Accidental Shootings

Concealed carry has been in news for a while now and is a hot topic. Concealed carry means more guns around us. Those who not paying attention might assume that open concealed carry is something new, something rare, perhaps reckless at best and dangerous at worst, but that is far from the truth. The Daily Caller newspaper states that, “concealed carry is currently legal in 44 states, and in 30 states you don’t need a license to openly carry a holstered pistol.” The norm states that one had to be licensed to hide the licensed gun. Over the years various restrictive gun laws have been created state by state, largely in an effort to suppress the ability of minorities and criminals to carry guns. The ability to lawfully carry a hidden gun became

In the past six months, there have been a total of 19,635 gun incidents. Out of those 19,635 incidents, 107 were mass shootings, 829 were home invasions, and 604 were for defensive use, according to Gunviolencearchive.org. It is unbelievable to see the number of gun related incidents that have happened in just the past six months. What is even more unbelievable to imagine is that so many of those incidents could have been avoided if people were allowed to carry concealed guns in certain places. Concealed carry, or concealed weapons, is the practice of carrying weapons, such as a handgun, in public in a concealed manner. All fifty states in the United States allow concealed carry in public places to some degree. But, some places, for example, schools, restaurants, and stores, prohibit concealed weapons. The controversy about whether concealed weapons should be prohibited in certain locations has been debated for years, and more often in the past decade. On one side of the debate, supporters of the “gun-free zones” claim that prohibiting concealed weapons in certain locations will reduce crime and ensure that the location is free of gun violence, allowing concealed weapons can result to more guns landing in the hands of criminals, and some even insist that public safety should be left to professional, qualified police officers, not ignorant citizens with little to no expert training. However, it is absolutely necessary to know that prohibiting weapons in certain locations

The main reason for the introduction of the open carry law was to reduce crime due to the threat a gun poses and how it will deter potential thieves, robbers and criminals from injuring an individual due to the presence of a gun. Thus, it is intended so that guns will make the civilians feel safe and create fear in the potential criminals. While open carry law states do have a 23% less crime rate than non-open carry law states, there hasn’t been any data suggesting that open carry law caused the decrease in crime, just that the crime in that specific state is lowered than the other ones (politifacts) . There is, however, information that the presence of a gun does cause trepidation within an individual. When someone is in possession of a gun, they tend to be more aggressive (Lurie, 2015). Also, due to the current occurrences in America, the general public also has instilled a psychological fear when they see guns. With American mass shooting incidents “[rising] to 247 a year,” it is no doubt that gun control has become an important topic to the public [washington post]. People have a similar imbedded fear similar to phobias to guns as they do for snakes and other natural predators (mother jones) . With the new open carry law being passed, there will be a larger public exposure to guns and other firearms. While these may be carried in holsters, they are open for all to see, whether criminal or innocent. In the short run, people will panic at the sight of these and feel as if their personal security is threatened, but with constant exposure to the firearm, the public will slowly become desensitized to guns (Csulb). With the desensitization, guns will become more commonplace and the fears that once arose within individuals will be subsided. Overall, while this tactic of allowing to openly carry a firearm is an attempt at trying to

Staff carrying a concealed handgun will help stop a shooting spree before the shooter can pull off a second shot, and before the police even arrive. For example, after the Apr. 20, 1999 Columbine High School massacre, the state of Colorado enacted the 2003 Concealed Carry Act to allow law-abiding citizens the right to carry a concealed weapon. The CATO Institute concluded that this law helped to stop a massacre at the New Life mega-church in Dec. 2007 when a volunteer security guard for the church who was carrying a concealed handgun shot an attacker who had opened fire in the church (Pros and Cons). This only took a matter of seconds, whereas if no one was carrying a concealed handgun, the attacker would have shot and potentially killed a few people before anyone could even pull out their phones to call 911, and then the response time it takes the police to arrive is enough to kill a few more people. The same thing would have happened at Columbine if staff were allowed, able, and able to carry a concealed weapon. What was a total of 13 deaths, could have turned into maybe just 1 if a teacher was carrying. However, someone could propose that criminals are more likely to carry a gun if they think that their

The NRA spends a large amount of money on lobbying in order to protect the peoples right to bear arms. A common lobbying technique they use is hiring former legislators and government official in order to gain access to policy makers through friendships and personal connections. According to the Journal of Political Science & Public Affairs the NRA spent $3,360,000 on lobbying in 2014 (Journal website). After the Sandy Hook Shooting took place the initial response from the government was to make the gun law stricter, but the NRA wanted no changes made. The NRA’s lobbyist seemed to have “persuaded” enough government official, because no change was made. Clearly the victims and their family member of the shooting were at a loss when the government failed to change any gun

The National Rifle Association (NRA) treats gun control as an individual issue and avoids considering the problem as a collective safety measure. In 1986 N.R.A passed a legislation that restricts the ATF (BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO & FIREARMS) from inspecting the gun dealers only once a year.  It has consistently tried to hinder the funding of ATF and continues to oppose all gun registration systems that might aid in the tracing of guns used in crime (www.handguncontrol.org/facts).  The sad fact is that the major usage of guns is for criminal purposes.  The NRA and manufacturers of guns suffer if laws complicate the purchase and availability of guns.

