Gun Control
Statistics on an issue such as gun control are not hard to come by. The numbers seem to sway in the favor of gun control being ineffective against the epidemic of gun violence that is facing this nation today. There is evidence to support that many guns used for illegal activities are obtained by illegal means anyway, making laws to restrict the purchase of said guns ineffective at keeping firearms out of criminals hands. Evidence also supports the statements that guns are used in defense more often than not, that the age old statistic that “13” children die each day by guns is inaccurate, and that there are numbers that show the direct relationship between the loosening of gun laws and the lowering of the crime rate.
-Crime victims are more than twice as likely to walk away from an assailant unharmed if they use a gun in self defense (source 5)
-Women are 2.5 times less likely to be seriously injured if they resist attack with guns than if they do not resist (source 3)
-Potential victims use guns more than 2 million times a year to stop violent crimes (crimes are stopped by defensive use of guns more than five times as frequently as crimes are committed with guns) (source 2)
- Eighty-eight percent of violent crimes do not involve firearms. (Source 6)
-Most people that die looking down the barrel of a gun are killed by themselves, not by criminals (source 5)
-It is widespread that 13 children die per day from guns when the figure is closer to 1.9 children per day (source 2)
-Accidental deaths, though rumored to be frequent, are in actuality quite rare. 138 children under the age of 15 died from accidental gun deaths in 1996. (However, when you consider the fact that 80 million people own 240 million gun...
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...ished to purchase a gun would have to go to a special half-day class for ex-cons wishing to purchase weapons.
The likelihood of implementation for this proposed solution would be great. It would somewhat resemble the process for getting a permit to drive, and implementing that is not a problem. The cost? That’s another story. The class would most likely have to cost money, since the chance of the government coughing up money for a program like this that doesn’t help the masses in some way or another is slim to none. This would be, I believe, a successful alternative to constrictive gun control laws. The certificate would ensure that before a person be allowed to own their own gun the following would occur: they would be exposed to guns, learn basic laws about guns, and also learn simple safety features, also their rights and responsibilities as gun-owning citizens.
In America there is 89 firearms per 100 people (Moore) so it is safe to say most people will come in contact with a firearm in their life time. But when you do will you know how to handle the situation? Guns can be deadly when abused and used incorrectly. There is a way to reduce the unnecessary deaths. Firearm safety is the important piece in reducing the deaths and firearm abuse and it should be made mandatory in schools.
Many gun supporters will say that more guns bring down the crime rate. These same believers will give facts stating that the more guns in a state, the less likely gun owners will use them. “The chances of innocent people being the victims of violent crime, including murder, decrease—not increase—when access to guns is made easier” (Luik). Luik emphasizes that guns will not make any innocent people killers, it will make crime and death rates go down. They argue that the states with the lowest crime rates are the same states that have a higher gun ownership rate than any other state.
Looking at the argument for stricter gun control, Gostin (2008) argues that despite America being the nation that possesses the greatest number of privately owned firearms in the world, it in fact results in the public being less safe. This point is substantiated by the fact that having a privately owned firearm in a household makes a family member five times more likely to be fatally shot than in a non-armed household. Perez-Pena (2015) notes that each year around 30,000 preventable deaths are caused by firearms, which accounts for 18% of injury related deaths in America. It also
A. According to the governments statistics, 4, 223 children were killed by firearms in 1997, while many of these deaths occurred while playing at a friends’ home or even in their own neighborhood (Bai 32).
The statistics and the stated facts are evidence that more gun control measures are required for the safety and peace of the society. Law abiding citizens do not need arms. For them the rule of law and justice is enough.
Concealed weapons have had a drastic impact on the violent crime category. John Lott, owner of a doctorate from UCLA, presented statistics revealing armed citizens reduced homicides by 8.5%, aggravated assaults by 7%, rapes by 5%, and robberies by 3% (Pros). By responsible, right-minded, patriotic Americans owning guns, vicious crime rates have diminished. Leading us to wonder how much better the world would fare if the entire nation was armed with concealed weapons. The graph “More Guns, Less
Supporters of gun control state that to decrease crimes committed with fire arms (which amass a high majority of crimes) guns should be banned from private ownership. This removes guns from the public, therefore taking away the instrument of easily accomplishing crimes. Arthur Kellermann and Donald T. Raey, two gun control advocates, did their own research into the issue and published a discovery of their own; the 43-1 Statistic. In this statistic, Kellerman and Raey state that a gun will be used in a justified shooting one time, while forty three other people are killed by a gun unjustly, either by suicide, accident, or criminal (Heumer 9). According to these two researchers, gun ownership is not worth it. Private ownership of guns saved one life wh...
