As many people will have seen and heard, America yet again has seen another mass shooting, causing disruption and uproar about gun laws. Should gun laws be put in place? Will it actually change anything?
Many people would argue that gun laws in America should not be put in place, as the sales of guns, are supposedly for the purpose of protection. In most instances, the people who buy these guns, are using for their own protection; however, a very small minority are using these guns for purposes other than protection, but for killing.
Due to gun laws being put in place in countries such as England and Australia, we find that gun killings do not occur as often, as America. From the statistics of gun murders in Australia compared to the US, I can acknowledge that gun laws do completely make a difference. Australia in 2011, encountered 187 firearm murders. This seems a lot, but compared to the US, who had 8,583 firearm murders, Australia’s seems minimal. This is due to a gun law being put in place, to try to stop firearm murders.
America is now in a situation where, people all
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over the world are complaining and critiquing their decision on gun laws. Due to the recent shooting of singer, Christina Grimmie, many people believed that gun laws should be created to stop situations like this happening again. This is not the first time in which a singer or someone in the limelight has been shot and killed, for example Tupac or Biggie, both shot. Yes, due to gangs, but those gangs still had access to guns. If firearm laws were put in place, many incidents like this, could have been prevented and hopefully would not happen in the future. However, as many people understand, even if firearm restrictions are created, it does not mean that firearm murders will not occur. Many people will find a way, to come into the possession of a gun, whether it be for the purpose of protection, to be a ‘thug’, or for the purpose of killing. What I believe America needs to take into consideration, when deciding that “firearm laws do not need to be put in place”, is that what is happening, is not only effecting the lives of many American citizens, but also setting an example of violence, in a world which should be peaceful. In 1999, there was a mass shooting at a high school in which, two teenage boys, who attended the school, decided to kill teachers and classmates.
Two teenagers, who were aged 18, both had access to firearms. If firearm laws would have been put in place, this awful situation may not have occurred. Many may argue, that it would still have happened, as if they had an idea in their head, they would try to pursue it in any way possible. After this mass killing in 1999, Bill Clinton who was the current President of the United States, should have changed the laws on firearms and made it illegal for purchase. In a speech following the mass murder, Clinton said how “we must reach out to our children and teach them to express their anger and resolve their conflicts with words not weapons” however, he did not try to change the firearms laws, to help prevent, a mass murder in a school from happening
again. 13 years later, on December 14th 2012, Adam Lanza decided to open fire in a school full of children aged 6 to 7 years old. He shot and killed: his mother, 6 teachers and 20 children. Again, America failed to make a community safe, which resulted in the killings of more innocent American citizens. Firearms needed to be banned; however, obviously America did not do this, which has potentially resulted in what happened in the early hours of June 12th, 2016. A mass shooting, which has been deemed as “the worst mass shooting in US history”, occurred as a man open fired in a gay night club in Orlando, Florida. This man killed 50 and injured 53. All due to his being in the possession of several firearms, allowing him to take the lives of innocent people, who had done nothing wrong. The fact that America has been able to label this mass shooting as “the worst in US history” is even more terrifying, as they should have been able to stop these situations from happening by now. As many people would agree in America and many people all over the world, murders as large as this, should not be taking place in a world which we describe to be of somewhat “civilised”. Firearm laws in the US may not actually change anything in America. The mass murders of innocent people, may and probably will take place, with or without firearm laws, but we will not know of this, until laws are put in place. Firearm laws should change the number of deaths every year, and these numbers should hopefully decrease every year. Gun laws need to be put in place, America. The laws need to change before any more damage is done.
With all the shootings and random acts of violence, such as the shooting at the movie theatre in Colorado, or the Sandy Hook shootings, stricter gun control laws have been a hot topic in politics and the national mainstream media. The government thinks that gun control being stricter would help to make less of these tragic incidences occur. I am against this thought because I believe that the law-abiding citizens will be the only ones to give up their guns and criminals will then have an upper hand on the innocent. Even though banning guns is supposed to save lives, cities such as Chicago have already shown that stricter gun laws should not be passed because violent murders are still prevalent in these types of cities and strict gun laws have not worked like they were supposed to.
Gun-control laws are a very controversial topic right now in the U.S., especially when it comes to allowing concealed-carry holders on college campuses. Nevertheless, guns should be permitted for concealed carry on college campuses if the carriers have concealed-carry licenses because mass shootings occur mostly in gun-free zones. There have been many incidents in which concealed-carry holders have disarmed attackers, and concealed-carry holders are overwhelmingly law-abiding citizens. However, the argument’s opponents believe guns should not be allowed on college campuses for various reasons, including: professors might be afraid to issue bad grades, a gun may go off by accident, college
Taking privileges away from the majority of mentally stable, healthy, hard working Americans just because a percentage of alcoholics, drug addicts, gang members, and mentally ill individuals are to blame for the school shootings, murders and suicides, would just be insane. So, why is the government trying to implement more strict gun laws for the people that don't do these heinous crimes. The debate on if the government should take the guns away from all the citizens in order to stop these crimes would not stop those who are committing the crimes in the first place. Then, the question would be, how would we know who really has the guns and where they are?
“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.
In America guns have been a part of the country’s society since it’s birth. Throughout history the citizens of the US have used firearms to protect the nation, protect their families, hunt for food and engage in sporting activities. The issue of Guns and gun control is complex. Weighing the rights and liberties of the individual against the welfare and safety of the public has always been a precarious balancing act. In the United States, gun control is one of these tumultuous issues that has both sides firmly entrenched in their positions. Those parties in favor of gun ownership and the freedom to use and keep arms, rely on the fact that the provision for such rights is enshrined in their constitution. In this climate of growing violence, rife with turmoil and crime, gun advocates feel more than ever that their position is justified. As citizens of the “Land of the Free” possessing a gun is a fundamental right, and may even be a necessity... Anti- gun lobbyists point to the same growing violence and gun related crimes in an effort to call on the government to take action. By enacting more laws and stricter control, these people not in favor of guns feel society would be better safer.
