According to a Violence Policy Center analysis of news reports, concealed carry permit holders have killed at least 11 law enforcement officers and 319 private citizens since May 2007, 19 of these were mass shootings, and 27 murder-suicides. I personally believe that individuals in America without a criminal record should not be able to carry a concealed weapon in public settings. Carrying a concealed weapon in public settings is automatically imposing a threat on those around you. It increases the chances of an altercation escalating and turning lethal and is portrayed as “self-defense”. Giving individuals the right to carry a concealed weapon in public settings makes the ones without a weapon feel less safe, or intimidated at all …show more content…
There are many rules and regulations that are made out to follow for those carrying these weapons. If a person were not emotionally or mentally stable, they would not be allowed to get a permit to carry the weapon with them. You cannot predict the future; an individual can be perfectly stable when purchasing a weapon, but further in time can possibly become unstable due to unforeseen circumstances. Due to these unforeseen circumstances it can make an individual do things that are out of character, which is keeping a gun in an concealed place while in public can be problematic. One person’s personal problem can lead to taking the life of another, as described in the media, during mass shootings, or “parking lot” confrontations. The public safety in general should never be compromised under any circumstances. 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
Every year, across the United States, gun control has become an issue and weapons cross the hands of society members. The police department, SWAT teams, the military, and hunters have guns put in their hands due to their job purpose. All these people were perfectly trained to utilize guns before getting hired and they properly use them to save lives. In contrast, there are gangs and other criminals the use weapons of violence and end up spending time in prison. People think these days that banning guns would stop crimes, but, however, this claim is false. Firearms aren’t only used for protection, but also for recreation purposes. All Americans should be required to bear arms due to protect against crime, recreational activities, and against
Trevor Burrus from Cato Institute's Center for Constitutional Studies showed how the use of guns for good are far greater than uses for the bad. “In the past 20 years, the cases of permit holders using their guns improperly are quite rare.”(Burrus 3). This is a problem for gun control because the valid arguable point for it is becoming increasingly smaller. This is also a problem for the media because they report vague negative gun usage rather than positive because a large majority of the media's reporters are liberal gun control advocates. Americans who concealed carry firearms are better off in a defense position rather than an unarmed civilian. “studies have found that Americans use guns defensively between 830,000 and 2.45 million times per year.” (Burrus 2). This is a problem because a very small percentage of gun related incidents make it to the news, therefore people think that there aren't as many firearm crimes than there is, and could potentially be unarmed in an emergency situation. Also this means that since there are this many people using guns defensively, there are people who die innocently because they are unarmed. From this, the government had make the laws that prevent people from being able to defend themselves in desperate defense
There are many places that forbid people from carrying guns such as schools, publicly owned buildings, and businesses. According to the Crime Prevention Research Center, over 98% of mass shootings happened in a zone where guns were prohibited. Even though there are many restrictions on firearms sale and possession, there are extensive loopholes that make it possible for people who should not be able to own gun, to be able to purchase one. One of the most common used loopholes is buying from a small scale seller, or going to a gun show. These kinds of deals do not require that an extensive background check be performed. Another blurry loophole involves the mentally ill being able to get their hands on a gun. The current law that prevents mentally handicapped people from owning a gun requires that a person must be adjudicated as mentally defective in a court of law. A majority of mentally handicapped people are never adjudicated and can petition the court to overturn the ruling. The purpose of these laws and its likely effect is not the same thing. Gun control laws are usually more of a state decision than a federal decision. Many states gun laws differ, such as in Rhode Island, any person with a concealed weapons permit can enter a public school, but in a state over in Massachusetts, you must have extensive written permission from the school
I feel that more guns equal more gun violence. A research that was conducted by ProCon.org in 2000, states that citizens who carry concealed weapons are more than five times less likely to be charged with committing a violent crime and fourteen times less likely to be arrested for other offenses than those who do not carry (ProCon.org). I think why any individual without any criminal record should not be able to carry a concealed weapon is because, first of all, it increases the chances of something minor turning lethal. For instance, if a man confronted another man at a bar about something minor, the confrontation could turn into a screaming match and the man with the concealed weapon could shoot the other man. These chances can increase also when the person with the concealed weapon is intoxicated, afraid, or angry (Argument Essay). In addition, not just checking background is enough. What if a person gets his licensed gun and something bad happens to him later on, and he is very upset or say short tempered, and because he hold a gun it would not take much time for him to become bad and dangerous. Secondly, why citizens should not be able to carry concealed guns is because most adults who carry them are not trained properly (Argument Essay). Even though according to the law, one of the requirements to get licensed for a gun is to pass the test, I think it still is not
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
Now a citizen carrying a concealed weapon can be very beneficial to society and maybe even help save lives. In an article by ProCon.org, it is stated that “...this law helped to stop a massacre 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.” ProCon claims that because this man had his concealed weapons permit, he himself was able to stop what could have been an awful and tragic mess. And that is the entire point of having a concealed weapons permit, so that any citizen can protect themselves from certain situations.
