Gun Control

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Gun Control

A problem that has developed recently in our society is the debate over gun control. Many questions arise concerning who should be able to own guns, and how those particular guns are obtained. One major debate is over our Constitutional right to own guns. I want to know when the government should draw the line. Statistics are not the only way a point can be proven about the harmful effects that guns have on our society. Stories from parents who have lost children, or children left fatherless or motherless due to gun violence hit home harder than graphs on paper.

How exactly do guns effect society? What is it that makes Americans so fascinated with guns? Erik Larson believes that the homicide fantasy is the engine that drives American’s fascination with guns (Larson 163). People by the thousands flock to shooting ranges year round in order to shoot at, what else, human silhouettes. Many shooting competitions are held in which the targets are humans that pop up out of nowhere. Let’s not forget video games. Children are more or less brainwashed into liking violence by use of guns. At the age that children are generally introduced to video games, their young minds still have not yet grasped the difference between reality and fiction. Guns have been an American pastime for generations. Old TV programs always show the heroes and bad guys in glorious gun fights. Many people collect guns, or use them for hunting. "By far the largest category of gun owners is those who use guns for sport" (Leddy 229). Police and military men use them for protection. Others, use them to kill maliciously. Research shows that over half of the households in America contain some sort of firearm. One-fourth of that number own a handgun a...

... middle of paper ...

...ess of

America, 1987.

MacGillis, Donald. Crime in America. Radnor, PA: Stonesong Press,

1983.

Sugarmann, Josh. National Rifle Association. Washington DC:

National Press Books, 1992.

Wright, James. Under the Gun. New York: Aldine Publishing Co.,

1983.

Bibliography:

Works Cited

Baker, Allen. Personal interview. 6 Nov. 1997.

Davidson, Osha. Under fire. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1993.

Larson, Erik. Lethal Passages. New York: Crown Publishers, 1994.

Leddy, Edward. Magnum Force Lobby. New York: University Press of

America, 1987.

MacGillis, Donald. Crime in America. Radnor, PA: Stonesong Press,

1983.

Sugarmann, Josh. National Rifle Association. Washington DC:

National Press Books, 1992.

Wright, James. Under the Gun. New York: Aldine Publishing Co.,

1983.

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