From 1791, when James Madison wrote the Bill of Rights, one of our ten rights as citizens is the right to bear arms. “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”(Bill of Rights). When it comes to this topic (gun rights), Conservatives believe everyone in America has the right to own a gun to protect himself, his family and his property. They believe that infringing on firearm rights is unconstitutional and the law should not be changed by government mediation because of its value to the country and how the early Americans needed firearms to survive. On the other side, Democrats believe there’s a demand for stricter regulations on assault weapons. …show more content…
We need to make sure that the people obtaining guns will not do any harm to anyone that is not harming them (Strictly self-defense). Hillary Clinton says, “Respect the Second Amendment. I respect the rights of lawful gun owners to own guns, to use their guns, but I also believe that most lawful gun owners whom I have spoken with for many years across our country also want to be sure that we keep those guns out of the wrong hands.” This is why there needs to be a mental illness check and make sure these mentally ill people get the help they need so they are no harm to themselves, their family or others. An example of mental illness leading to harm to others is Nikolas Cruz, the Parkland school shooter. Cruz was checked for mental illness, but was not hospitalized. He was able to get his hands on an AR-15 style gun and took the lives of seventeen students who thought that it was going to be like any normal day. If we incorporate more background checks along with mental health checks into the process of obtaining firearms, we would greatly decrease the risk of having more shootings, especially caused by those who suffer from depression, schizophrenia and other mental …show more content…
Equipment that falls under this category includes bump stocks, scopes, sights, grips for recoil, bipods and extended magazines. Bump stocks have more controversy surrounding it than the other pieces because of what it does to a semi-automatic gun. A bump stock is, “an attachment that enables a semi-automatic rifle to fire faster,” (NY Times Larry Buchanan, Evan Grothjan, Jon Huang, Yuliya Parshina-Kottas, Adam Pearce and Karen Yourish). Stephen Paddock was the man who caused the Las Vegas shooting, the most deadly shooting in American history, Paddock had twenty-four guns in his room most of which already equipped with bump stocks. From the thirty-second floor of the Mandalay Bay, Paddock reigned down bullets onto a crowd of concertgoers, killing fifty-eight and wounding eight hundred and fifty-one. The worst part about this was that the number of deaths and those wounded could have been decreased by putting much stricter regulations on bump stocks, causing there to be fewer bullets shot at the crowd. “That is just a huge loophole that allows you to convert a weapon into something that is like an automatic gun," Representative, Dina Titus, a Nevada Democrat, told CNN. This topic brings the question: When is it overkill? When a gunman is using a firearm that is using attachments like scopes, bump stocks and bipods onto a crowd of innocent people, who most of
Conservatives believe that the Second Amendment gives citizens of the United States the right to bear arms. Citizens also have the right to defend themselves. Conservative views point out that laws pertaining to gun control do not stop people who disobey the law, such as criminals, from obtaining guns. To lower the gun crime rates, new, additional laws should not be created. Instead, the enforcement and abidance of laws currently in place is what is needed in order to solve the issue of gun control, according to the conservative view. On the opposing political viewpoint of the liberals, guns are not needed for citizens’ protection. The role of the government is to protect the people through law enforcement and military. Liberals believe that there should be more gun control laws created in order to lessen gun violence as well as limit the ability for criminals to obtain guns. Liberals believe that more violence is inevitable with more guns in the possession of citizens (Conservative vs. Liberal
Left, right, Liberal, Conservative, Democratic, Republican. There are a lot of synonyms for the sides of our nation divided. Divided on many things: religion, political views, morals, etc.. For a nation that prides ourselves on extraordinary security and unity, it is quite ironic that so many issues can cause such distress and uproar within communities. One such issue is gun control. As a white male in a middle-lower class family that has never owned a gun, I may be somewhat biased. Objectively as I can, I am going to report the facts and more importantly, try to find the core issues at play.
America—the land of the free and the home of the brave. Not only are these words sung in the national anthem, but they can even be considered a motto for the country. In the US, residents and citizens have many rights that people in other countries can only dream about. They have the right to practice freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and many other freedoms thanks to the founding fathers and the United States Constitution. But there are some very controversial rights as well. What about the second amendment – the right to bear arms? While America is considered one of the freest countries in the world, we might ask ourselves: is it too free? Although the right to bear arms is a constitutional right, the safety of the nation is far more important. America should use Australia as a model when it comes to gun laws. Stricter, more extensive background checks, requiring permits and training, and the prohibition of automatic and semi-automatic guns must be enforced in order to help lower crime rates and ensure American citizen’s safety.
