Over the past few decades gun control has come to the fore front of debate in politics and the mass media. It's no wonder that in the wake of the recent school shootings and attacks on churches that people are beginning to fear guns. People are beginning to see guns as an object of death and destruction and not as what they are meant to be. While guns are used in war they are not intended to kill innocent people, guns are intended to be used by experienced gun handlers for protection and hunting. When used properly a gun is no more dangerous than a car or a knife, all of these can be used in crime but none of them are intended to be. Guns have been around for hundreds of years, so why is it that only recently people have been shooting up schools and churches. Proponents of gun control would have you believe that putting stricter laws on guns would nearly eliminate their illegal use this is simply not true. For example, in California there was recently a bill that allowed the District Attorney to make any gun he wanted illegal. Once made illegal a letter would be sent to all the people who were known to have that gun stating that they had a certain amount of time to turn in the gun or they would face felony weapons charges. While at first glance this may seem like a good idea the more you look at it the more you can see how poor this bill really is. The major flaw of this bill is that it puts the power solely in the hands of the DA; and all politicians can be influenced by public opinion. According to a Rolling Stone Article by PJ O'Rourke "Now Gore is in favor of gun control, but he voted for the NRA-backed 1986 Firearm Owners' Protection Act and against both a fourteen-day waiting period for handgun purchases and a federal r... ... middle of paper ... ...th their daddy's gun. Another rule was that after every time we used our guns we checked atleast twice to make sure the gun was empty. Also on the chance that a child didn't listen and went for a gun we always keep our ammunition in a different building. Having the ammo in one room and the gun in the other simply isn't enough since most kids like to wander around and look through stuff, so we always kept our guns in the house and the ammo outside in our barn on one of the top shelves. While these rules may seem almost to simple to work effectively when they are properly enforced they are all you really need to keep your kids away from your guns. Bibliography: Lessons unlearned Reason; Los Angeles; Jun 2001; Sara Rimensnyder; Volume: 33 Issue: 2 Start Page: 19 Rolling Stone How to tell Bush from Gore by PJ O'Rourke Issue 850 P28-30
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.
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.
Gun control is an issue that is constantly being debated. There are people who are pro gun control and those who believe gun control is unconstitutional to the citizens. Many political leaders and organizations have strong opinions on gun control, which keeps the gun control debate publicized. Gun control is limiting or taking the right of citizens to carry or purchase a gun. Guns are used for protecting the citizens by police officers and the military, as well as for many personal reasons like hunting and self-defense. There are times that guns are used for the wrong reasons like murder, or put in the wrong hands which lead to accidental deaths. Choosing a stand on gun control can be hard, but hearing both sides can help a person make a decision.
The issues of gun control are the subject of much controversy. In the article “The Killer Who Supports Gun Control” by Nicholas D. Kristof (2013), he argues that a strong gun control will yield fewer deaths. Kristof summarizes how the gun itself and the person are responsible for deaths, in order to show how dangerous the combination of the two is.
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...
In 1968 Congress passed the Gun Control Act. This act regulates interstate commerce in firearms, making it so that you must be a licensed manufacturer, dealer, or importer. The Gun Control Act was the first attempt at restricting easy access to a firearm. In 1976 the District of Columbia City Council prohibited it’s residents from owning a handgun. Dick Anthony Heller sued the district in 2007 for denying him the right to keep his handgun in his home on Capitol Hill. In June 2008, the Supreme Court ruled the District of Columbia’s handgun ban was unconstitutional. The people of this country believe in their reserved rights, Mr. Heller’s fought for his second amendment right and won, showing the spirit of democracy. Since the Columbine High School shootings in 1999, 27 separate mass shootings have left five or more people dead each time. These randoms acts of violence have taken place in schools (Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech), the workplace (Fort Hood), movie theaters(Aurora, CO) , and even in the church (Charleston, S.C.). Everyday seems to bring new tragedy involving guns, but is it the gun that is killing people or the operator? As with anything, there are pro and cons to the right of own a firearm. With a firearm in your possession, you can protect yourself and your family from just about any threat. Having a gun gives you power over your own life, but this power also extends over someone else life
In recent years, political discourse about gun control and the Second Amendment has become increasingly volatile. Gun lobbies such as the National Rifle Association are more organized and aggressive and their issue agenda has evolved as new and more powerful weapons and militia appear. On the other side of the debate, the critical wounding of James Brady gave gun control advocates a visible martyr with strong ties to Republican conservatives. In sum, gun control and the right to bear arms have become hotly disputed issues where political alignments are constantly shifting.
