There are currently 88 guns for every 100 people living in the United States. That is not even counting the numerous illegal weapons that our government could not account for. We have so many guns in this country and very few laws on who can own them. With this in mind, it is easy to see how simple it is for guns to get into the wrong hands of criminals and mentally ill and cause harm. I feel that guns cause a lot more harm than good and there should be more gun control laws. There should be more gun control laws because guns are rarely used for self-defense, there would not be as many guns for criminals to steal, and there would be a reduced number of gun deaths. First of all, there should be more gun control laws because guns are rarely …show more content…
A study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that the legal purchase of a handgun appears to be associated with the long-lasting increased risk of violent death. (P. Cummings, T.D. Koepsell, D.C. Grossman, J. Savarino, and R.S. Thompson 4) Numerous statistics additionally prove this to be true. There were 464,033 total gun deaths between 1999 and 2013: 58.2% suicide, 37.7% homicide, and 2.2% unintentional death. Furthermore guns were the leading cause of death by homicide and suicide. And to top all of that off firearms were the 12th leading cause of all deaths, representing 1.3% of total deaths. All of these facts help to even further show that guns are incredibly unsafe and result in many deaths, even if they are in the right hands. I especially feel that there should be more gun control laws for this reason. Those who oppose gun control laws have just as many arguments against gun control. One of their oppositions to gun control the argument that guns do not kill people, people kill people. Yes, it is true that guns cannot harm others by themselves. They are though the most common way to kill people, as well as the most efficient way to do so. Being both easy to obtain and easy to use, it is no wonder why it is the most common way to murder someone. Even if there were fewer guns due to more gun control laws, people would still kill. …show more content…
This is the most common opposition for gun control. The Second Amendment states, "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." While it is true that the Second Amendment does state the right to bear arms, it was written with the intention to protect the rights of states to maintain militias and for them to have the right to bear arms, not individuals. It is not an unlimited right to own guns. It does not even give individuals the right to own guns. Republican Chief Supreme Court Justice Warren Burger said about the proposal that the 2nd Amendment is aimed at protecting every American’s right to own guns: “…one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word ‘fraud,’ on the American public by special interest groups that I’ve ever seen in my life time. The real purpose of the Second Amendment was to ensure that state armies—the militias—would be maintained for the defense of the state. The very language of the Second Amendment refutes any argument that it was intended to guarantee every citizen an unfettered right to any kind of weapon he or she
The two sides of this argument are the pro and anti gun groups. The anti-gun groups main goals range from more stringent gun control laws to a total ban on handguns. The political supporters of this group are susally liberal democrats and a few other small independedt groups such as Handgun Control Inc. Their main arguments are questionin gth eoriginal intent of the framers of the constituion adn the way of life in the time it was written, and also the purpose of guns in modern siciety. For thte most part, their claims are mainly emotional and use popular incidences adn the high number of people killed annually from firearms and, gun saftey in households. On the other side of the fence is the pro-gun grouuups who lobby to support law abiding citizens' second amendment rights to keep and bear arms. Their suporters tend to be conservative republicans and pro-gun groups. The most popular of these groups is the NRA(National Rifle Association) which is a strong political group consisting of over three million members. Theses groups tend to use statistics and sases wehre lives have been saved by the use of firearms while strongly stressing gun saftey and training programs. They favor strict interpretation of the Bill of Rights. INthsi paper I am taking a stand against gun control. I feel that law abiding citizens should be entitled to their second ammendment rights to keep and bear arms for the purposes of protection of home, property, and person.
Some people will argue that the US Constitution allows citizens to bear arms only for a well regulated militia, A militia being an army composed of ordinary citizens. This is true that militia is necessary to the security of a free state. They also proclaim that the provision “The constitutional right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed” the Second Amendment does not mention handguns by explaining that carrying a concealed handgun increases the chances of a confrontation escalating and turning lethal. Gun control supporters maintain the thought and believe that the use of handguns is not stated in the constitution and is considered dangerous. Many also believe that it is too easy to get a gun. Many believe this. but they are sadly mistaken.
