Should the Government Ban Assault Weapons?
Over the last decade or so, the United States of America has been shaken by an epidemic of terrifying mass shootings, devastating slayings of unexpecting victims, and unnerving annihilations of the innocent. There is no specific target, no explicitly sought-out group, nor definite individual. From a classroom of first-graders, to a crowded movie theatre, to a U.S. Naval yard, the location seems at most, random, other than that it is almost always a public place. The perpetrators responsible for these horrific murders also vary, and often surprise those who thought they knew them. However, while the occurrences of mass shootings are unpredictable and always shocking, most have one thing in common: the use, or rather misuse, of assault weapons-automatic or semiautomatic military style rifles. To ensure the safety, security, and well-being of the people of the United States, the government should ban assault weapons.
Enforcing an assault weapons ban can reduce the all-too-familiar occurrences of mass shooting and massacres. When Adam Lanza shot 26 people in Sandy Hook Elementary School..police say he largely relied upon a Bushmaster AR-15 "assault-type weapon," a semiautomatic rifle that could rapidly fire multiple high-velocity rounds. He was also equipped with magazines that held 30 bullets each (Plumer). As a chart from Princeton's Sam Wang shows, the number of people killed in mass shootings did go down in the years the [1994 Assault Weapons Ban] was in effect...and the number of mass shootings per year has doubled since the ban expired (Plumer). This statistic clearly shows the effectiveness of the ban passed by Congress and signed by former president Bill Clinton as part of the V...
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The Second Amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms, but only in cases of self-defense and hunting for food. However, the use of guns has drastically changed since 1791 when the amendment was implemented. Today, guns are not solely used in their intended ways. Since 2010, over eighty-seven school shootings have occurred within American grade schools, high schools, and universities, resulting in approximately 107 injuries and 109 murders of innocent students. The two most deadly shootings in the world occurred in the United States: the Virginia Tech University Massacre which left thirty-two dead and Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting which left twenty-eight dead. Each new shooting prompts a debate about gun control laws and leaves citizens wondering about the accessibility of guns; any United States citizen over the age of twenty-one that does not have any previous felonies is able to easily receive a gun license. Forty-nine out of the sixty-one school shootings that occurred between 1982 and 2012 legally obtained firearms. The statistics become even more outstanding: seventy nine percent of all shooters have been diagnosed with a mental illness or disability, including the Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook shooters, Seung-Hui Cho and Adam Lanza. Cho and Lanza were diagnosed with mental illnesses and disabilities, depression and autism, respectively. Even so, they were still able to acquire the guns they needed because extensive mental health background checks did not and still do not exist; Cho purchased his own weapon and Lanza stole his mother’s guns. Although the case studies of Lanza and Cho are only two out of the many school shootings, they should be considered prime examples to illustrate the necessity to add stri...
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Some people believe that extremely tight gun control laws will eliminate crime, but gun control laws only prevent the 'good guys' from obtaining firearms. Criminals will always have ways of getting weapons, whether it be from the black market, cross borders, or illegal street sales. New gun control laws will not stop them. Since the shootings of Columbine High School, Virginia Tech, and Sandy Hook, the frequency of mass shootings has increased greatly. Gun control is not effective as it has not been shown to actually reduce the number of gun-related crimes. Instead of considering a ban of private firearm possession, and violating individual ownership rights, it may be more practical to consider the option of partially restricting firearm access.
Guns are not the trouble, people are. The United States is #1 in world gun ownership, and yet is only 28th in the world in gun murders per 100,000 people. The number of unintentional fatalities due to firearms declined by 58 percent between 1991 and 2011 Based on these facts, one can see the guns not the causes of gun violence. moreover, civilians who get permits take gun safety courses and have criminal background...