Gun control is an issue that has been debated by Americans since the 1960’s (Dolan 1). The debate questions the right of Americans to bear arms, this including, handguns, shotguns, and rifles. Some say a simple restriction of these arms is in order while some think they should be banned altogether (Dolan 1). Both sides hold strong opinions often causing conflict in the matter and confusion among the citizens of the United States.
A gun owner can be a responsible person but still anything can happen certain circumstances can come up where the gun can be used in a negative way. Nobody should be foolish enough to say that something bad could happen to them with a firearm. People saying that the answer is more guns less regulation isn’t the answer that obviously doesn’t work that would just lead to more chaos. Since 2009, three times as many pro-gun laws were passed in The United States as anti-gun measures this trend has only accelerated since then. A new demographic of people support the right to carry gun laws. Now more women support concealed weapon laws and now more women and moms are getting concealed weapon permits in states that allow them. Overall, 85 percent of Americans support the right to bear arms(Krieg,2016). Many americans believe that restricting gun rights anymore would be a complete violation of the constitution and would be severely fought by pro-gun activists if any sort of legislation was passed. Legislation has been passed in certain states to ban guns from certain areas like playgrounds and around schools if you are caught with guns anywhere around there stiff penalties will be put in place. In the late 1960s and into the early 70s, a gun control movement came about because
Despite the surge in numeral count of children and youth killed from gun related violence, research indicates that most Americans still remain adamant to any further restrictions on guns and firearms ownership and usage. It is even more surprising to learn that a large percentage of people tend to believe that communities are safer where individuals are free to purchase and use weapons to defend themselves from actual or potential threats or threatening situations.
First and foremost is the Gun Control Act of 1968, and the 1996 amendments to the act, which restricts people who have been convicted of a felony, misdemeanor domestic violence, minors, illegal aliens, and those who have mental disorders to be able buy and own guns (Worrall, 2015, p. 161). There have been many studies that have looked into whether this law has reduced crime or not and they contradict each other supporting both sides of the argument. Another law is the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act or the Brady Act which required that gun dealers in states that do not require background checks that these gun dealers contact their law enforcement and get a background check on a person that wants to buy a firearm. These background checks took time so legislation said that the waiting period on the background check cannot take more than five days. A study that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association looked at the mortality rate in states that invoked the Brady Act and the states that do not use it (Worrall, 2015, p. 161). The study showed that there was not any significant reduction in crime involving firearms. This act was later ruled by the Supreme Court unconstitutional. The “right-to-carry” laws discussed earlier have shown reduction in crime anywhere from good desirable portion to modest or slight reduction. Either way these laws show some
Gun Control, a very controversial topic here in the United States as well as various other parts of the world. No matter what type of gun related crime, society always falls back on increasing regulations on firearms. Does the Second Amendment apply to modern weaponry? Should we protect our constitutional rights? Or should we enact stricter regulations against the purchasing of a firearm? Despite having a strict constitution on the importance of firearms, the population remains divided on what to do.
Regardless of how guardians feel about weapons, there is a possibility their child will come in contact with one sooner or later. Federal statistics show that as many as 50 percent of U.S. households contain guns. In today’s society, crimes are more violent and difficult to control because the number of weapons available. In the United States last year there were more than 18,000 people killed by a handgun. We have made it so much easier to purchase a weapon. If we did a criminal background check, you have to have them locked up, and also keep people safe then the world would probable a much a happier place without so many incidents including guns.
One of the main reasons that people believe guns should be outlawed is because of school shootings. While I do agree that these are awful and horrible things, most people stop at the emotional part of the story, and never stop to think about what actually happened. On social media, where the gun control debate rages like wildfire, people say that if we get rid of all guns, school shootings will no longer happen. However people often miss one crucial thing: The gun does not make people want to kill. It is the person, rather than the weapon, that causes these monstrosities to happen. Getting rid of weapons to stop murder is like
Reports of mass shootings have been on the rise, with stories littering the media every month. Proponents of gun control argue that added restrictions on the attainability of firearms will seriously lower the statistics. However, I, as a fervent opponent of gun control, am strongly in favor of keeping the laws as they are. Arms control should not be increased as it is not a major factor in increasing crime rates, will leave people more vulnerable to attacks, and is a right protected by the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.