Guns in America sounds like the normal way to live. We have protests everyday because the American people feel threatened and wants their guns. A lot of the protestors say if all the pioneers of America can own a gun so should they. Many pioneers of America didn't own a gun according to many historians that probed the history of guns in America. When it comes to guns, specifically handguns, early Americans had little to no interest in buying or having a gun in their home. This is a major set back compared to what you see in western movies and TV shows for example cowboys and Indians.
The guns were long and the citizens' militias often lacked basic shooting skills.
18Th century firearms were bulky, undependable, expensive and required a high degree of maintenance and care. Consequently, relatively few people bothered to own one. An examination of more than a thousand probate records from New England and Pennsylvannia for 1765 to 1790 by historian Michael Bellesiles showed that only 14 percent of households had firearms and more then half of these firearms were inoperable. People like to use the excuse that all of the pioneers of America used guns to hunt but the pioneers didn't really go hunting. The pioneers depended on Indians or professional hunters. The professional hunters didn't even use guns, they use traps to catch their prey. In the 17th and 18th centuries, colonial settlers obtained meat mostly from domesticated animals, such as cows and pigs. In fact, prior to 1850, at most only a tenth of the nation's population individually owned guns. Those who did own guns tended to live in the South or in urban areas.
During the first 50 years of its existence, the federal government, averse to the costs of a standing army, tried to...
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...ad no control, you can order a gun through the mail but in 1961, Senator Thomas Dodd stopped mail- ordered guns and set an age limit of 18 years old. Unfortunately he didn't stop mail-ordered guns for all guns until the assination of President Kennedy.
Although guns have become a major part in our everyday lives, people die from it. We hear about the deaths on the TV but we brush it off because it's not us. We are so immune to the fact that guns are out there to kill us, to harm us. One gun can wipe out an entire generation in a blink of an eye. We go to reserches to find out if there is a cure for a new sickness but we don't handle guns on the street that kills more people than any other sickness out there combined. If there was stricter gun control in America, people with mental disabilities wouldn't be running around with guns. It's either gun control or no guns.
James D. Agresti and Reid K. Smith, (01/22/12). Gun Control Facts- “Number of Hunters in America. Retrieved on (02/11/12)
Civilian ownership of firearms has for more than two hundred years been the very cornerstone upon which the liberty of the public has been supported. The very reason that Americans have never suffered a tyranny on the scale of Nazi-Germany has been due to the proliferation of firearms in the hands of the general public.
Most gun control interest groups argue that a gun is the only commercially available product solely designed to kill. They believe there should be a ‘cooling off’ period before people are allowed to purchase a gun from the time of application for a license.
We have all been through that pain of losing a love one either it was to an incurable disease, old age, and car accident or during time of war. Nevertheless, we have lost more love ones through gun violence. People have own guns since the time guns were invented, but “Are guns for everyone?” We have heard of gun laws throughout the whole United States of America some enforce those laws and other do not. The government enforce stricter gun control laws so the public can be safe, to stop gun violence, and to avoid incidents that can lead to the tragedy.
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.
Take a look at the history of our country and the role guns have played in it. According to the second amendment gun ownership is perfectly legal and guaranteed as a right. There were and are good reasons for this, luckily they are still practiced today. Back in the day guns used to be for hunting and, on the occasion self defense. But when the colonists of this country had enough of British rule, they picked up there own personal guns and went to war and the British saw first hand how powerful the rough band of average American gun owners were. Our forefathers knew that the general population if armed would be key in winning the war. And it was.
In The United States of America there are lots of problems that are plaguing our nation. Gun Control is a problem that there is lots of controversy over. This is a problem that had a fire reignited under it when on December 14, 2012 a school in Connecticut was attacked. Many legislative bills have been introduced since then. (Focus of U.S Gun Control Shifts to States Year after Newtown Shooting) There are lots of issues that we have in our community with Gun Control that we have controversy over: background checks, age, classes, military guns, pistols, shotguns, and rifles. All of these things are apart of the plague in our Nation.
