Civilian Gun Rights Have you ever sat down to watch the evening news and suddenly be overcome with fear to step outside your door? In recent months, the news has repeatedly been filled with numerous shootings, robberies and sexual assaults. What if there was a way to lower the occurrences of these devastating acts? It has been proven, in several accounts, that allowing American citizens to carry firearms can lead to a reduction of crime. Law abiding citizens should be permitted to own and carry firearms as a source of protection. At least a half million citizens each year admit to carrying a firearm with them when they are away from home (Fact Sheet: Guns Saves Lives). A national study conducted in 1996, determined that in the states which …show more content…
Carrying a firearm or weapon can make one feel far more at ease should a hostile situation arise. There are places in which firearms are not permitted with or without a permit; these locations normally have signs posted on the entry ways to ensure that the public is aware of their policy. More than 6,500 people each day use firearms defensively. Just think of how differently each of these instances would be if civilians were not allowed to carry a firearm. Even government officials, who so often are known for opposing gun rights to citizens, estimate that 235,700 people defend themselves with a gun each year. Studies show that more defenders do not have to fire their weapon to scare off the attacker as opposed to those who are forced to exchange fire. There are times in which the defender must fire his …show more content…
Between false accusations and riots over police defending themselves, the way some individuals see these officials has changed dramatically. The truth is, these men in uniform should not be feared or looked down on for doing their job. In fact, recent studies show that citizens capture or kill more criminals than the police (Smith). One study shows that 11% of police shootings kill an innocent person verses the 2% of innocent people who are killed by civilians with guns. The explanation to this is that civilians who are shooting are normally being confronted one on one verses in a crowd or surrounded by others. These statistics lead to the reason behind criminals being more afraid of civilians over those in uniform. In 1982, a small town in Atlanta passed a law requiring homes to have at least one gun in the household. After this law went into effect, the residential burglary rate dropped eighty-nine percent in Kennesaw alone. Ten years later, in 1991, the burglary rate was still 72% lower than it had been before the law was passed 74% of felons polled, agreed that the primary reason they do not break into homes when people are home is because they fear they will be shot by the
Many Americans are now applying for a license to carry licensed concealed arms with them. The rate at which licenses are being approved is worrying. This development is concerning law enforcement authorities. Putting so many firearms at the disposal of the public is counterproductive to the gains that are being made on improving security and especially in the cities where incidences of gun crime and violence are on the rise.
Gun admirers have statistics that will prove their side on guns saving lives. According to one study by Lott “… for each additional year that laws allowing people to carry concealed handguns were on the books, robberies decli...
Law abiding citizens should have the right to protect themselves against criminals. You are less likely to suffer an injury when attacked if you are carrying a handgun, as opposed to other methods of self-protection. The right to carry a concealed handgun is protected by the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Constitution states “the right of the people to bear arms shall not be infringed” (ProCon.org 1).Carrying a handgun could keep a lot of people from being killed during a public shooting incident. Concealed handguns protect citizens from violent crimes such as burglary and robbery. Most criminals are armed and you don’t have much of a chance of survival if you are not carrying a
Everyone has had that time in their life where they feel that they would be safer if they had some sort of protection, concealed carry is a great option for protection. Over the years it has been growing in popularity, more and more people are going out and getting their concealed carry permit. With more and more people going out and getting their permit, some may view it as dangerous, while others feel it is a necessity. Concealed carry is essential because, it allows added protection, has certain restrictions that the person must meet, and if guns are handled properly they are not as dangerous
In the United States of America, there is much debate about the effectiveness and practicality of concealed firearms. Many citizens today are trying to support their claim with old, outdated evidence and targeted research to attempt to prove a point, but can not escape the truth. Although Concealed firearms may sound appealing to reduce crime rates and stop violence, new evidence suggests otherwise. Recently there has been trends of certain lunatics who own guns that decide to shoot innocent people, justifying the need for more strict gun control laws. The purpose of this paper is to educate and inform about the immensely important topic of concealed firearms, with focus on what effect it has on society and crime rates. We will go over modern
“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.” The right of all Americans to bear arms is a right the Founding Fathers held to equal importance as the Constitution itself. Gun control laws directly violate this right and therefore should not even be under consideration. Even if that issue is overlooked, gun control advocates state that in order to reduce firearm related violence, gun control laws must be implemented to remove the violence caused by firearms. Although this may seem reasonable, the consequences of such laws are ironically counterproductive; they exacerbate the problem instead of fixing it. Besides the fact that the American Constitution guarantees its citizens the right to bear arms, the idea of restricting gun ownership in order to reduce firearm-related violence would ultimately fail given the previous experiments of gun control in England and in numerous states.