Mental health is huge problem in the United States, especially when it allows certain individuals to have access to firearms. Politicians should aim to work more on keeping guns out of the hands of those who seek to harm others, not the law abiding citizens. But this is no easy task. In the CNN article, The real gun problem is mental health, not the NRA, the author, Mel Robbins, points how the mental health problem is to blame , not the gun. Robbins states "Next time there 's a mass shooting, don 't jump to blame the National Rifle Association and lax gun laws. Look first at the shooter and the mental health services he did or didn 't get, and the commitment laws in the state where the shooting took place." (Robbins) Like the first article, the author uses the ethical approach. How can we just sit by and let this keep happening? Many people seek help for mental illness and do not get the proper help that they deserve. If the proper steps were taken, some of these tragedies could have been prevented. The background check system should be a little tougher than it currently is. This is something that many law abiding gun owners agree on. Especially when it comes to the mental health part. Giving a mental health screening to somebody before getting a firearm would almost certainly help. However, no system is perfect. It would have its flaws. Not only is mental
Background checks try to prevent those who shouldn’t have guns from accessing them. Obviously that doesn’t always happen. Mental illness can develop over time. I think that when a person starts to develop a mental illness and goes to the doctor they should have to present any records of owning firearms and the accessibility to them. People that already have mental issues cannot buy a guy from a retail store as it will show up on the background check. But if the illness developed after already purchasing firearms, there should be some form of documentation that needs to be presented to a doctor. The Virginia Tech shooter killed 32 people in that tragic event and was also experiencing mental issues. CNN reports that the shooter was sent to a mental doctor after his roommates reported him for suicidal remarks. Being treated for mental issues, the shooter should have not been able to purchase a gun. If these events would have been taken seriously, it would have resulted in the shooter not being able to purchase a handgun and ammunition there would have been no mass killing. Mental doctors should be able to see the severity of a patient 's condition and make sure that their record shows mental issues to prevent access to
In current day society, it is frequently promoted as self-defense and our “duty” as Americans to own a gun of some sort. The second amendment to the constitution declares that “We the People” are allowed to bear arms because we live in a free State. Although these statements are true, at what cost? The question, “at what cost,” arises due to the recent push for an extension and enforcement of the second amendment. The people of the States have been pushing for desired concealed carry at public areas, such as schools. Statements and questions of concern have been on the as to whether or not this idea is “smart”. Contrary of it allowing some people to feel safe, the idea should be imposed. Guns are weapons and they have the history behind them
On December 14th, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut, Adam Lanza shot and killed twenty children, six staff members, and his own mother; this occurred because Adam Lanza was a man with a psychiatric illness with possession of many guns. If Adam Lanza did not have possession of this gun, twenty seven lives could have been saved. There are criminal background checks that take place in order to own a gun, however the government is missing one crucial aspect to it, and that is the medical background check. Even though there are laws against people with mental illnesses having guns, but the government has no way of checking if they have an illness because they do not conduct medical background checks to do so. Mass shootings by people with mental illness are a growing reoccurrence in the United States that needs to be prevented in order to save the lives of American citizens. People with psychiatric history should not be allowed to own guns because there is an increased risk of violence, people with psychiatric illness are not mentally stable, and the United States does not do proper screening and background checks for gun permits.
Being a young American I have witnessed many problems with growing up in this great country of ours. We have homeless people who can't find work, rising inflation rates, an unbalanced budget, and more importantly, a problem with guns.
The memorable Benjamin Franklin once said, “Those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.” The right to bear arms is a right given to us by our founding fathers in the second amendment of our Bill of Rights. With acts of terrorism threatening nations worldwide, security becomes a factor of essence in the laws of a country. Some people call for the restriction of guns and gun-related products in order to promote security by disarming the people. Others have called for quite the opposite, arm your people by giving them the liberty to protect themselves so they can help first before the government can. The right to protect yourself is a right that any person with integrity will value because of their
Imagine receiving the news that a loved one or someone you care about has had a tragic or a misfortunate accident in consequence of a gun; this can happen to anyone in the reach of a weapon. Misuse of Guns in America is an irresponsibility of people misusing and abusing the authority of a gun. Americans in the U.S buy and obtain guns all the time; of course, there are background checks done for the people purchasing them, but who knows what that person will do with a weapon this present day, and that does not mean the will be the only one who uses it.The rate of guns being misused by irresponsible people in America is not safe for U.S citizens. Those domestic abusers, criminals, and who are dangerously mentally ill and others should be denied
Gun control is one of the most controversial and one of the most talked about topics in the U.S. Some believe that if guns are taken away that there will be less violence and that the death rate may even go down. While others believe that they have a right to bare arms like it states in the constitution. One of the most talked about reasons on why gun control should be stricter is the obvious: guns are not safe. But what people don’t understand is that everytime a gun is purchased a criminal background check is done right away. What people are unaware if is that the majority of people who purchase guns have already bought one in the past. Another talked about issue is the Right to Bear Arms. The Right to Bear arms has been in the constitution for decades. The constitution is not just something you can edit and re-write everytime you see a problem with it or think its “outdated”
Gun violence in America is a public health crisis, which needs to be recognized and changed by legislatures, and the voting American. As conscious Americans, we need to vote for changes to gun laws that would improve background checks nation-wide, make firearm registration mandatory, restrict the sale of assault weapons and weapon modifications that give the shooter military-grade fire power, and invest in gun-safe technology and safe firearms storage designs. This type of technology will help prevent criminally oriented people from accessing guns, and will help prevent the accidental deaths of many children by guns. This essay will explain the reforms needed to help ensure Americans can still exercise their 2nd amendment right of owning firearms, and preventing the unnecessary deaths of many Americans at the same time.
The debate over gun control in America has constantly brought up over the years due to gunmen killing large amounts of civilizations in shootings. From Columbine to Sandy Hook or the shootings of the two reporters in West Virginia, these public shootings are occurring everywhere. Lawmakers and civilians alike are pushing for increased gun control in hopes of preventing the same tragedies. Anybody that has been affected by the shootings have been pushing Congress and state governments to force new sanctions on government. With the past three years, Congress has shot down all the laws despite the large amounts of public support. Adding more gun control isn’t going to stop the mass shootings from happening.
Should the government keep the death penalty, or should they just erase it so it can never be used again. If kept the death penalty can stop crimes from happening due to the criminal fearing the death penalty. The death penalty should be kept because it is the biggest warning known to mankind, and it would puts fear into the criminal which could stop a crime from ever happen. The death penalty is the biggest warning a man or woman can receive. A criminal would be less likely to commit a crime if they knew they would be punished by death.
Listverse,. '10 Arguments For Gun Control - Listverse '. N.p., 2014. Web. 30 Oct. 2014.