People in this country assume that more guns will equal more crime. This is simply not true. States with shall issue permits have 10% fewer gun homicides than may issue States. After Florida passed their shall issue concealed carry law, the State saw homicide rates fall from 36% above the National average, to 4% below the average. Another argument that is commonly made, is that people who conceal carry are more likely to commit crimes now that they can lawfully carry a firearm. That statement is yet another myth in the debate of gun control. Since 1988, crime rates involving concealed carriers has consistently been around .02%. People possessing a concealed carry permit are 6 times less likely to be arrested for a violent crime, and 13 times less likely to be arrested for a non-violent offense. This facts are also echoed by the National law enforcement community, who adamantly support Americans right to defend themselves. A study that was issued in 2013, found that 91% of law enforcement personnel believe concealed carry should be permitted, “without question and further restrictions.” Another 2013 study by a National police gun policy organization, found that 86% of law enforcement officers in the United States believe that concealed carry is the single most effective way to stop mass casualty shootings. Concealed weapons are frequently used to prevent crimes and mass shootings in the United States. A Florida State University study asked 4,978 people, if they have used a concealed weapon in any way, to prevent or stop a crime. 1.33% of respondents reported having done so within the past year. If you multiply these numbers to fit the United States population, that would come to 1.9 million crimes that have been prevented by a concealed firearm. The numbers and facts present do not lie. If you put these statistics next to the testimony from law enforcement, you cannot deny the
Let me start with a couple facts to provide some background information on the issue. 40 out of the 50 states have the “right to carry” and 9 states have restricted or denied the right to carry a concealed weapon. The 40 states that have allowed the use of this with a permit have seen a fall in crime rates since this was enacted. After passing the
In today’s world, there are many things going on at once from the world melting to someone getting a police ticket. There also many things that go by and sometimes we don’t see what’s going on in front of our noses or aware of the laws in some areas of the U.S. In the “lovely” state of Arizona the laws to carrying a weapon are very slim because there are no special permissions associated with carrying firearms, licensing of ownership, registration of weapon and permits to purchase virtually anyone can carry a firearm("NRA-ILA | Arizona State Profile.") In a publically open area, however, guns are not the concern or the issue, nor the people that own weapons it’s the negative pervasive influences associated with them. Most people can be persuaded into virtually anything someone could say that all white tall rabbits destroy cars electrical systems, and that’s why everyone should shoot them. Should people buying a weapon have permits to carrying/handling, have more than one valid reason to buy a gun, and, at least, two screening test to check for any mental illnesses.
There is a small percentage of the population that has a concealed weapons permit. In that small percentage everyone is a law abiding citizen, except for a few here and there. They are a set of citizens hard to tell apart in a crowd because of their normality. This meaning that they do not plan on doing harm with their weapon. They respect the fact that having a concealed weapon is serious business. They are willing to go through the tests and classes that one must go through to obtain their permit. They know all the laws, which they must fallow, with that one could safely say that a concealed weapon would be handled safely by this set of people.
Concealed carry is a constitutional right to citizens of the U.S. for the right to bear arms. People who support of concealed carry law say that criminals are less likely to attack someone they believe to be armed. It is set in stone that Americans have the right to bear arms. This should not be any different nowadays that violence and crime rates are going through the roof (Henigan).
Concealed Carry Weapons have helped the crime rate drop almost 22%(Washington Times)! Concealed Carry Weapons are viewed in many different ways. People who are looking for protection and safety want to know the pros and cons about concealed carry weapons. In the city, many crimes are committed. The concealed carry weapon issue is important because some people want to learn more about them and the good reasons behind concealed carry weapon. Concealed Carry Weapons are good. They provide a sense of safety, something to defend with in case of emergency, and because of them the crime rate can go down.
Therefore, when a person is going to commit a crime upon someone they might think twice about what they are going to do, because they have no idea if that person is carrying a gun or not. The United States has become very restrictive when granting a person to own guns. Certain states have come up with the "Shall Issue" law, which prevents anyone to own, or carry firearms if that person has a criminal record with a felony or has a mental disorder. Many states even require a permit to carry a concealed gun in public.
If you have ever been in a life threatening situation with no way to defend yourself, being denied access to a firearm makes the situation worse. Many law abiding citizens that feel threatened are not able to obtain a firearm for protection. Innocent people are dying while criminals are getting away with gun related crimes. There can be many regulations and laws against guns, but if a person wants a gun they will find a way to get one. The thought of criminals having guns in their possession is a scary thought, but would you want to be the one who is unarmed? Research shows there is no direct correlation between gun control and lower crime rates; therefore, denying law abiding citizens access to weapons for protection is unfair