There are many views about gun control especially when referring to assault weapons. People are both for it and against it. When first hearing “Assault Weapon Man”, many different images filter through one’s mind on what an assault weapon looks like and how to differentiate between an assault weapon and a regular handgun. There is still no consistent definition for an assault weapon. The only definitions that are out there are the ones found in laws, which are used to classify an assault weapon. Even those definitions are not consistent because they are changed and improved when new laws are proposed. Assault weapons are a class of semi-automatic firearms that are designed to kill humans quickly and efficiently. According to the 1994 Crime Control Act an assault weapon is defined as any “semi-automatic rifle that can accept a detachable magazine and has two or more of the following: a folding or telescoping stock, a pistol grip, a bayonet mount, a flash suppressor or threads to attach, or a grenade launcher (Assault Weapons, 2010). Assault weapon bans infuriate many because they feel as if the ban is unconstitutional and going against the 2nd amendment while others believe that the banning of such assault weapons will decrease the number of deaths occurring by an assault weapon.
...cts with his life." Indeed this paper does not advocate the complete removal of all firearms, only the selective restriction of certain extra-powerful models. American citizens should be allowed to hunt and protect themselves from wild animals or intruders. Simple bolt-action rifles and/or black powder models are arguably sufficient for these ends. Our children deserve a future where the threat of their peers walking into their school with semi-automatic weapons and pumping hundreds of rounds into their peers is almost non-existent. Indeed there will always be evil among us and they may use these simple weapons that are allowed for evil. But the extent of that damage would be much less. May our future contain many great freedoms for all. And may there be sensible limits imposed that protects the freedom of all men to pursue happiness as they live without fear.
Eighty-nine people die from gun violence in the United States every day according to the Brady Campaign , from school children to victims of domestic violence to people going about their daily lives. As we mourn the lives of those killed in incidents of gun violence across the country, we need to take action. We should all do everything in our power to keep tragedies like this from happening again. When it comes to addressing mass shootings, we need new answers
Gun violence has been and continues to be one of the major problems in American. The U.S. has the highest rate of gun ownership in the world and consequently the highest rate of gun violence and fatalities compared to other developed countries. In a study by the University of Sydney it is estimated that there are 270,000,000 to 310,000,000 guns in the United States. According to the same study in 2010 there were 31,672 fatalities caused by firearms and on the following year the number went up to 32,163. Homicides resulting from guns are high in the United States and they are claiming more than eleven thousand lives every year (Guns in the United States: Firearms, Armed Violence and Gun Law). According to Vision for Humanity, an initiative for the Economics and Peace, the United States is ranked 99 out of 162 countries in the 2013 global peace index, homicide rates and violent crimes are among the various criteria used to determine the ranking (Vision of Humanity). Mass shootings at work places, schools, shopping malls and places of worship are happening in an a...
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...
They say more murders will be committed, but the gun rate is the highest it has ever been in 1991 and since then in 2012 murder rate has decreased to 49%, a 52% drop(Ten Reasons Why States Should Reject “Assault Rifle” and “Large” Magazine Bans). Statistics say that even though bans are put in place to reduce crime it doesn’t. In another article it states that California banned assault rifles in 1989 and the murder rate increased every year and over the course of five years it increased 26%. Two-thirds of the murders today committed with firearms, but of those two-thirds, 69% are committed with handguns not rifles(Banning ‘Assault Weapons’ Is Not the Answer).
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The 2013 gun ban legislation will not solve the problem of violence, but instead will gradually promote it. The writers of the legislation did not appropriately use the correct firearm terminology, which caused the ban to be too broad and generated confusion. In addition, the constitution guarantees its citizens the right to bear arms for self-defense against criminals and if necessary, an overextending, dictatorial government. Therefore, this recent gun ban is not helpful for the general public because the ban is too broad and removes the right we have as U.S. citizens to keep any type of firearm.
Gun Violence is one of the United States most serious crime problems. The total cost of gun violence in the United States, including medical, criminal justice, and other government and private costs, are at least 6 to 12 billion a year (Cook, P. J. & Ludwig, J., 2000). The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) mission is to track firearms. It reported that firearms sells have risen since 2005. According to the A...