Through citizens standing on guard and being vigilantes, concealed carriers have saved many lives. In South Carolina, an onlooker with a concealed carry permit struck down a mass shooter outside of a nightclub. In Minnesota, another concealed carrier took down a hostile man with a knife in a mall. In Texas, two men shot and killed a bystander, and proceeded to begin robbing a jewelry store. An upstanding citizen with a concealed carry permit stopped the two in their tracks and stopped them from causing further harm. Safety and the Second Amendment can co-exist, if not sustain each other. Concealed carriers are safe citizens who can help stop crimes. Concealed carry permit holders are some of the most law-abiding citizens in America. A 6 year study in Florida and Texas found that of 875,000 Floridian permit holders, the revocation rate for firearm related offenses was 0.00007%. In Texas, the rate was 0.021% for 584,850 holders. Would this information make you believe that gun owners with concealed carry permits are to be feared and are the ones shooting innocents instead of criminals? The best thing to do when it comes to making a safer world would not be to disarm gun-owners, but giving legal gun carriers the right to defend themselves and others across state lines, no matter what state they are in. People would be able to better defend themselves in situations such as the ones above, and be able to prevent more of these situations from happening, as well as protecting themselves, their property, and

The NRA has managed to become a powerful gun lobby and influencer of the gun conversation through their deliberate propaganda that targets and in many ways lies about the 2nd Amendment. In 1977, through a shakeup within the NRA, the organization went from a group of hunters and sportsmen to a strong advocate for the right to bear arms. Catering to strong gun advocates, the NRA was able to become a very powerful and influential organization. By aggressively advocating for gun rights, and preying on Republican congressmen with many pro-gun constituents, they were able to build up a foundation of support, which they have now expanded into one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington. Nowadays, they promote the 2nd Amendment, but only the parts

Public safety is the main concern to everybody, I want to feel safe when I am gone out to the mall, not always have the fear of something tragic happening due to someone else’s silly mistake. According to an article on concealedguns.org, they believe public safety should be left to professionally qualified police officers, not to private citizens, with less or no training. Not everybody is capable of handling a life or death situation while using firearms in a mature way, possibly allowing the situation to escalate more then what it was in the beginning. For example if I was to be at the mall, and a random individual is

The NRA is a lobbying group that is trying to promote gun safety, organized firearm activities, and most of all protection of the second amendment. Supporters of the NRA are loyal to the cause and rightfully so. The organization promotes family dinners, organizational competitions and updates on their fight to keep our second amendment from being repealed. I think that the NRA is a positive thing, even if the majority of there supporters believe their guns will be confiscated if democrats are elected into office. The NRA does a great job promoting there goals and collecting money from its members. The NRA is funded solely through memberships and donations from it's members. The NRA is helping america control gun violence, and showing the

Criminals will mostly always have guns. Other than being victims, concealed handgun people have a sense of safety and security, especially when going outside at night or in dangerous areas. What this is saying is by carrying concealed weapons the people with the weapons feel safe wherever they go. A 2001 study by the National Opinion Research Center, 59% of people who have a concealed gun outside the home do because it makes them feel safer. We need responsible citizens to protect us from bad people. Everyone wants to feel safe. In Florida, the amount of concealed handgun permit holders who are female rose from 15% in 2004 to 23% in 2014. One of these permit holders stated that women "need to be able to defend their home and defend themselves if they go out. It's just a safety issue." Females started to arm himself because they wanted to be safe when the intruder broke the door down.

Another major reason why we should be able to carry concealed hand guns is for the protection of our self, families and other. The opponents support prohibition of guns as they claim concealed handguns are not effective methods of self-defense. A person carrying a concealed gun for self-defense is more likely to be shot during an assault than a victim who has no gun. Victims having guns are 4.5 times likely to be shot in an assault than victims without guns as they are not able to use concealed guns as attackers overpower them and also surprise them. In everyday life, there is a chance you will be put in a situation where self-defense will be needed and there is also a higher chance that the criminal or person you are protecting yourself from will be armed. We can all conjure up the night mare scenario of being defenseless in a violent confrontation with a burglar, mugger, carjacker, rapist, or gangs of youth. Violent criminals will always

“The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles.” The right to bear arms has been in the constitution since its creation. The NRA, National Rifle Association, has been trying to protect those rights in the current society in which we live in. The group was created in 1871, by two Union service members, Col William C. Church and Gen. George Wingate. They created this organization to help people shoot their guns correctly. Since their creation, the group has evolved into a national organization

“Americans want solutions to our nation's gun violence epidemic which kills more than 30,000 and injures almost 70,000 each year and understand that widespread carrying of concealed weapons isn't the answer; it's part of the problem” (Lovelace). Most states do not prohibit the carrying of a concealed weapon in places where a large amount of defenseless people gather and where there are a lot of personal conflicts. Concealed carry permits were claimed to decrease crime rate, but in reality crime rate has increased, and there were claims of use for defense but when evaluated by judges they say that what they consider defensive about half of them are illegal. “Even when a gun is used in self-defense, which is rare, the research shows that it is no more likely to reduce a person's chance of being injured during a crime than various other forms of protective action. One recent study suggests that carrying a firearm may actually increase a victim's risk of firearm injury during the commission of a crime” (Lovelace). Carrying a weapon as a young adult, can be dangerous but what about those that join the

As more states adopt the right to carry firearms laws, firearm deaths have been reduced. This is an issue in the U.S with 29 major mass shootings with the last 10 years. The issue at hand is that in mass shootings the shooter is able to keep firing until a police officer arrives on the scene and stops the shooter. By this point the shooter will have killed or injured quite a bit of people before the officers could act. This is an important statement because it would lessen the amount of casualties/injuries. With there being more and more shootings occurring in the United States the need for people to defend themselves needs to increase. In many situations if there had been an individual with a concealed weapons permit, the mass shootings would have less casualties. With there being another person with a firearm except the perpetrator and the police officer it would reduce the chance of the perpetrator killing more people. Mass shootings in the United States would be minimized by potential victims being armed.