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Controversy for the second amendment
Controversy over the second amendment
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Jack Pinto, 6-years-old. Josephine Gay, 7-years-old. Dylan Hockley, 6-years-old. Mary Sherlach, 56-years-old. Grace McDonnell, 7-years old. These are the names of five of the 33,092 people who were killed by guns in 2012. In a country where there are more guns than people, it is tragically selfish that the mass shootings of students and innocent people are a fair compromise for having an unhealthy obsession with guns. It is long overdue that America imposes stricter gun laws. The United States should impose stricter gun laws because homicide levels due to guns are too high, guns are proven to not be efficient in deterring criminals, and the use of the Second Amendment to defend “rights” it not a logical reason in modern times on which to lean. Where there …show more content…
This is seen across households, states, and countries. While a critic might point out that it would be expected that there are more gun-related deaths in the United States because there is a significantly larger population than other countries, that argument is simply not logical. The United States, with a total of 270 million civilian guns, has 88.8 guns per 100 people. The developed country with the second highest rate of gun ownership is Yemen, with only 54.8% ownership and 11.5 million civilian guns. The United Kingdom boasts a mere 6.7% civilian gun ownership rate and 6.6% of homicides committed with guns. Why would the United Kingdom have such a low gun ownership rate? The answer is simple: gun laws. Catalyzed by a few mass shootings, the United Kingdom enacted strict gun laws. In Britain, assault weapons and handguns are banned and the government is required to check the backgrounds of people who purchase other varieties of firearms. Legal firearms such as rifles and shotguns
In Mallory Simon article "Gun Debate: Where is the Middle Ground?" Amardeep Kaleka made a vow: He would do whatever he could to ensure nobody ever went through what his family had. When his father was one of the victims of the Sikh shooting. Kaleka asked a panel of polar opposite views if there was a middle ground. Though they had opposite views the panel was able to come to an agreement that enforcing background checks is the middle ground. It will take a lot of money and resources but they feel it is the best option/first step to improving gun control in America.
The debate over firearms has been polarized for too long. Gun law is a never-ending issue because there hardly is any true debate. Americans (and even gun owners) do support the governments efforts to make sure guns are less dangerous in violent hands, but that is the main problem-the guns getting in the wrong human hands. Millions of law-abiding Americans do own and do enjoy their guns. But criminals and sometimes-disconcerted kids often use firearms to kill. The use of firearms has increased tremendously. An average day in Los Angeles is four people dying in a gun related crime and the United States faces approximately 87 deaths a day. There are more than 200 million guns in circulation in the United States and if you don’t own a firearm, chances are that your neighbor or friend does (Fineman 27). Sure, the Founding Fathers incorporated the Second Amendment as “the right to keep and bear arms,” but it did not give the distinction of using guns to kill more children and people than anywhere in the world.
When looking at all of the important issues of today’s society, one of the most neglected issues revolves around guns. Guns serve two different purposes: to defend and to kill. Even though I’ve been on this Earth for only 21 years, I’ve become keen and have taken an interest in the study of guns and how they pose more problems in society than any other issue. My interest all started around the time of the Columbine shooting in Colorado and how society has taken steps since that point in history. Going back to the two different purposes, both have been used to help explain the differences in the distinctions of different gun related events that continue to occur, such as mass shootings. Problem analysis, as stated, will help to explain how guns can be seen differently from each individual and what can be gained or lost from a deep analysis.
The debate over the right to bear arms according to the Second Amendment has been a hotly contested issue for many years in American history. The matter has been one of the most controversial issues in the second half of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first; disputed between politicians on the liberal and conservative side along with issues such as abortion, capital punishment, and gay marriage. The Supreme Court has officially defined the controversial Second Amendment by stating that states have the right to maintain a militia separate from a federally controlled army (Gale Encyclopedia, pg. 155-162). However, “Courts have consistently held that the state and federal governments may lawfully regulate the sale, transfer, receipt, possession, and use of certain categories of firearms, as well as mandate who may and may not own a gun (Gale Encyclopedia, pg. 155-162).” Therefore, the issue is one that is extremely hard to clarify. Which side is right?
“It is estimated that there are 310 million non – military guns in America” (O’Brien and Stanton). Many people that own a firearm usually have more than one gun. Also, a majority of gun owners feel that owning a firearm is the best way to protect themselves at home. With the large number of guns said to be in America, there needs to be a way to prevent the number of frequently occurring mass shootings. The solution to this issue is called gun control. Gun control needs to be implied more in our society because gun related crimes are mostly committed by those diagnosed with mental illnesses, there is no contradiction with the second amendment, it has the ability to lower the amount of mass shootings in the United States, and universal background checks help prevent mass shootings.
The United States Constitution is regarded as the supreme law of the land. When it was drafted over two centuries ago, the goal of the founding fathers was to provide for the general welfare and common defense of all citizens, establish a more perfect Union and insure domestic tranquility for the United States of America. Unfortunately, this tranquility has been disturbed by unnecessary tragedies at the hand of armed individuals. Tragedies like the Sandy Hook shooting and the Columbine massacre, where armed individuals took the life of innocent civilians mercilessly, have shaken our communities and forced us to take a different approach when it comes to gun safety. Gun control has been the topic of many heated debated in recent years. We have, as a nation, become so accustomed to firearms in our everyday lives whether for protection, hunting, or self-defense, that we have forgotten that firearms are dangerous and deadly weapons. The second amendment of the Constitution grants all individuals the right to bear arm; however, this amendment continues to be used and abused by individuals who chose to interpret it differently than it was originally intended. It is our duty, as citizens of this great nation, to open our eyes wide and realize that this problem is not going to fix itself. Although the right for all individual to bear arm is granted and secure in our Constitution, it is imperative for the safety our population to regulate all gun purchases and tighten by the requirements necessary to purchase a firearm in order to prevent further tragedies from occurring.
