America Needs More Gun Control

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.” What does the second amendment to the Constitution to the United States really mean? Does every citizen have the right to own a gun? Should there be limitations on who can possess a gun? Gun right advocates believe they have the right to possess a gun without restrictions. Gun Control advocates on the other hand support more limitations on the accessibility of guns and also want to ban certain types of guns. They argue that the more guns there are the more crime there will be. Is either one of these arguments justified? Which party is right in their interpretation of the second amendment?

Those in favor of the right to have possession of a gun say they have a gun for protection, and that guns do not cause more deaths. These advocates of gun rights use the fact that Switzerland with very little restraints on guns has very little crime. “Switzerland, through its militia system, distributes both pistols and fully automatic assault riffles to all adult males and requires them to store their weapons at home. Further, civilian long-gun purchases are essentially unregulated, and handguns are available to any adult without a criminal record or mental defect. Nevertheless, Switzerland suffers far less crime per capita then the United States an almost no gun crime” (Kopel 2002). Gun rights activists say that “Guns do not turn ordinary citizens into murderers” (Kopel 2002) Studies have established that less then one gun owner in 3,000 commits murder, and that one killer is far-flung from being a classic gun holder. Studies have also found that “two-thirds to four-fifths” of homicide offenders have previous arrest records (Kopel 2002).

Every month the NRA magazine publishes a section called “The Armed Citizen.” The section is full of newspaper clippings about citizens who have successfully defended themselves against a crime. For Example, one of the stores featured in the magazine was about a man, who is in a wheelchair, who had been beaten and robbed in five break-ins over the past two months. One night when the man heard prying at his window he fired a shotgun, and wounded the burglar and scaring him off (Kopel 2002). This is just one success story from owning a...

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...doing this paper I noticed that many of the people opposed to gun control like the NRA, are actually helping the cause of gun control. For instances, the NRA goes to schools and teaches about gun safety and also has class for people to attend about precautions and safety. Attending one of these classes is a big part for the gun control advocates. So in a way the NRA is helping out gun control, even though they don’t believe in it.

To sum things up, I feel that gun control is greatly needed in today’s society. There are too many people getting hurt or dying because of firearms. We need to set stricter limits on who can own a gun. We also need to have stricter sentences on imprisonment and the death penalty. If we as a nation really crack down on gun control, I feel, the number of deaths (either by accident of murder) will decrease drastically.

References

(2002, April 9) Gun control. http://www.justfacts.com/gun_control.htm

Jason. (2002, April 29). A case for gun control. http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~zj5j-gttl/guns.htm

Kopel, D. (2002, April 29). Trust the People: The Case Against Gun Control. http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pal09.html