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.
Guns do not kill people, people do. The American Dream is being able to work towards and achieve whatever makes you happy, whether it be owning your own business, joining the military, or staying at home raising a family, but the only way to reach your dream is to do it without living in fear that your dream will be taken away. In the last couple years mass shootings and attacks on schools have sadly become a common tragedy. Those who have been victims of public shootings or any other life scarring event due to a criminal, along with anyone else who has watched the coverage of the tragedies on the news is somewhat living in fear, but if concealed carry laws were passed then living in fear would be significantly lowered along with crime rates. According to Mike Miller, author of What Happened to Chicago’s Murder Rate After Illinois Upheld Concealed Carry and Why it Matters, “three to four crimes are stopped by a handgun than are committed in the United States every year” (Miller). People would feel much safer knowing they would be able to defend themselves if the time ever arose. When we think or hear about guns most of us jump to the negative effects and stories we have heard. The only stories we hear about guns are how a person’s life has ended because of it, but we never hear how they save a person’s life. It is important to remember the commonly used phrase when talking about concealed carry, “Guns do not kill people, people do.” However, guns are an effective way of protection and states should not make stricter gun control laws because it is ineffective and creates additional problems in today’s violent society.
“It is estimated that there are 310 million non – military guns in America” (O’Brien and Stanton). Many people that own a firearm usually have more than one gun. Also, a majority of gun owners feel that owning a firearm is the best way to protect themselves at home. With the large number of guns said to be in America, there needs to be a way to prevent the number of frequently occurring mass shootings. The solution to this issue is called gun control. Gun control needs to be implied more in our society because gun related crimes are mostly committed by those diagnosed with mental illnesses, there is no contradiction with the second amendment, it has the ability to lower the amount of mass shootings in the United States, and universal background checks help prevent mass shootings.
The second amendment to the US Constitution shows that it is unconstitutional to have complete and total gun control. The second amendment states that “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.” This means that it is the right of an American citizen, abiding by the constitution, has the right to bear arms. Currently, there are over three hundred and seven billion people residing as American citizens. Within the homes of these Americans, forty five percent have a registered gun in their household. As a diverse nation, there are many reasons why there are guns located within a household. Sixty percent stated the gun is used for protection against int...
Throughout the years there has been an ongoing debate over the Second Amendment and how it should be interpreted. The issue that is being debated is whether our government has the right to regulate guns. The answer of who has which rights lies within how one interprets the Second Amendment. With this being the case, one must also think about what circumstances the Framers were under when this Amendment was written. There are two major sides to this debate, one being the collective side, which feels that the right was given for collective purposes only. This side is in favor of having stricter gun control laws, as they feel that by having stricter laws the number of crimes that are being committed with guns will be reduced and thus save lives. However while gun control laws may decrease criminals’ access to guns, the same laws restricts gun owning citizens who abide by the law; these citizens make up a great majority of the opposing side of this argument. These people argue that the law was made with the individual citizens in mind. This group believes that the Amendment should be interpreted to guarantee citizens free access to firearms. One major group that is in strong opposition of stricter gun control laws is the National Rifle Association (NRA). The NRA argues that having stricter gun control laws will only hinder law-abiding citizens. The final outcome on this debate will mainly depend on how this Amendment is going to be interpreted.
Of Americans 3% own half the country's 265 million guns, that means each of those 3% own more than one gun. We have the individual right to own and use these arms. Gun control is a big debate in politics right now. I personally do not believe in gun control, i just feel like if a good guy had a gun then he would be able to stop things like shootings from happening. So do organizations like the NRA (National Rifle Association), the GOA (Gun Owners of America), and the SAF (Second Amendment Foundation) “The answer to crime is not gun control, its law enforcement and self-control” (Alan Keyes political activist) This violates our second amendment right of the U.S. constitution to keep and bear arms. So it's all in the best interest that we keep gun control from happening, so that we can keep our second amendment.