Today in the United States many people argue over the fact of guns being legal or illegal. There are people using guns for personal safety and there are others who use them for crimes, as well as for other situations. Firearm deaths in the United States have slowly been decreasing from year to year with all these bills getting passed to promote a safer country than ever before. Guns are the main weapon for youth suicide, school shootings, and for committing murder. In 2010 there were 2,711 infants, child, and teenage firearm deaths. As in school shootings and in committing murder, studies show shooters often had multiple, non-automatic guns, shootings were planned, most youth tell before shooting, shooters have a history of being bullied or threatened, shooters have mental issues, and shooters have done suicidal gestures before (Gun Control with School Shootings). Although there are people who use guns for murdering, there are also those who oppose guns being used without the proper requirements. 85% of all respondents to the survey supporting requiring states to report people to national background-checks systems who are prohibited from owning gu...
Justin King once stated that “The UK enacted its handgun ban in 1996. From 1990 until the ban was enacted, the homicide rate fluctuated between 10.9 and 13 homicides per million. After the ban was enacted, homicides trended up until they reached a peak of 18.0 in 2003. Since 2003, which incidentally was about the time the British government flooded the country with 20,000 more cops, the homicide rate has fallen to 11.1 in 2010. In other words, the 15-year experiment in a handgun ban has achieved absolutely nothing”. The United Kingdom tried a 15 year ban of guns and all it did was increase the rate of crimes. From 1990 until the ban was put into work the homicide rate went from 10.9 to 13 per million. After the ban was there for a while the homicides reached to 18.0 in 2003. In the same year the UK flooded the country with over 20,00 cops so the homicide rates would decrease. John R. Lott, Jr., PhD, gun rights activist, once said that "The problem with such [gun control] laws is that they take away guns from law-abiding citizens, while would-be criminals ignore them”. While the country takes its time to check and take away every gun that is legal and ignore the fact that just like there are legal guns there are illegal guns as well. Taking away the legal gun would be like unarming everyone to be useless when the time to defend themselves comes.
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.
There are gun control laws to try and reduce the number of violent shootings that occur. They are trying to put limits on weapons that Americans can own. The government is trying to take our guns away mainly because of people that are criminally insane. Most of the people who commit crimes don’t even have the weapons legally. If the government takes away the rights of people who are allowed to have firearms in their possession, it will most definitely cause an outrage. Most people believe that the people should be more capable of maintain proper use of the firearms instead of having them all taken away. Taking the firearms from Americans away would cause a lot more problems than there actually are. The people will be upset with the government taking firearms away because of the horrible people who harm innocent people using them. So they will do anything to their capabilities to keep them.
For years proposals for gun control and the ownership of firearms have been among the most controversial issues in modern American politics. The public debate over guns in the United States is often seen as having two side. Some people passionately assert that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to own guns while others assert that the Second Amendment does no more than protect the right of states to maintain militias. There are many people who insist that the Constitution is a "living document" and that circumstances have changed in regard to an individual’s right to bear arms that the Second Amendment upholds. The Constitution is not a document of total clarity and the Second Amendment is perhaps one of the worst drafted of all its amendments and has left many Americans divided over the true intent.
In this day and age, gun control is a major topic of debate in the United States. Many people believe that gun control is the solution to ending violent crimes in the United States while others believe that gun control will only make the situation worse. There are three main causes of the gun control debate that spark public interest in the subject: school shootings, political attention, and gun control laws.
Recent mass shootings at San Bernardino and Sandy Hook Elementary have resurfaced the issue of gun control, with citizens appealing to the federal government to change laws concerning firearms. While there are organizations that are for tighter gun laws, groups like the National Rifle Association argue any laws restricting possession and use of firearms ignores the Second Amendment, and therefore reduces a law-abiding citizen’s constitutional right to own a firearm (Stingl, 2015). However, the United States still has a higher crime rate compared to other developed countries that have tighter gun laws, suggesting more restrictive laws could reduce gun violence (Grey House Publishing, 2011). With increasing gun violence and deaths, laws pertaining
Guns have been the weapon of choice for some of the most brutal massacres on America soil. Since early history guns have been used mainly for militia and defense purposes. But, the development of new gun technology has made firearms more accessible and deadly. Although the second amendment gives the right to bear arms, guns should be controlled and monitored by the government because guns have contributed to a lot of killings in America and will increase crime rates.
The United States today can be a scary place. Someone that is disgruntled, has a mental health issue, radicalized through terrorist propaganda or for any other reason can take up a firearm and mass murder innocent people. It can happen anywhere, anytime, anyplace. Anyone that pays attention to any news or newspapers has probably heard something about gun control. It’s a hot topic in this country and around the world. There are a lot of problems with gun control and regulating guns in the United States. Before you can talk about solutions you need to isolate the problems keeping the solutions from being realized. The people who are for and against guns do have common solutions but there is strong opposition