The Gun Control issue has sparked major controversy in America today. People who support gun control feel that guns are the reason for the soaring crime rate in our country. I disagree with the supporters of gun control. I feel that because of the black market, violent criminals being released from prison early, and the need to ensure personal safety, stricter gun control will have very little impact on violent crime in America.
I believe that gun control works in theory, but not in real life. Sure, there are many violent crimes where guns are used, but most of these guns are obtained illegally, because the gun control laws enforced are not enough.
With the growing gun-related crime rate in the United States today, many bills have been proposed to control guns. The most popular of these bans is The Brady Bill. The bill focuses on semi-automatic handguns. People wishing to buy a handgun will have to answer a federal questionnaire. The person’s background will be checked thoroughly for criminal records or records of past mental illness. The process should only take five days. This five day waiting period, or the “cooling off” period, is supposed to allow a person’s temper to cool down. The Brady Bill claims that people act on impulse. A person’s temper can interfere with his/her ability to think clearly; he/she is angry, so a gun is bought to get revenge. I have no problem with the Brady Bill, because it has stopped crime, but not enough.
A bill was passed by former U.S. President George Bush which banned the production of nine types of assault weapons and the importation of forty-three types of assault weapons. Bush felt that assault weapons were responsible for majority of the violent crimes committed in the United States. Field & Stream writer, David E. Petzal agreed with Bush stating that, “Assault weapons are designed to put out a high volume of fire with a high degree of controllability. The only purpose these firearms have is to kill people” (27). Gun related crime is still very common.
In the past, over 20,000 gun control bills have been passed through Congress, and crime is still running rampant through America’s streets. The National Firearms Act of 1934 was the first federal gun law to be passed. This act imposed a two hundred-dollar excise tax on the sale of fully automatic weapons. The Gun Control Act of 1968 made it a requirement for all...
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... they are still getting them.
As you can see, there is no way this controversy will be easily solved. There in no solution that will make both sides happy. Congress could pass gun control laws banning semi automatic handguns, and restricting other guns, but gun owners, including collectors would be unhappy. If Congress doesn’t pass gun control laws, the paranoid citizens of America would be unhappy. Taking the black market, self-defense, and collectors into consideration, the United States should not use gun control laws to try to reduce crime.
Works Cited
Bender, David L. Gun Control. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1992.
Brister, Bob. “SHOT Therapy.” Field & Stream, May 1994, 82-84.
Dolan, Edward F., Jr. Gun Control. New York: Franklin Watts, 1982.
Hinds, Micheal deCourcy. “A Gun Dealer’s Story.” New York Times 6 June 1994: 13(A).
Petzal, David E. “Reveille.” Field & Stream June 1994: 26-27
Simon, Jonathan. “The NRA Under Fire.” Public Citizen, July/August 1989: 9.
Witken, Gordon. “A Suprising Ban on Assault Weapons.” U.S. News & World Report 16 May 1994: 31.
Wright, James D. Taking Sides. Guilford Connecticut: The Dushkin Publishing
He attempted this primarily through his portrayal of Montezuma’s system of governance as brutal and is people as disloyal to him. He described the apparent willingness of the peoples he encountered to abandon the Aztecs and swear allegiance to the King of Spain, “Although they were subjects of Montezuma … they had been reduced to that condition by force …and when they had obtained through me some knowledge of your Highness … they declared their desire to become vassals of your Majesty, and to form an alliance with me”(Second Letter, 38–39). Cortés justified his conquest further through his proclamation to the his king that he was acting in defense of these newly acquired vassals. Cortés wrote that Montezuma subjected the local people to violent and tyrannical repression and, “took from them their sons to be slain and offered as sacrifices to his idols”(Second Letter,
First of all, gun control punishes only innocent citizens, not the dangerous felons. Criminals wanting to purchase a gun can easily obtain a pistol illegally from the black market, so gun control is practically useless to the unsafe villains who threaten public safety. Statistics show that in the U.S, 645,000 times in each year, innocent people ...
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.
Gun control laws aim to restrict or regulate firearms by selecting who can sell, buy and possess certain guns. Criminals do not obey laws and stricter gun control laws or banning guns will have little effect on reducing crimes. There are many myths about gun control reducing acts of gun violence, which are simply not true according to research. People are responsible for the crimes, not the guns themselves. Taking guns away from United States citizens that use them for many reasons, shooting practice, competition, hunting and self-defense, should not be punished for the acts of criminals. As stated by Mytheos Holt, “Guns in the right hands help public safety. Guns in the wrong hands harm public safety”. Research shows that defensive use of guns discourages criminals and reduces crime (Holt 2). Not only is it wrong to penalize law-abiding citizens, it is against the Second Amendment. It is unconstitutional to pass laws that infringe on the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
Rauch, Jonathan. “The Right Kind of Gun Rights.” National Journal Vol. 40 Issue 11. Academic Search Complete. 15 Mar. 2013. Web. 6 June 2015.