Today in the United States many people argue over the fact of guns being legal or illegal. There are people using guns for personal safety and there are others who use them for crimes, as well as for other situations. Firearm deaths in the United States have slowly been decreasing from year to year with all these bills getting passed to promote a safer country than ever before. Guns are the main weapon for youth suicide, school shootings, and for committing murder. In 2010 there were 2,711 infants, child, and teenage firearm deaths. As in school shootings and in committing murder, studies show shooters often had multiple, non-automatic guns, shootings were planned, most youth tell before shooting, shooters have a history of being bullied or threatened, shooters have mental issues, and shooters have done suicidal gestures before (Gun Control with School Shootings). Although there are people who use guns for murdering, there are also those who oppose guns being used without the proper requirements. 85% of all respondents to the survey supporting requiring states to report people to national background-checks systems who are prohibited from owning gu...
Gun control is a highly controversial topic in today’s world where the fight is between the liberal and the conservatives. Many people believe that guns should be banned due to many recent massacres that have happened whereas others are wanting people to have background checks done before owning a gun. I am against gun control because banning handguns in the United States should not be allowed because handguns fail to protect the people and it is ineffective.
“I believe in 2nd Amendment, but not war weapons on streets”, quoted President Barack Obama ("Barack Obama on Gun Control", n.d., para. 3). The debate on whether stricter gun laws will help deter crime has gained much attention since crime rates started to increase. Many research studies show that stricter gun laws are very effective at inhibiting crime. Arguing on the affirmative side, stricter gun laws will help deter crime by banning ownership of military-style assault weapons, by banning weapons with high-capacity magazines, and by creating new gun regulations that delays the process of gun ownership while significantly limiting weapon access at the same time. If stricter gun laws are incorporated into the system, we will be able to envision a bright and crime-free future ahead of us.
The day our school had a mass shooting all they heard was gunshots, the teacher screaming at the kids to get down and under their desks as she ran out of the room soon to be back in a panic the kids looked up to the man with the gun. Then a few more shots go off and it was so silent for a second to only realize that the police had shot the man with the gun. Are guns really the cause of mass shootings, or is it the people who should never have been allowed a gun in their hands, in the first place. Therefore stricter gun control laws won't stop gun violence.
There is an American consensus for some form of gun control. “…[F]irearms were involved in two-thirds of all murders in the United States and [t]he United States leads the world's richest nations in gun deaths…murders, suicides, and accidental deaths due to guns - according to a study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the International Journal of Epidemiology” (Lepore). There might be some far extreme people who think that all guns should be banned but most sane Americans do not think that gun rights should be abolished. Americans regard self-defense as the most compelling reason to have a gun and twenty-two percent of households have handguns in the United States. However many people do think that gun control laws must be enacted and enforced. Pro-gun extremists and the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) must understand that there is a real for many people at the uncontrolled s...
Gun control is one of the biggest debates that America is currently facing today. The reason why this topic concerns many Americans is because of the crime that is related from it. FBI data shows approximately 70,975 homicides were committed in America from 2006 to 2010 from various different types of firearms (Wenzel, 2012). That 's 14,195 on average per year homicides from firearms. Only 9,075 came from knives and other sharp objects, which equate to about 1815 homicide a year. Firearms are the number one tool being used in America for homicides. But even bigger than this, suicide rates reached over 19,000 casualties in 2010 from firearms. Firearms have a 90 percent success rate compared to poison, which is only 30 percent (Center for Disease
43 of 50 states do not require permits in order for individuals to purchase guns. However, statistics show that these states have higher rates of firearm assaults (Pappas). In addition, proper background checks are not conducted on those making the purchase (Teen Vogue). This is significant because perpetrators look for the easiest way to let out their aggression, and complete the task efficiently. With a majority of states providing such easy access to this weapon, the main method of attack can easily be established. If the American Government improves this single factor, it is guaranteed that there will be improvement. In fact, this adjustment has been proved successful in Australia. In the 18 years before the Port Arthur tragedy of 1996, there were 13 gun massacres that occurred (Datz). The Government recognized that there was a fault in the system, and so, a mandatory buyback of all semi-automatic long guns was ordered. Alongside, laws regarding purchase of firearms were modified to be more effective (Datz). In the 20 years since then, there have been zero mass shootings. However, this is an action the American Government is unable to perform, resulting in more frequent reoccurrences. In conclusion, mass murders are rising, and will continue to rise, because of insufficient implementation of gun safety
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.
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.
This is seen across households, states, and countries. While a critic might point out that it would be expected that there are more gun-related deaths in the United States because there is a significantly larger population than other countries, that argument is simply not logical. The United States, with a total of 270 million civilian guns, has 88.8 guns per 100 people. The developed country with the second highest rate of gun ownership is Yemen, with only 54.8% ownership and 11.5 million civilian guns. The United Kingdom boasts a mere 6.7% civilian gun ownership rate and 6.6% of homicides committed with guns. Why would the United Kingdom have such a low gun ownership rate? The answer is simple: gun laws. Catalyzed by a few mass shootings, the United Kingdom enacted strict gun laws. In Britain, assault weapons and handguns are banned and the government is required to check the backgrounds of people who purchase other varieties of firearms. Legal firearms such as rifles and shotguns