Our Right to Feel Safe
When it comes to gun control America seems to have divided opinions. It’s hard to tell if stricter gun control laws would solve the problem of mass shootings. The root of the argument is over the meaning of the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment has been scrutinized and debated over the past decade. With an abundance of inexplicable and vicious killings, the Second Amendment has been put under both the political and social microscope. Parties on both ends of the spectrum argue in attempt to try and prevent the tragedies we have seen in Sandy Hook and the recent Navy Yard Shooting in D.C, as well as multiple others. One group wishes to crack down on gun control by imposing harsher and more state gun control laws, while
…show more content…
E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post agrees with this, stating after the Navy Yard Shooting, “The most fundamental right is the right to be safe.” Americans should not be burdened with the worry that they can be shot any moment of the day. Guns capable of high caliber destruction do not have a place in society and without them the United States would be a much safer and happier country. Since Australia banned the use of guns with the National Firearms Agreement, their crime rate has gone down drastically, which leads to Senator Joe Lieberman’s point, “…the stronger our gun control laws are, the fewer acts of violence…” Lauren Hirsh comments on a statistical study done by Chapman on the Australian National Firearms Agreement (NFA) when she writes, “They also found that, while in the 18 years preceding the NFA there were 13 mass shootings, in the decade following its implementation there were none. Likewise, in the seven years since the study was published, no mass shootings have occurred in Australia”(Hirsh 90). Hawaii is the 6th strictest state in the United States in reference to gun laws. No citizen can acquire a gun without first going to the chief of police in the county in which the …show more content…
"False solutions to gun violence: in the rush to issue ideas to stop mass shootings, both gun control groups and pro-gun groups backed plans that can be described as unconstitutional people control." The New American 2013: 10. Academic OneFile. Web. 30 Oct. 2014.
HIRSH, LAUREN. "Brothers In Arms Control: Introducing Australian-Style Gun Control In The United States." Macquarie Law Journal 12.(2013): 81-108. Academic Search Complete. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.
Hanabusa, Rep. "Hawaii Has Shown That Gun Control Works." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 26 Sept. 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2014. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-colleen-hanabusa/hawaii-has-shown-that-gun_b_3998437.html>.
"Dionne: ‘The Most Fundamental Right Is the Right to Be Safe’." NBCNews.com. Web. 24 Nov. 2014. <http://www.nbcnews.com/video/the-ed-show/53026870>.
Kim, Susanna. "Top 12 Quotes About Gun Control After Newtown, Conn. Shooting." ABC News. ABC News Network. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.
Opposing sides have for years fought over the laws that govern firearms. For the purposes of this paper "Gun Control" is defined as policies enacted by the government that limit the legal rights of gun owners to own, carry, or use firearms, with the intent of reducing gun crimes such as murder, armed robbery, aggravated rape, and the like. So defined, gun control understandably brings favorable responses from some, and angry objections from others. The gun control debate is generally publicized because of the efforts of the Pro-Gun Lobby or the Anti-Gun Lobby.
middle of paper ... ... It is astonishing how the number of homicides, right after the 1997 gun control law took place, jumped drastically. This is just further evidence that strict gun laws will not protect people from violence. So even with all the shootings and random acts of violence, gun control laws should not happen because people will be safer with guns around.
Since 1996 Australia’s number of gun related deaths has decreased from 634 people a year to 226, which is a drop of 63%. This huge drop in gun related deaths is due to new legislation which was put in place due to the Port Arthur massacre where Martin Bryant cruelly killed 35 people and injured 23. This new legislation involved a gun buy-back scheme where people who owned now illegal guns were paid compensation and their firearms were taken and destroyed. Over a period of 7 years, the government bought and destroyed 660,959 fire-arms. This legislation has proved to be highly successful as for the past two decades gun-related deaths in Australia have dropped by 63%.
Riczo, Steven. "Guns, America, and the 21st Century." EBSCO.com. USA Today Magazine, n.d. Web. Mar. 2001.
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.
