How Does Gun Control Affect Society

Has it seemed as if Americans have always had an obsession with owning guns? The laws grant a United States citizen the right to bear arms. Citizens have always taken advantage. One might wonder why someone would be so protective over something so dangerous. I do believe that gun control is a need for today's society, and for protection. Gun control plays a major part in crime and violence. The call for stricter gun control policies is a necessity in our society today. Gun control has a big impact on society because of: gun violence, gun laws, and people’s protection.

More than 31,000 people a year in the United States die from gunshot. Gun violence is one of the leading causes in the United States. In 2010, there were an estimated 337,960 violent crimes started with guns, and 73, 505 people were treated in the hospital. Gun violence in the United States is usually high for a nation of such wealth. Although there is a difference in the overall crime rates between the United States and other high-income countries, the

homicide rate in the United States is seven times higher than the combined rate of twenty-two countries. The higher dominance of gun ownership and much less restrictive gun laws are important reasons why violent crime in the United States is so much more lethal than in countries of similar income levels (Vizard 10-12).
Debates about gun control often drift towards general arguments about whether guns make us safer or less safe, and gun control is equated with restricting gun
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ownership. However, with recent Supreme Court decisions overturning laws, which ban firearm possession in the District of Columbia and Chicago. Current gun control policies in the United States do not disarm law- abiding adults over the age of 21 (Vizzard 7). Federal law prohibits certain categories of individuals from possessing firearms, including: felons, fugitives, discharged from the military, immigrants, and people with mental issues. Federal law sets 21 years as the minimum age at which a person can lawfully purchase a handgun from a federally licensed firearms dealer, but sets 18 as the minimum legal age for handguns (Vizzard 4).
Handguns fail to protect people, and may put people in greater danger because they prevent people from using handguns as self-defense. When an individual is trained, handguns are easily the safest way for self-defense, and a handgun takes this option away from them. Handguns will not stop criminals from buying guns. Most people think you have to. They will prevent law-abiding citizens from buying a gun for self-defense. Banning handguns leaves citizens with less self-defense safety. A law-abiding citizen will not break the law and own a handgun if they are banned, but a criminal will. If an individual desires to rob a bank or murder someone, he or she is not going to be worried about breaking a gun ordinance. Handgun bans remove an extremely valuable self-defense method from citizens, which leaves them even more suspicious (Vizzard 12).
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In 1998, firearms in the United States caused 30,708 deaths. Of that number, 12,102 were murders, 17,424 were suicides, 366 were accidents, and 154 were to be in self-defense (Sowell 8). Guns are currently being used in this society for murders, hunting and gang activity. Guns are used in the drill team, for war and by the police force. Guns should not be used in such ways where others could be harmed or killed. They should be used only for self-defense to protect themselves and their valuables.
The Gun Owners Foundation says that guns save more lives than they take and prevent more injuries than they inflict. Guns pose a high danger in the world. Guns are necessary, and the values of a gun are not great enough to balance out all the bad values they have. Guns take lives, no doubt about it. There needs to be much stricter gun control laws that prevent criminals from getting deadly weapons. They will certainly prevent much of the gun violence committed. “A world without guns except in the hands of law enforcers would be a much safer place. Even though all crimes cannot be prevented, many lives will be saved, says Muster (Sowell 5)
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In conclusion, there are reasons for why certain people feel that gun control is unfair.

People against gun control feel that it is a violation of the Constitution to control the sale and distribution and the registration of guns and gun owners (Band, The Editorial 2) . But it is necessary for there to be certain limits on the way that firearms are handled in this country because of the homicide rate involving guns, and because of the violence created by criminals using guns. If gun control legislation were to go through; there would be a significant decline in gun related crimes and fatalities (Sowell 2). Gun control should be control in this society, and laws should be enforced. Gun violence, protection, and safety and fall into this category. The laws should protect people’s safety and also people’s self-defense. I do believe that gun control has a big impact on society because of: gun violence, gun laws, and people’s protection (Sowell

13)