How far should someone have to go in order to impress someone in whom he or she is interested? At a young age it is instilled for one to be himself or herself and never to allow anyone or anything to change him or her or make him or her forget their morals. It could be inferred that as children, we are taught this, because with the changing of ourselves only to impress another could soon lead to unhappiness or emotional instability within oneself. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Winter Dreams, Fitzgerald illustrates illusion through Dexter Green’s unconditional attraction to Judy Jones.
Those who argue for gun control usually state guns are a part of most violent crimes. However, this is not always true. While it is true that limiting gun ownership with laws could prevent individuals from possessing guns, it does not prevent people from illegally having or using guns. Those who carry guns legally are not the problem. According to Mark Gius, the author of “Gun Ownership and the Gun Control Index”, “…only about 25% of total violent crime is committed by a person using a gun, no inferences...
Gun control is both a crime issue, as well as a safety issue. It can range from moderate to extreme. Gun control goes as back as the 17th century where Japan was using guns for war making as to current tragedies occurring in schools. Guns have never disappeared, they have only multiplied in numbers to numerous amount of guns, ranging from small to big. Gun control isn't only a problem but it can also be solution depending on how it is being used and the person using it. Gun control can be controlled with many methods but in the end it matters how the person is going to use the weaponry.
What exactly is gun control? This question is where much of the misconception begins. Many people would reply to this question simply by saying taking away guns. They are correct but this is just a small part of what gun control actually is. The authors of the article, "Does Gun Control Reduce Crime or Does Crime Increase Gun Control?” give a good definition for what gun control is. “Gun control is an umbrella term covering everything from laws prohibiting the ownership of defined classes of firearms to mandating the inclusion of gun locks with every firearm sold.”(Moorhouse) The first step to making a stance on any subject should be to fully understand what all is contained in the issue. In this case many people hear the term gun control and automatically start m...
Crime and guns. The two seem to go hand in hand with one another. But are the two really associated? Do guns necessarily lead to crime? And if so do laws placing restrictions on firearm ownership and use stop the crime or protect the citizens? These are the questions many citizens and lawmakers are asking themselves when setting about to create gun control laws. The debate over gun control, however, is nothing new. In 1924, Presidential Candidate, Robert La Follete said, “our choice is not merely to support or oppose gun control but to decide who can own which guns under what conditions.” Clearly this debate still goes on today and is the very reason for the formation of gun control laws.
Opposition to federal controls is very strong. People opposing gun control say that federal policies don’t keep firearms out of the hands of high-risk persons; rather, it often creates barriers for law-abiding citizens and violates a citizen’s constitutional right provided by the Second Amendment. Many say, and I agree that widespread gun ownership is one of the best deterrents to crime.
Supporters on this side say that without guns in our system, less homicides will happen and shooters will have a harder time finding weapons to use. This perspective does deliver a thought-provoking fight; according to chicagotribune.com, from January 1st, 2015- October 8, 2015, over 2,360 people were victims of shooting in Chicago and in an article from CNN.com, in Australia, a country where guns are banned, the risk of being killed by a gunshot has dropped over 50% since a tight gun control laws were established. Although a ban on guns seems like a great decision, there are many downfalls that will come with this policy. On Washingtonpost.com, a Gallop Poll was done and showed that 51% of people felt safer in homes with a gun. If guns became banned, the percentage would drop, and criminals, like rapists or burglars would have more motivation to commit crimes. In Australia, a country with extremely tight gun control, the rate of sexual assaults is 28.6% and in America, a country with loose gun control, the rate is 27.3%, so it is obvious that if America were to ban guns, the rate would increase. Another repercussion that results in taking away guns is actually more violence happening. According to politifact.com, in 1976, Washington DC required for all new handguns at home to be stored unloaded and disassembled at home. This led criminals into committing more crimes because they knew that the
Gun control only takes guns away from law-abiding people and it does nothing to stop criminals from buying illegal guns, who are unlikely to obey the law and register their guns at all. Most of the time the term gun control is improperly used. The definition of gun control is the government regulation of possession and use of firearms by private citizens. The government is using it as way to take our right to bear arms away from us.
Maslow needs theory has received wide recognition particularly among practicing managers. Perhaps it could provide some valuable insight in motivation. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs “hypothesized that within every human being there exists a hierarchy of five needs. Maslow separated the five needs into higher and lower orders. Physiological and safety needs were described as lower-order needs and social, esteem, and self-actualization as higher-order needs. As each of these needs becomes substantially satisfied, the next need becomes dominant. So if you want to motivate someone, you need to understand what level of the hierarchy that person is currently on and focus on satisfying the needs at or above that level.” (Robbins & Judge, 2007, p.187)
Theories of motivation consists two parts. Content and process motivation theories. Content motivation theories focuses mainly on people needs and explains why people have different needs at different times. Content theories of motivation treated as a need or desire, to act for the sake of promoting a certain goal. One most prominent theorist Abraham Maslow (1943) proposed the hierarchy of needs. It states that all the needs of the people can be divided into five categories, aligned incentive effect in descending order: (psychological, safety, social, esteem and self-actualization needs). Psychological are the basic needs to survive, e.g. food, clothes, shelter, warmth, sleep, etc. Safety are the needs like security, stability, freedom from fear, etc. Social needs are the feelings of belongingness, acceptance, being part