Persuasive Essay On Gun Shootings

More Guns = More Gun Deaths

The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that the right to bear arms belongs to individuals while also ruling that the right is not unlimited and does not prohibit all regulation of either firearms or similar devices (Epstein, Walk 2012). The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, adopted on December 15, 1971, and part of the first ten amendments contained in the Bill of Rights, promises “a well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms.” While nobody wants to deny one’s constitutional right to protect themselves, one also cannot overlook the increasing number of deaths due to gun violence and, as such, the demand for stricter gun control laws cannot be ignored.

While mass shootings tend to dominate the headlines, death by firearm suicide is a much greater problem. Of the more than 31,000 gun deaths per year in the United States, approximately 60% are suicides (Hawkins, 2015). The reason that tragedies of mass shootings are so horrifying and shocking is because

President Barack Obama believes in an individual 's Second Amendment right to bear arms; however, to better protect our children and communities from tragic mass shootings, the President has issued a set of proposals that aim to reduce gun violence in the country. These proposals require anyone who sells a gun to carry out proper checks and wants the National database to include more information on mental health which may require physicians having to disclose the mental health status of their patients (Now is the time, 2013). Further, the plan would help keep guns out of the wrong hands, ban assault and high-capacity magazines, make our schools safer and increase access to mental health services. Towards that end, his Administration is proposing an investment of $500 million to improve access to