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Advantage and disadvantage of having a gun
The need for handgun control
Gun safety
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Recommended: Advantage and disadvantage of having a gun
For many gun owners, it's a simple calculus: having a gun gives them at least a fighting chance in the event that a burglar or home invader manages to get in. And while definitive numbers on the frequency of defensive gun use in the US are hard to come by‐they range from a low of 55,0002 to a high of over two million3 per year‐none of that will matter if you are one of the thousands of American gun owners who uses a firearm in self defense against a criminal or intruder each year.
Criminals don't like finding themselves on the business end of a gun barrel any more than the rest of us do, which is why 74% of them actively try to avoid breaking into houses when the owners are home. 4 In other words, just the fear of being shot is often enough to dissuade
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6 Researchers have found that this holds true regardless of the type of gun you own, how you store it, or how many guns you own.
Finally, if you have children, you should take into account how the presence of a firearm in the home might affect their safety. Most gun-owning parents take precautions to keep their children from finding and handling the family's firearms. However, despite these efforts, children often handle guns in the home without their parents' knowledge; in one study, 22% of parents who believed that their children had never handled the guns in the home were contradicted by the children themselves. 7 Further, when a child or teen is killed by a firearm, the gun that killed them comes from their own home fully 72 percent of the time. 8
So what's the answer?
There is no "right" answer. Whether or not a gun is the best choice for your home protection needs is a very personal decision. You are the best person to realistically assess the tradeoff between the risks and rewards of gun ownership and decide what the best course of action is for your
According to polls, many citizens believe that more people owning guns makes them feel less safe (Hemenway).
Why do people feel the need to own a handgun? One reason is heritage. For as long as this country has been around, there have been gun owners, defending themselves and hunting for food. Buying, owning, or carrying a handgun doesn't hurt anyone. Until a person commits a crime, he/she is free to choose what he/she wants to do.
Self-protection is one of the most common reasons for wanting to own firearms. Anti-gun control activists believe that they have the right to protect their family and their homes, two of the most important things in life (A man's home is his castle). An unknown author said, "A gun in the hand is better than a cop on the phone.
Although legalizing concealed handguns create an easy access to firearms by criminals and emotionally disturbed people, it is less likely that these individuals will use their weapons if they feel their target is armed as well. Allowing citizens to carry would always cause the question of ‘who is carrying?’ to arise in the criminals’ minds. According to economist and political commentator John Lott, had the states that did not have concealed handgun laws in 1992 actually allowed concealed carry, the murders would be reduced by “1,839; rapes by 3,727; aggravated assaults by 10,990; robberies by 61,064; burglaries by 112,665; larcenies by 93,274; and auto thefts by 41,512,” (Lott 58). Simply by allowing individuals the right to carry concealed weapons cuts major crime rates dramatically. When criminals are aware that their potential victims could also be armed, they are less likely to act on their violence for fear of the assault turning against them. Whereas, if concealed carry was illegal, criminals would know that their target would most likely not be carrying, thus making these individuals more likely to act on violent
The first thing that parents should be worried about would be the exposure of guns that their children have. Several families have guns at home because they feel they are secure having them for protection. People buy guns because they believe that where they live,
A New Jersey woman told police of how two men tried to open her front doors of her car at the same time. In the driver seat she reached for her gun, pulled it out and screamed. The two men fled the scene. “On Feb. 3, 1997 outside a bar in Mexico a female used a gun to stop a man from raping her" (Gale 88). A college park woman shot and killed an armed assailant who tried to car-jack her in her van with her 1 year old daughter inside. These and many other examples are of how and when handguns can save your life. Because people need handguns to protect themselves, the government should not place more restriction on them.