America is the most well armed nation in the world, with American citizens owning about 270 million of the world’s 875 million firearms (Marshall). Indeed, this is more than a quarter of the world’s registered firearms. The reason why Americans own so many guns is because of the Second Amendment, which states, “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.” (Rauch) This amendment guarantees U.S. citizens the right to have firearms. Since this amendment is relatively vague, it is up for interpretation, and is often used by gun advocates to argue for lenient gun laws. Hence, gun control is a frequently discussed controversial topic in American politics.
“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.” The right of all Americans to bear arms is a right the Founding Fathers held to equal importance as the Constitution itself. Gun control laws directly violate this right and therefore should not even be under consideration. Even if that issue is overlooked, gun control advocates state that in order to reduce firearm related violence, gun control laws must be implemented to remove the violence caused by firearms. Although this may seem reasonable, the consequences of such laws are ironically counterproductive; they exacerbate the problem instead of fixing it. Besides the fact that the American Constitution guarantees its citizens the right to bear arms, the idea of restricting gun ownership in order to reduce firearm-related violence would ultimately fail given the previous experiments of gun control in England and in numerous states.
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...
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.
43 of 50 states do not require permits in order for individuals to purchase guns. However, statistics show that these states have higher rates of firearm assaults (Pappas). In addition, proper background checks are not conducted on those making the purchase (Teen Vogue). This is significant because perpetrators look for the easiest way to let out their aggression, and complete the task efficiently. With a majority of states providing such easy access to this weapon, the main method of attack can easily be established. If the American Government improves this single factor, it is guaranteed that there will be improvement. In fact, this adjustment has been proved successful in Australia. In the 18 years before the Port Arthur tragedy of 1996, there were 13 gun massacres that occurred (Datz). The Government recognized that there was a fault in the system, and so, a mandatory buyback of all semi-automatic long guns was ordered. Alongside, laws regarding purchase of firearms were modified to be more effective (Datz). In the 20 years since then, there have been zero mass shootings. However, this is an action the American Government is unable to perform, resulting in more frequent reoccurrences. In conclusion, mass murders are rising, and will continue to rise, because of insufficient implementation of gun safety
Jacobs, James B., and Kimberly A. Potter. "Keeping Guns out of the ‘Wrong’ Hands: The Brady Law and the Limits of Regulation." The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology 86.1 (1995): 93-120. Print.
Gun control is an awfully big issue in the United States today. Many people in America don’t agree with the gun control laws that they have today. Gun control laws only take guns and freedom away from law-abiding citizens. Many citizens have their own reasons for owning a gun. Why would the government want to make it harder for people to own a gun? People that own guns aren’t very likely to be attacked by criminals. Owning a handgun is one of the best ways of protection when used correctly. The second amendment states “the right to bear arms”; does this grant everyone the right to own a gun? Gun control laws have not been proven to do anything for citizens. Gun control laws just make it harder for the good guy average Joe to own a gun. Gun control laws are not a good idea, and are taking part in the loss of our freedom that was given to us.
The United States holds five percent of the world’s population, yet thirty-one percent of the world’s public mass shootings (Christensen). Yes, legislation for stricter gun laws is discussed after each devastating shooting; however, the Second Amendment prevents any effective legislation from being passed. Eventually, the talk of new laws diminishes, leaving the number of mass shootings in America tremendously high. Because of the right to bear arms, gun laws remain loose, and American citizens continue to be murdered; therefore, Congress needs to amend the Second Amendment to restrict the right to bear arms and enable stricter gun laws to be passed.
McClurg, Andrew J. Gun Control and Gun Rights: A Reader and Guide. New York: New York UP, 2002. Print.
In the U.S. Constitution, it states that we have our own right to bear arms. The right to bear arms has two meanings. One is to defend the country. The other is to protect the right of the people. The 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is always being overlooked, therefore, causes the issue in resulting why guns are being abused throughout society. Although, guns can be routinely be effective, especially for war purposes, however, guns rather carry significant harm than they are beneficial. In America, we heard concerning the countless tragedies over the last decade involving the misuse of guns. Following the mass shooting tragic event at Sandy Hook Elementary School to present day, as stated in The Guardian, it states, “More than 90,000 Americans have been shot and killed by guns; more than 210,000 have been shot and injured; and there have been more than 1,000 mass shooting incidents where four or more people have been shot at one time” (Smith).