Will gun control stop harm or protect citizens? Today, the opinions of Americans vary on whether guns harm or protect citizens. However, gun control is not a new controversial issue. In 1924, U.S. Senator, 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.” This proves that gun control has been a concern to Americans since the mid- twentieth century, and possibly even earlier than that. Even with the U.S. laws limiting the access of guns, it has not stopped the misuse of guns. Thirteen school shootings have been recorded in the United States within the first six weeks of 2014. Gun control is an effort to stop crimes by limiting who can access guns. Guns are very powerful weapons that have a great impact on society. They can change a family’s life forever. The destruction they cause cannot be reversed or taken back, and one trigger could take a person’s life away. For these reasons, government interference is needed to restrict the harm guns can cause. The U.S. government should place more limitations on guns because of the carelessness and misuse of guns, which has led to an increasing number of crimes and violent actions against the innocent. Although guns can be used for protection, how often is that true? A gun in the house is twenty- two times more likely to hurt someone than protect them. For every gun that is used for self-defense, there are eleven guns in homes used for completed or attempted suicides, seven used in criminal assaults and homicide, and four used in unintentional shooting deaths or injuries. (Kellermann, 1998, p. 263) There was a poll conducted by CBS News and New York Times in 2010. When Americans were asked about ... ... middle of paper ... ...en in absolute danger, and keep it out of reach. Gun control laws aren’t taking away the right to bear arms, but should be made to restrict violence, accidents, and tragedies. The U.S. government needs to make laws that will make it harder for a criminal or anyone with an untreated mental illness to buy a gun. There have been enough deaths from gun violence. Nobody wants anymore kids to die. Neither do they want anymore incidents where guns get into the wrong hands, causing the lives of many to be at risk. Creating stricter gun control laws lead us into a world that is secure, a world where kids play outside or walk home from school without their parents worrying if they will come back alive. John F. Kennedy once said, “Change is the law of life.” It is about time we emphasize on gun control and create laws to make it possible for people to, at least live a life.
...gun provided a convenient way for crime; people could get any dangerous weapons to endanger the safety of others. In the article, “At Least 9,900 People Have Died From Guns In The U.S. Since The Newtown Shooting: Slate”, Dominique Mosbergen pointed out that the number of mass shooting kept growing because of the lax gun control system. For example, 20 year old, Adam Lanza took several legal guns and went to Sandy Hook Elementary School after killing his mother. Besides that, he only spent five minutes to murder 20 children and six adult members of staff (Mosbergen). This school shooting in the United States completely shocked the whole world. At this point, many people had focused on the regulatory issues of guns. Mosbergen stated, “As the nation mourned in the wake of that unthinkable tragedy, many citizens and lawmakers raised their voices to demand” (Mosbergen).
As the generations of America’s youth continue to grow, so does the increase in violent crimes associated with each generation. Over the last decade, studies have shown that school shootings have increased by an astonishing 13%. Although this figure as a percentage does not seem like much, it makes one stop and think. Parents blame the video games and their violent behaviors for the influence on their children’s daily lives. Grandparents blame the child’s parents for not showing them the right way to grow up in the world. And then we have that child’s friends who say that this child just was not respected by their classmates, or perhaps even bullied into this violent nature. Regardless of the cause to this violent increase, many Americans do believe in a solution: gun control. Gun control is the situation in which the federal government would put a ban on owning firearms. Contrary to what many “hard-core” Americans believe, gun control would not necessarily ban them from owning hunting rifles or even personal handguns. It would simply limit the ownership of semi-automatic assault rifles, and other rifles of this nature. This does not contradict the Second Amendment of the Constitution which states that American citizens have the Right to Bear Arms. I believe in the constitutional Right to Bear Arms, and I am against any attempt to eradicate that right for any American citizen: however, I am for gun control in the sense of lowering the possession of semi-automatic and fully-automatic rifles.
In conclusion, enabling stricter gun control laws will help to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill, criminals, and children and teens. With these laws put into place there will be more assurance of the safety of American citizens. It is not necessary to strip citizens of their right to own a gun, but we should be able to make it harder to get guns. If you are someone with a clear record and using a gun for recreation use, you will have no trouble obtaining a gun. In the long run increase the laws on gun control hurts nobody. Despite historic events where governments seized firearms and killed millions of citizens, today we have a different problem, which is making sure guns are in the right hands.
One of the most heavily debated subjects today in the United States is guns. Over the last few years, mass shootings and spree shootings have been covered widely in the media. It leaves many Americans wondering how we can just sit by and let this happen. However, this is no easy task to attempt to solve or something that will just go away overnight. Taking away the guns won 't solve anything or just fix the problem as a whole. The United States constitution not only protects, but guarantees the right to bear arms as an American citizen. Why should we let the acts of a few sick and mentally ill ruin the right for the rest of law abiding citizens. The focus should center more around tougher background checks and mental health. Many Americans,
“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.
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.
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.
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
An estimated 30,000 people are killed each year by guns in the United States alone according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Gun Control, Funk & Wagnall’s). Though there have been some restrictions and laws placed, both the conservative and liberal sides are not pleased with either the lack of action or the fact that there has been too much action that has taken place. “About 38% of U.S. households and 26% of individuals owned at least one gun, with about half of the individuals having 4 or more guns, according to a 2004 survey by the Harvard School of Public Health (Gun Control, Funk & Wagnall’s).” Both sides turn to the one document centered on the argument for evidence to support their side: the Second Amendment.
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...
Today in America we face many controversial problems. With strict gun control, Americans cannot feel safe, and to some the thought of not being able to use a firearm in self-defense is very frightening. We Americans should never have to be in fear of not being able to protect ourselves, especially in the comfort of our own home. How are strict gun control laws and regulations going to reach the estimated 65 million gun owners that own approximately 240 million firearms (Just Facts Gun Control)? The answer is simple, they can’t. There must be an end to gun control, its problems significantly outweigh any good intentions it has, and besides there is no doubt about it, America is a safer place when the citizens are able to own firearms.
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.
Gun violence has reached an all-time high. After the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, widespread concern forced legislators to take a second look at our gun laws. When twenty children and six educators were gunned down, many citizens were outraged and begged authorities to pass more stringent gun laws because with fewer guns, there could possibly be fewer incidents involving gun violence. Many people believe that the widespread availability of guns is making society unsafe. Each year, nearly 100,000 Americans are shot, 32,000 of them die, 47 children are shot every day, and eight of them die, according to the U.S. News Digital Weekly. In order to solve this problem, more stringent background checks should be required by all applicants, restriction and enforcement on the sale of guns at gun shows need to improve, and the availability of automatic weapons should be limited.
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 laws refer to laws that aim to restrict and regulate the sale, purchase, or possession of fire arms throughout licensing. Today more than half of the U.S wants stricter gun laws. While others think that bearing arms is part of their rights. The right of individuals to bear arms has been fiercely debated, over the last century. While opponents typically cite gun control measures as an infringement on the right to bear weapons, supporters support that the Second Amendment does not limit the government from modifying the proliferation of firearms in the United States, or from stopping potentially dangerous and unstable people from retrieving powerful weapons.