Most criminals are deterred to do crime when they realize someone is armed. No one smart, willingly wants to put themselves in a position to be shot. Wayne quoted “39 percent did not commit specific crime for the fear that the victim was armed.” A natural fear lies with the human being, he will take precautions to make sure he is safe. When the citizen is armed and one can see that. It is a deterrent for the criminal to pursue that being. Conceal carry is on the rise, now criminals must be extra cautious of their target, for it may lead to their demise. An argument from the opposite side on the matter is that the conceal carry community is a threat to law enforcement, however 57 percent of non-law abiding citizens have a worse fear of being stopped by the averaged armed citizen then by the police force. The people are not bounded to as much regulation as an officer. The only variable for a citizen’s permission to shoot is, is his life is in danger or someone else’s life is in danger, or if property is being taken or invaded. Police have more regulation for their reasons to shoot a
“Numerous studies have estimated that there are anywhere from 800,000 to 2.5 million defensive gun uses every year in the United States. According to a widely cited study by Gary Kleck, a criminology professor at Florida State University, there are 2.2 million to 2.5 million defensive gun uses annually. A sample of those cases revealed that 8.2 percent were defenses against attempted rape and sexual assault, and 30.4 percent were defenses against other types of assault” (Expanded On-Campus Gun Rights). When establishing the gun-free zones that are currently in place at many campuses around the United States, only ensures occupants of these zones are essentially helpless against an aggressor who is willing to break the law. In allowing a controlled, concealed handgun in this area, students would able to protect themselves from someone who intended to cause harm upon them with a firearm, thus causing the perpetrator to reassess his current
Many people will try to argue that the use of guns is dangerous, but it is the best source of protection in most cases. Without guns people are left helpless with no way to protect themselves. Without guns, criminals are more likely to break into houses,
violent crimes do not involve guns as often as many people believe. According to the FBI
Gun laws control the types of firearms that may be purchased, designate the qualifications of those who may purchase and own a firearm, and restrict the safe storage and use of firearms. Advocates for gun control laws argue that with these laws in place the incidence of violent crimes are reduced because the prevalence of firearms is reduced or in other words fewer guns mean less crime. But this only holds some truth because the relationship between gun control and crime rates don’t effect each other immediately. A law that is put into place won’t see any effect crime rates until a few years down the road. A study taken in the 1997, found that the right-to-carry laws reduce violent crime rates. The reductions are greater in counties with proportionally higher urban populations and the laws afford relatively greater protection to minorities and women. The study also shows that criminals substitute non confrontation crimes such as burglary, auto theft, and larceny, for violent crimes such as robbery and assault (Moorhouse et al., 2006). Thirty five states now permit law abiding residents to carry a concealed weapon (Malcom and L., 2003). With concealed weapons laws in place, the probability of a criminal coming to a confrontation with an armed citizen has increased. As such, right-to-carry laws
There are many reasons that people want to own a gun. One of the main reasons that people own a gun is protection for themselves and their family. In a survey given about guns, “self defense” was the main reason for owning a gun. Guns provide a great source of psychological reassurance even among citizens who are not particularly concerned about the fear of crime of being victimized. The right of self-defense and the right to use firearms for self-defense and the defense of your family is the foundation for rights written in the U.S. constitution.
Robbery and assault victims, who used a gun, were less likely to be attacked or suffer injury. Concealed handguns are an effective, non-lethal form of self defense. The majority of adults who legally carry handguns do not misuse their firearms and carrying a concealed handgun could aid in ending public shooting sprees. Criminals carry concealed weapons regardless of their legality, which means responsible citizens should be able to obtain a gun while using their firearm in the right way. Therefore, adults should have a license to carry a concealed handgun, obtain an authorization, and complete training requirements in order to be able to carry a concealed handgun.
America is a freedom country that has people from all over the world have come and lived. In America, the safety of people is the most important concern of government, and Americans are encouraged to be able to protect themselves from dangerous situations. As a result of that, Americans have right to possess guns so that they can protect themselves from dangerous situations. However, besides the reason that people with guns can protect themselves from dangerous situations, researches have showed that more than 30,000 people are killed every year and more than 30 people are murdered everyday by guns in America. Although there are many people think that it is necessary to own gun, there are a lot of benefits when guns are restricted to own except police and security. The three main benefits are reducing homicides, reducing the ability of suicide, and reducing deaths from gun related crimes.
Imagine if you will, society that is so plagued with crime that its citizens are afraid to step out of their homes for fear of being a victim of a violent crime. With no way to protect themselves or their families, they are at the whim of the criminals that prey on them. Next imagine a society where it is virtually crime free, free of any types of violent crimes, one is able to leave the front door unlock and return home without worrying if there has been a burglary. Although these scenarios are to the extreme it is a reality to some extent as to the conditions here in the State of California at the present time, where a law abiding citizen cannot legally protect themselves in everyday life from the preying few that society has labeled criminals. Unlike other states in the nation California does not issue Concealed Weapons Permits in a consistent fair manner, therefore depending on the location of one’s residence it could determine if a citizen has a higher chance of becoming a victim without being able to have the choice to defend one’s self. It is this author’s belief that Concealed Weapons Permits do lower the crime rate by being a deterrence of criminal activity that fear the repercussions of facing a citizen that is armed and well trained in the use of the weapon of choice.