First off most citizens do not have any training on how to carry or shoot a gun. This can result in someone being hurt or killed on accident. Secondly a citizen carrying a gun could result in a murder of another citizen over an argument over something. For example in 2014 a retired police officer shot and killed another man over an argument text messaging in a movie theater. Thirdly this gives criminals access to carry a gun and commit a crime wherever they may go. Fourthly a citizen that can carry a gun wherever will also encourage a criminal to carry a gun to counteract the citizen who with the gun. The Inter –university Consortium for Political and Social Research did a survey and found that 75% of criminals carry a gun because they are afraid that the victim has a gun. Fifthly people who do not believe in carrying a gun will be most vulnerable. Say for example an unarmed citizen is in a bar full of other citizens that are armed. If an argument were to start between them and everyone pulled out their weapons on each other than the unarmed citizen would be most vulnerable. Lastly all citizens have different viewpoints on just about everything. With different viewpoints a citizen who is armed could try to us their gun to solve any problems that person may
For many years, America has witnessed mass shootings within it’s borders. In 2015 alone, there were 372 mass shootings (Oldham). The question most Americans are faced with is: do we need more gun control or is gun control the problem? With more gun control, it can be made mandatory that protective devices are used on firearms to prevent accidental harm. Gun control creates mandatory laws such as the requirement for an individual to pass a background check before he/she is permitted to purchase a firearm. Gun control has also been proven to prevent suicides due to the increased difficulty of obtaining a firearm. Those who believe that gun control is the problem claim that by removing one 's firearms, you are endangering them to threats that
The NRA argues that the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees individuals the right to own and carry guns. They are concerned that federal regulations will continue to increase until owning a handgun will be difficult to achieve, infringing on their Constitutional rights. They also argue that if law-abiding citizens have guns, they are safer from criminals, bringing crime rates down.
Concealed pistols have always been an issue that the public wants to know more and more about. Most people who were born and raised in the outdoors agree fully on the legality of a concealed weapon, whereas people who were born in big cities where they did not hunt, shoot guns, or have a firearm in their house do not. This is a very large and argued about cultural issue. I personally am all for concealed carry of a firearm. There are many reasons for this such as personal defense, sense of safety, and the protection of others around me. There are some questions that are raised about the carrying of a concealed weapon such as “what states can I travel in with my firearm?”, “what is the process of applying for a concealed carry permit?”, and “can I enter a weapon free zone to stop a shooter?”. Concealed carry has proven able to reduce crime and lower the casualty rate of a shooter who enters a public area with the intent to kill as many people as possible. Some people argue that concealed weapons are just carried by people who are looking for trouble and that you can obtain a pistol without a background check. This will also be explored and explained thoroughly.
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.
After studying of the effects of the concealed handgun law, researchers concluded that after the first five years of the law, both robberies and rape declined by 1/10th, and murders decreased by just under 1/5th (Lott, “Carrying Concealed Weapons…”). Based on these statistics, the crime rate is greatly affected as more guns are added to the equation. As more civilians purchase guns, the amount of crimes have decreased immensely. By allowing guns to be sold to the general public, our country has become a safer place; guns in our society have not established a more dangerous world. Undeniably, by allowing more guns into circulation, the criminals are more likely to be turned off from committing crimes. For one well known example, New York City’s crime rate has dropped tremendously in the past few years. According to research, robbery decreased by more than half, aggravated assault by just under 40%, and rape has dwindled to a fraction of what it was before (Rosen). These numbers are mind blowing; they show that as more guns are distributed among the hands of the public, the streets of the city have become significantly safer. Thus, criminals have started to realize that their prey is no longer unarmed and is ready to protect themselves. By having such an abundance of armed people across the city, criminals have inversely been deterred from committing crimes. Although there has been roughly 700,000 crimes that involve guns (Connell), there has also been 2.5 million annual defensive gun cases that have been tossed aside (Lott, “Carrying Concealed Weapons…”). Each of these cases that have been ignored all involve guns which have been used to prevent
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.
“Their best defense against injury is to put no defense and give them what they want” (Kates). Critics may argue that concealed handguns are not an effective form of self defense. To the contrary, robbery and assault victims who used a gun were less likely to be attacked or suffer injury, “Neither a martial art skills nor chemical sprays provide a real option for victims faced by attackers who are stronger or armed” (Kates). People feel safer when they carry a concealed weapon because they feel that criminals will avoid attacking them. Citizens want to conceal carry a handgun because every day there are dangerous individuals who prey on the weak. In addition to that, concealed handguns are an effective non-lethal form of self defense a majority of the time. Gary Kleck from the Federal Bureau of Investigation “estimated that, 2 million to 2.5 million victims annually use handguns to repel criminal attackers” (Kates). The surprise of being armed is the advantage for the victim, which the victim has the disadvantage of knowing the time and place of being attacked. Concealed carry actually provides protection to citizens that do not carry because the criminals are not sure who is able to defend themsel...
As of 2013, all 50 states allow concealed carry of handguns (Concealed Carry Reciprocity Maps), although a few states don’t require a permit and the standards for licensing vary greatly from state to state. In the U.S. most states are “Shall Issue” states. This means they will grant anybody a permit that meets certain guidelines such as being 21 or older and not having any felony convictions, a history of mental illness or domestic abuse. A handful of other states are “May Issue” states. In these other states, such as Maryland, a permit will only be issued if you can prove you need it. This can be a large obstacle and these states will usually only issue permits to people in the public eye, wealthy individuals that are well-connected or business owners frequently transporting large sums of cash (Concealed Carry Reciprocity Maps). Although the requirements and standards are different wherever you may live, one thing holds true- concealed carry permit holders are rapidly growing. The market for handgun training, concealed carry courses and smaller, more concealable handguns have opened up. When concealed carry was first gaining popularity there were two very different schools of thought. Some thought that violent crime would decrease, as criminals would fear the everyday person that just may happen to be armed. Others thought that having people carrying around concealed handguns in public would lead to an increase in violent crime with people losing their temper and shooting each other. When analyzing the data and crime trends, it is clear that with this influx of concealed carry permit holders there has not been a corresponding increase in violent crime.