The problem of gun control laws, their correlation with the Second Amendment, and the federal laws and policies for reduction of gun violence is widely discussed in many theoretical sources and scientific research literature. For example, Phillip J. Cook and Jens Ludwig (2000) speak about gun violence in the everyday life of America. They put forward the facts about the crime and mass massacre connected with gun ownership and inappropriate use. They consider political, social, and economic reasons for gun ownership control by analyzing the psychological and moral influences of gun violence victimization and the main trends of overcoming it. The authors also make an outline on the major measures that should be taken to reduce gun violence (Cook & Ludwig, 2000).
”(Gopinak, 2007, p. 458 ). This demonstrates that United States is just not inclined to take any action on gun control which is leading to deaths of children and adults. Some individuals believe handguns are not needed in American 's society. Then those who oppose gun control argue guns are a necessity to: hunting in the wild, self-defense, and it is part of the American culture. Furthermore, gun violence is having a vast impact on loved ones; losing a family member can have enormous affect socially, physical and mentally.
If there was no gun control, then the rates of gun deaths might easily skyrocket. An example of why gun control is essential is when one considers the various instances of a mass shooting. Whenever gun related crimes happen, such as the shooting of cops, black people, or a mass shooting in schools, the country turns into national mourning, meaning that this has an effect on all Americans. The laws as they are now, and some of those that have been proposed, do not have sufficient guidelines in place to prevent such gun related deaths. Certainly, there is a need for more restrictive laws, and arguments for further restriction include societal needs, the increasing rates of the gun-related violence as well as death, questions of availability and
So why is gun control such a hot debate? Perhaps to answer this question it would be important to look at some key statistics concerning handguns in our society. In this nation, where nearly half of all US households own at least one gun, nearly 30,000 people die from a gunshot each year (Dahl). From this alone it is no wonder gun control is such an important issue, however as bad as this may seem, the number of firearm related incidents have decreased over the years. In the early 1990’s the number of people killed or wounded by firearms soared. Since 1993 however the US has seen a steady drop in deaths due to firearm (The Lancet). Fatal firearms accidents have declined as well, nearly 40 percent in the last decade, and are now at the lowest levels ever recorded (Poe). So why the sudden drop? Antigun advocates would like to attribute this to an increase in gun control laws while pro gun advocates point to a decrease in unemployment rates along with other social factors.
There is an American consensus for some form of gun control. “…[F]irearms were involved in two-thirds of all murders in the United States and [t]he United States leads the world's richest nations in gun deaths…murders, suicides, and accidental deaths due to guns - according to a study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the International Journal of Epidemiology” (Lepore). There might be some far extreme people who think that all guns should be banned but most sane Americans do not think that gun rights should be abolished. Americans regard self-defense as the most compelling reason to have a gun and twenty-two percent of households have handguns in the United States. However many people do think that gun control laws must be enacted and enforced. Pro-gun extremists and the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) must understand that there is a real for many people at the uncontrolled s...
trying to implement laws that will keep weapons out of the hands of every one.
The government has passed many laws regarding the ownership and use of firearms. Currently the federal law states the following: The use of any firearm in a violent or drug trafficking crime is punishable by law. A person who wishes to purchase a firearm must be 18 years of age to purchase a rifle or shot gun and a person must be 21 years of age to purchase a hand gun. Regarding travel, notwithstanding any state or local law, a person shall be entitled to transport a firearm from any place where they may lawfully possess and transport such firearm if the firearm is unloaded and in the trunk.
In the article “Gun Ownership in Early America: A Survey of Manuscript Militia Returns” by Robert Churchill, he discusses how gun ownership in the early 18th and 19th centuries was scarce and at times the armed militias were the only people who had guns at all. It was because of this that the government made gun ownership exceptional. This is different from today when gun ownership is everywhere. Due to the high concentration of guns sometimes it is hard to count how many are sold in the United States every year. To learn that guns, at one time, were almost non-existent is almost hard to believe.