Gun Control

The bullet, a small metal rounded cylinder with a egg-shaped tip, is fired from a firearm. Travelling at top speeds of 460 meters per second from a handgun (The Physics Factbook), it can instantly kill a man. That man might be some innocent victim on his way home from work to his wife and three kids. However, this victim caught in the crossfire could be a burglarer, con artist, organized crime member, rapist, or even a murderer. Crime nowadays has increased in both frequency as well as level of threat to the public. The only thing standing in crime’s way is the firearm that can stop a burglary, a rape, or even another murder. Unfortunately, recent gun bans and magazine limitations are threatening American’s rights to own firearms. These restrictions are evident across the country, especially in the state of New York. One example of these bans is Governor Andrew Cuomo’s recent limitations on high capacity magazines and the broadening definition of assault rifles in New York State. Although these recent gun bans in New York State have spread to other states, such as California and Colorado, the attempts to control gun violence are targeting the law-abiding, gun-owning citizens rather than the convicted felons or the mentally ill, who are usually the assailants in the shooting massacres around the country.

Although many of the new gun control laws put into effect target the firearm itself, firearm sales have been increasing. Since 2003, murder has decreased by 17%. Advocates need to review their assumption that more guns equals more crime. Private guns are now in the hands of about 300 million Americans, yet crime has diminished in the U.S.’s past 20 years. To halt any more mass killing shooters such as Adam Lanza, the 20 yr-old shoo...

... middle of paper ...

... Although many states in the United States have turned towards stronger firearm restrictions as well as magazine limitations, these supposed resolutions by the government target the citizens who own legally registered firearms instead of the mentally ill or convicted felons. Adam Lanza, the shooter from the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre, obtained his semiautomatic Bushmaster XM-15 from his mother, whom he killed in cold blood. More recently, the September 16th, 2013 Navy Yard shooting by Aaron Alexis claimed the lives of 12 civilian contractors. Alexis passed the federal and state background checks in Virginia to obtain the shotgun he used. The unfortunate, sad, and innocent deaths of gunshot victims can be stopped only if the government prevents potential shooters using intensive background checks. Guns don’t kill people: rather, people with guns kill people.