Argumentative Essay On Gun Control

“It is in our sincerest hope that even those on the extremes begin to look for areas of agreement, and use those areas as a point of departure for sensible approaches to minimize the dreadful harm that gunshot injuries cause” (Boylan, Kates, Lindsey & Gugala, 2013). Despite the declining rates of gun-related deaths, it can be agreed gun violence is prevalent in the United States. Compared to other developed countries, the United States maintains the highest rate of gun ownership as well as gun-related deaths (Lopez, 2018; Masters, 2016; Preidt, 2016). This in part is due to a lack of stringent gun control. Unlike the United States, other developed countries have enacted regulations in response to mass-shooting events. Common regulations developed

This divide complicates any action for compromise. Those who advocate for gun control promote a ban for high-capacity magazines, assault weapons and civilian ownership of military-grade firearms. They argue rates of suicide, homicide, accidental gun-related injuries and societal costs related to gun violence will decline. They also argue that guns are rarely used for self-defense but rather stolen and used by criminals. Lastly, they believe the Second Amendment was not established as an unlimited right to own guns but instead as a protective right for militias to own

According to the Second Amendment, “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” (U.S. Const. amend. II). Following the ratification of the Ten Amendments were gun regulations that further defined and shaped the Second Amendment. In the 1930s were three acts of legislation that passed in regards to gun control. The National Firearms Act of 1934, which imposed the manufacture, sale and transport of firearms to be taxed; the Federal Firearms Act of 1938, which required manufacturers, importers and dealers to obtain a federal firearms license; and the 1939 United States v. Miller ruling, which regulated the sales of short barrel shotguns (Gray, 2018). As a result of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, more strict regulations were imposed under the Gun Control Act of 1968. This legislation banned the transportation of firearms (unless used for sporting events) and the eligibility for felons and those labeled mentally ill to purchase a firearm. This act also required buyers of handguns to be at least 21 years of age and firearms to be manufactured with serial numbers. According to Gray, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) considered this act the “stricter licensing and regulation on the firearms industry”