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...
The California Legislature is currently debating a bill that would require handgun owners to be licensed by the state. And amid the debate over Assembly Bill 273, you can be sure there will be claims that burdening law-abiding gun owners with more regulations is necessary to "protect our children" from gun violence.
Unsecured guns have turned thousands of toddlers into killers and much more into victims. “Children younger than three have gotten a hold of guns and shot someone at least 59 times in 2015”; a trend first reported by Christopher Ingraham add the Washington Post in October. A solution to this would be proper gun storage; adults owning a gun must be more aware of the fact of toddlers or children being at the risk of obtaining weapons and causing mischief. They should place their firearm in a safe place where a child cannot reach it or find the way to create themselves or anyone else an injury or further tragedy including unwanted accidents. For example “Caroline Starks was two years old. Her 5-year-old brother was playing nearby with his birthday present: a .22-caliber Crickett rifle. His mother stepped outside for a moment; confident the gun had no bullets, therefore, wasn’t loaded. She was wrong. Caroline was pronounced dead a few hours later at the Cumberland County Hospital in Kentucky”.The action of misusing guns can affect children mentally and physically; “youth can also be influenced to take or make the wrong decision. Some kids may develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which can affect brain development. The psychological trauma of gun violence may lead some children to arm themselves "for protection," or desensitize them so that they feel less hesitation
People who do not research the owning of handguns and form their opinion off of what they see on the news are left in the dark. One of the most misunderstood concepts is that more guns cause more violence. This is false more guns do not mean more homicides. In 1973, the handgun stock was 36.9 million and the homicide rate was 9.4 per 100,000. In 1992, the handgun stock was 77.6 million but the homicide rate dropped 8.5 percent. In 1994, the U.S. bureau of justice static's made a survey that stated 100,000 lives are saved by handguns. According to criminologist Gary Kleck, guns are fired in only about 24 percent of cases in which they are used for self-defense.
... Although many states in the United States have turned towards stronger firearm restrictions as well as magazine limitations, these supposed resolutions by the government target the citizens who own legally registered firearms instead of the mentally ill or convicted felons. Adam Lanza, the shooter from the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre, obtained his semiautomatic Bushmaster XM-15 from his mother, whom he killed in cold blood. More recently, the September 16th, 2013 Navy Yard shooting by Aaron Alexis claimed the lives of 12 civilian contractors. Alexis passed the federal and state background checks in Virginia to obtain the shotgun he used. The unfortunate, sad, and innocent deaths of gunshot victims can be stopped only if the government prevents potential shooters using intensive background checks. Guns don’t kill people: rather, people with guns kill people.
Although guns can be used for protection, how often is that true? A gun in the house is twenty- two times more likely to hurt someone than protect them. For every gun that is used for self-defense, there are eleven guns in homes used for completed or attempted suicides, seven used in criminal assaults and homicide, and four used in unintentional shooting deaths or injuries. (Kellermann, 1998, p. 263) There was a poll conducted by CBS News and New York Times in 2010. When Americans were asked about ...
More than 20,000 children and youth under the age of 20 years old are injured or killed by guns in the U.S. The easy accesses kids have to getting their hands on guns are a major reason why firearms are the second leading cause of death among the youth. The majority of deaths by guns in the youth are homicides. About one-third of them are suicides. Seven percent are unintentional. People living in urban areas such as, older teens, males, African American youth, and Hispanic youth are more likely to be involved in gun homicides. People in rural areas like males and Caucasian youth are more likely to commit suicide. There were 2,711 infant, child, and teen firearm deaths. That’s seven deaths a day.
The first benefit when guns are restricted to own is reducing homicides. Gun is one of the best killing weapons; it is created to put an end to the life of the target that it aims at. Therefore, it ...