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School shootings
Why should we ban assault weapons essay
School shootings
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More and more frequently, we are saddened by the news of mass shootings. Whether it takes place in a school or public area, these shootings are both disastrous and mortifying. Families begin to feel anger and sadness, and demand immediate justice. Although these terrible events continue to happen, there have been no significant steps taken towards the reduction in the number of weapons; specifically assault rifles. This leads one to question do we need to ban the right to possess such weapons? If the possession of these weapons is not made illegal, we run the risk of another attack. While there is no questioning the severity of these mass shootings, a ban on assault rifles is not the answer because they are not the cause of such events, and it is a constitutional right to own them.
In 1994, Congress passed the Federal Assault Weapons Ban which eliminated the manufacturing of certain assault rifles for private use (Plumer). This bill expired in 2004, though, and was never redrafted. Many mass shootings in the last few years, especially ones at Virginia Tech, a movie theater in Colorado, and Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut have stirred up pressure to pass a new bill. Following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut last December, California Senator, Dianne Feinstein, drafted a bill to potentially ban the sale, transfer, manufacturing, and importation of assault rifles. This bill includes a ban on semiautomatic rifles, pistols, shotguns, and handguns. Additionally, it bans 157 other specifically-named firearms and certain ammunition feeding devices (Feinstein). Excluded from this ban are registered weapons at the date of the bill’s enactment and assault weapons used by military, law enforc...
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A growing number of publicized tragedies caused by gun violence have caused a great stir in the American community. Recently, President Barack Obama has made proposals to tighten the regulation of and the restrictions on the possession of weapons in America to lessen these tragedies. Should the legislative branch decide in favor of his proposals, all American citizens who do or wish to own the type of weapons in question or who use current loopholes in existing policy would be directly affected. His proposals, which are to “require background checks for all gun sales, strengthen the background check system for gun sales, pass a new, stronger ban on assault weapons, limit ammunition magazines to 10 rounds, finish the job of getting armor-piercing bullets off the streets, give law enforcement additional tools to prevent and prosecute gun crime, end the freeze on gun violence research, make our schools safer with new resource officers and counselors, better emergency response plans, and more nurturing school climates, [and] ensure quality coverage of mental health treatment, particularly for young people,” have been cause for a large amount of recent debate (whitehouse.gov).
Enforcing an assault weapons ban can reduce the all-too-familiar occurrences of mass shooting and massacres. When Adam Lanza shot 26 people in Sandy Hook Elementary School..police say he largely relied upon a Bushmaster AR-15 "assault-type weapon," a semiautomatic rifle that could rapidly fire multiple high-velocity rounds. He was also equipped with magazines that held 30 bullets each (Plumer). As a chart from Princeton's Sam Wang shows, the number of people killed in mass shootings did go down in the years the [1994 Assault Weapons Ban] was in effect...and the number of mass shootings per year has doubled since the ban expired (Plumer). This statistic clearly shows the effectiveness of the ban passed by Congress and signed by former president Bill Clinton as part of the V...
Assault weapon control is becoming an unavoidable topic in the United States. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation more than nine hundred people have died from mass shootings in the past seven years and an assault rifle was used in twelve of the forty-three mass shootings in the past four years. The U.S. Department of Defense has long defined assault rifles as fully automatic rifles used for military purposes. The National Firearm Act of 1934 prohibited fully automatic weapons in the United States. The 1994 Assault Weapon Ban prohibited semi and fully automatic weapons and any weapon with military style characteristics. California Senator, Dianne Feinstein, is leading the charge in the American government to pass a bill that will limit the capacity of ammunition in a magazine and ban assault weapons that are too dangerous for public use. It is time for the American government to act swiftly and acknowledge the dangers assault rifles pose.
Gun violence in the United States is higher than ever, and criminals with guns will “…kill as many as 1000 people each day” (Alpers&Wilson). Taking this into perspective, it is only right to fight fire with fire or, in this case, use a gun to protect yourself and those around you. Gun control does not only decrease the ability for protection, it also decreases our rights as U.S citizens. The constitution clearly states that we are given the right to bear arms, meaning we may carry fire arms. Even if we have stricter laws for guns, it will not stop killers from shooting innocent people. These men and women causing damage to the lives of numerous individuals do not care if there is a law banning guns, because all they truly want to do is hurt others. The pain citizens endure every day from losing a family member, friend, or even just a colleague is repulsive. These permanent deaths continue to make people fearful and it causes damage in their lives; unless something is done. Most people agree that action needs to be taken to stop this inhumane cruelty, but the question is; what can be done? Americans need protection, rights, and power to break this inexcusable gun violence circling America. Gun restrictions for trustworthy and reliable gun owners have not been proven to weaken gun violence in the United States; therefore, gun control should be limited because it is only hurting America, not helping it.
Assault weapons have been labeled as the number one source for mass killings in America. The idea that a weapon can fire a large amount of bullets at a remarkable speed can be used for recreational use was thought of otherwise. This type of weaponry was made for one reason and that is to eliminate as many people as possible and accomplish it in a reasonably fast time. The problem is everywhere and to help control the issue the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence is the nation’s largest organization dedicated to enacting and enforcing gun...