Supporters of gun control claim that gun ownership is the reason for all gun violence and that gun control will be effective in confiscating almost all of the guns. Right now a person can purchase a weapon fairly easily and have it at their use whenever they need it. Some of these people are not educated on the proper use of a gun. Some people do not know how to correctly store a gun or basic gun safety tips. This is why there is a large number of unnecessary and preventable deaths. These can include suicide, accidents and violence due to the availability of a gun. This may be true because in some cases people acted upon impulse and the guns were available. It is true that some instances gun violence may have been prevented by gun control, especially the criminals that acted on impulse. Gun control supporters believe illegal gun sales will also be stopped. The government can place harsher punishments and stricter laws to decrease the sale of guns once they are illegal. It will take a lot of work and trial and error because we cannot predict the outcome of banning guns. They vary state by state so even the states that have already implemented some form if gun control would not be able to be used as an
“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.
Guns have been the weapon of choice for some of the most brutal massacres on America soil. Since early history guns have been used mainly for militia and defense purposes. But, the development of new gun technology has made firearms more accessible and deadly. Although the second amendment gives the right to bear arms, guns should be controlled and monitored by the government because guns have contributed to a lot of killings in America and will increase crime rates.
People have questioned gun control long time. Many people wonder if anyone, aside from those who join the law force, should be allowed to carry guns. Benjamin Franklin once said, “Those who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety” (Wright 4). Franklin understood that taking guns away from law-abiding citizens would not uphold their liberty. Some people who argue for gun control state many violent crimes involve guns. Others believe a child could find the gun and something bad could happen to the child or others when a gun is unsafely stored. People who argue against gun control might say there is a huge psychological gap between citizens who shoot to protect themselves or their property and those who go into schools and shoot at others. Criminals will always find a way around gun control laws and will be able to obtain and use guns illegally. The second amendment protects gun rights for individual citizens. Reasonable gun control laws and educational steps can be taken to protect the majority of U.S. citizens. Gun control does not only take guns away from criminals, gun control also limits law-abiding citizens from protecting themselves and their families when necessary.
Gun control is an awfully big issue in the United States today. Many people in America don’t agree with the gun control laws that they have today. Gun control laws only take guns and freedom away from law-abiding citizens. Many citizens have their own reasons for owning a gun. Why would the government want to make it harder for people to own a gun? People that own guns aren’t very likely to be attacked by criminals. Owning a handgun is one of the best ways of protection when used correctly. The second amendment states “the right to bear arms”; does this grant everyone the right to own a gun? Gun control laws have not been proven to do anything for citizens. Gun control laws just make it harder for the good guy average Joe to own a gun. Gun control laws are not a good idea, and are taking part in the loss of our freedom that was given to us.
Central in the arguments against gun control is its ability to restrict any citizen of the United States the right to own guns which is protected under the constitution. Specifically, due recognition is made to its connection to the 2nd Amendment wherein it seeks to protect the individual liberties of people. This facet also applies to gun ownership regardless of the original objective and intention. “The second amendment from the Bill of Rights grants private citizens the right to bear arms. Thus, people who stand firmly against gun control insist that no legislation, technically, should have the right to take away a citizen’s guns without first repealing the amendment in question” (Groberman 1). A good approach to consider in highlighting this part comes from depriving the citizen of his basic right on the basis of specific presumption that it would be used for violence or crim...
First, and foremost many handguns have claimed the lives of too many people. This is a very serious issue we must tackle globally not just in the United States. The same problem is killing our past, present, and future. Gun violence has claimed the lives of so many Americans that we are the leading country in crimes committed by guns. These guns are claiming the lives of people ranging from babies to adults to even the elderly. Handguns are just causing too many deaths.