of guns has drastically changed since 1791 when the amendment was implemented. Today, guns are not solely used in their intended ways. Since 2010, over eighty-seven school shootings have occurred within American grade schools, high schools, and universities, resulting in approximately 107 injuries and 109 murders of innocent students. The two most deadly shootings in the world occurred in the United States: the Virginia Tech University Massacre which left thirty-two dead and Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting which left twenty-eight dead. Each new shooting prompts a debate about gun control laws and leaves citizens wondering about the accessibility of guns; any United States citizen over the age of twenty-one that does not have any previous felonies is able to easily receive a gun license. Forty-nine out of the sixty-one school shootings that occurred between 1982 and 2012 legally obtained firearms. The statistics become even more outstanding: seventy nine percent of all shooters have been diagnosed with a mental illness or disability, including the Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook shooters, Seung-Hui Cho and Adam Lanza. Cho and Lanza were diagnosed with mental illnesses and disabilities, depression and autism, respectively. Even so, they were still able to acquire the guns they needed because extensive mental health background checks did not and still do not exist; Cho purchased his own weapon and Lanza stole his mother’s guns. Although the case studies of Lanza and Cho are only two out of the many school shootings, they should be considered prime examples to illustrate the necessity to add stri...
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 ...
Opposing sides have for years fought over the laws that govern firearms. For the purposes of this paper "Gun Control" is defined as policies enacted by the government that limit the legal rights of gun owners to own, carry, or use firearms, with the intent of reducing gun crimes such as murder, armed robbery, aggravated rape, and the like. So defined, gun control understandably brings favorable responses from some, and angry objections from others. The gun control debate is generally publicized because of the efforts of the Pro-Gun Lobby or the Anti-Gun Lobby.
Over the past years media has been overwhelmed with news about mass shootings happening around America and if mental illness is the primary cause of the violent act. On February 2014, Jonathan M. Metzl and Kenneth T. MacLeish published their article “Mental Illness, Mass Shootings, and the Politics of American Firearms” in the American Journal of Public Health that addresses the issue that mental illness has very little to do mass shootings which is commonly used on the aftermath of the shooting
Gun control is an issue that has plagued the United States Government, Industries, Corporations, the people around the world, and especially the media for various years. It is an issue that can not be solved easily without either infringing on the rights of individuals, or leaving an easier way for terrorists and criminals to harm civilization in the United States. It is also an issue that can be viewed in many ways, and can be acted upon either slowly, or at the drop of a gabble. These things entice the media and draw them in like bait, which in turn can have major and dramatic effects on the points of view of the media’s audience, and it can also portray biased views toward issues such as thou, and cause its audience to obtain
The second amendment states that, “The right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” It would not make sense on why we would want to go against the second amendment of the constitution. It is our right for lawful citizens to bear arms. Just because of all the shootings
Markowitz, F. E. (2011). Mental illness, crime, and violence: Risk, context, and social control. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 36-44.
When looking at gun control laws through a functionalist paradigm we have to look at how having more gun control laws and not having gun control laws will effect the people that use them. Functionalist theory “interprets each part of society in terms of how it contributes to the stability of the whole society” (Crossman). This means that when looking at something though this perspective you have to also look at all of the different possibilities that could result from a certain change. There are multiple ways you can look at gun control though a functionalist perspective. One way would be to look at how this could effect people is by looking at how having stricter gun laws will effect people, as compared to not having has strict gun laws. By not having stricter gun laws people will be able to assert their amendment right to buy a gun, but this can lead to more people being able to get guns that should not haven them.
I am so tired of the sickly platitudes: “our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims.” And I am sick to death of the rationalizations: “guns don’t kill people; people kill people.”
In this article the author Fawn Johnson gives us a brief look of what goes on during the great gun control debate. This article gives us a look at the gun control proposals, from American’s not bein...
The topic of gun control comes with a widely spilt crowd. Some people believe that gun control is essential, especially in today’s world. Some people think gun control will help with decreasing crime and making the nation a safer place for us to live. On the other hand, there are people who speak of anti-gun control. These people believe the right to bear arms would make our nation a safe place to live due to the fact that we would have protection. Do you think the Government has the right to make something illegal like the right to bear arm? In my opinion, the Government cannot simply because it will be an offence to our founding fathers, who gave us the national right to bear arm. Also, for making
It is evident that those with mental illnesses have an increased likelihood of committing crimes. It is important to note, however, that not all people with mental illnesses commit crimes or violent behavior so a cause is not evident. Substance abuse, a mental disorder, is also seen as a large risk in violent behavior (Silver 2006). Hiday (1995) asks the questions of the direction of this correlation. Does mental illness lead to violence or is it vice versa?
Glied, S., & Frank, R. G. (2014). Mental Illness and Violence: Lessons From the Evidence.