For many years, America has witnessed mass shootings within it’s borders. In 2015 alone, there were 372 mass shootings (Oldham). The question most Americans are faced with is: do we need more gun control or is gun control the problem? With more gun control, it can be made mandatory that protective devices are used on firearms to prevent accidental harm. Gun control creates mandatory laws such as the requirement for an individual to pass a background check before he/she is permitted to purchase a firearm. Gun control has also been proven to prevent suicides due to the increased difficulty of obtaining a firearm. Those who believe that gun control is the problem claim that by removing one 's firearms, you are endangering them to threats that
In the article “Gun Control Can Prevent School Shootings,” Bennett shares the effects of gun violence in the past, present, and future. The Sandy Hook shooting occurred on December 14, 2012 when twenty children and six adult staff members were killed. Barely a month after the shooting, eleven of the families affected by the shooting went to meet privately with Joe Biden, and members from the Congress and cabinet. Bennett stated, “They were preparing to wade into some of the roughest waters in American politics: the gun debate.” President Obama gave a speech in Connecticut vowing to fight for change. And as Bennett put it, “Members of Congress started acting as parents instead of politicians.” Bennett explained to the families that they couldn't get rid of assault weapons or high capacity ammunition magazines, no matter how bad the shooting was. The families got angry and stated they did not want to know what they couldn't do, but what they could do to honor their children.
“A handgun ban is not realistically enforceable. Confiscating guns would require house-to-house searches and alienate the very individuals whose compliances is essential to the success of any regulation. If gun ownership were prohibited, organized crime would step in to provide the firearms that will continue to be procured with criminal intent” (Done Kates). Over the past decade, the media has reported an increase in the severity of violent crimes as individuals have killed and hurt many others, including kids. Since 2006 there have been over 200 mass murders in the United States. Between 2006 and 2011 alone, the FBI has counted over 172 cases of mass killings, not including those unreported from different police agencies to the FBI (“Murders
When asked to describe the above-mentioned events, words like horrific, saddening, and terrifying inevitably are among the first to cross one’s mind. The question arises, “Where does the line lie that separates American’s personal freedom from the public’s safety?” The Second Amendment promises, “[…] the right of people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” But after the recent shootings and scares at the campuses of Purdue and Oklahoma University, one must ponder the idea, “Should America ban assault weapons?” This emotionally charged battle has even reached the White House steps, and is hotly debated by Republicans and Democrats alike. This paper will present a comparative analysis of banning and not banning assault weapons, and will conclude with a discussion in favor of lighter gun control.
The 2nd amendment “The Right to Bear Arms” has not been brought up to date in over 200 hundred years and it is time that we make the necessary adjustments. Handguns and assault weapons are to blame for many mass killings in America. Each year, more than 30,000 people die in the United States in firearm-related incidents. Handguns and semi automatic weapons have been used in these massacres. The choice of rules such as exercising the right to further background checks and limit the availability of automatic weapons should be the first and foremost concern of both federal and state legislators.
Is scary to think about family members or close friends dying innocently because they were victims of a gun shooting. The recent shooting at a 7-Eleven store, across from Cerritos College, has many people talking about gun violence. In America, on of the biggest issue is gun violence. Throughout the years, the gun violence in America has been increasing. Most of the time, the shootings occur at schools, stores and at public places where lots of innocent people get injured or dies. When a shooting happens, the news reporter, social media or at the front page of a newspaper talks about the problems with guns. There are two sides in this gun debate, one is making more laws and the other is more guns. Individuals must consider which side of the debate offers the greatest gain for the least cost. Looking back to laws, making more laws will not work because individuals will break the rules. Many will not stop until they own a gun, legally or illegally. Even though, some individuals do not favor the right to own a gun, owning a gun will determine the live or death of an individual by making sure the individual is safe. Having the right to own guns might help save more people’s lives because a gun will be a really good source of protection. In terms of the gun debate in America, individuals should prioritize personal liberty because having more guns people might feel more safe and protected.
One of the most controversial topics of the year is the argument on guns and the government attempting to ban and control certain guns. This topic has always been in disagreement among the American public but has recently become much more popular after several large-scale shootings such as the infamous Sandy Hook. Despite gun control appearing to be the solution to these tragic events, controlling and banning guns will simply not work. Why will it not work and why is it so bad? Because it has not worked before, current gun control laws and attempted laws target the wrong guns, banning the targeted guns or any guns for that matter will not prevent mass shootings, and it infringes on our constitutional rights as Americans. Together, we will not only be addressing these issues, but we will provide well thought out answers to many arguments that pro-gun control advocates can retaliate with.
Due to the alarmingly large number of public massacres, gun reform has yet again become a highly debated issue in America. In the past, laws were enacted that were meant to restrict ammunition and military classes of weapons from resale in the United States. Due to strong lobbying efforts of the National Rifle
The debate over gun control in America has constantly been brought up over the years due to gunmen killing large amounts of people in shootings. From Columbine to Sandy Hook, or the shootings of the two reporters in West Virginia, these public shootings are occurring everywhere. Lawmakers and civilians alike are pushing for increased gun control in hopes of preventing the same tragedies. Anyone that has been affected by the shootings has been pushing Congress and state governments to force new sanctions on the government. Over the past three years, Congress has shot down all the laws despite the large amounts of public support.
Over the past year, the United States has been plagued with controversy in regards to gun control legislation. On January 24, 2013, Senator Feinstein introduced the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013. The Assault Weapons Ban was a bill written to stop the acts of sale, transfer, importation, and manufacturing of military styled weapons. The NRA-ILA website quotes an excerpt of Feinstein’s bill, which states, “Feinstein’s new bill are as follows: Reduces, from two to one, the number of permitted external features on various firearms. The 1994 ban permitted various firearms to be manufactured only if they were assembled with no more than one feature listed in the law. Feinstein’s new bill would prohibit the manufacture of the same firearms with even one of the features.” (NRA-ILA) Wayne Lapierre, Executive Vice President of the NRA, said in 2009, “There’s not a dime’s worth of difference between the guns you want to ban and you don’t want to ban. You’re going to ban these semi-autos, and then it’s going to be handguns, and then it’s going to be pump shotguns.” Lapierre’s statement supports the fact that the recent gun ban legislation across the United States will not solve the problem of increased violence.