In today’s society, gun violence has become far too common. Every single day in the United States 96 people are killed by guns. This accounts for nearly 13000 deaths per year. Many gun advocates will make the clever argument that guns do not simply fire themselves, so why place the blame on them? While guns clearly do not fire themselves, they far too often fall into the hands of people who are not in the correct state to be responsible for such a potentially deadly weapon. No, one cannot solely blame these inanimate objects for the thousands of deaths that take place each year, however, they can question why and how these mentally disturbed people, are able to so easily gain access to them. The term “gun control” doesn't mean they want to take away the guns from those who have no intent to harm anyone with them, it simply means to make it more difficult for guns to fall into the hands of those who want to harm others with them. …show more content…
By no means should guns be outlawed or taken away from anyone. Should legally sold semi-automatic guns have the capability to become fully-automatic with little alterations required, probably not, but preventing dangerous people from acquiring these guns is the first step in the right direction. Those who have a criminal or mental illness history, should not be able to walk into a walmart and purchase a firearm as if it was a bag of chips. No, not everyone with a mental illness is dangerous, but many are willing to sacrifice their second amendment right if it means keeping their country safe. Yes, there are currently background check requirements in place for many retailers that sell firearms, however this does not mean that all of them have the same protocols or that they are without
Gun control laws should regulate production, distribution, ownership and use of firearms by civilians. Gun control laws are not intended to dispossess law abiding citizens of licensed firearms but to intervene on reckless use of firearms that cause harm to the public. Gun control should also make it difficult for criminals to access firearms. Armed civilians have in many instances deterred acts of crime from being instigated by scaring away criminals. Nonetheless, gun laws can only be described as immensely lax. This essay seeks to argue for the enactment of strict gun control laws by highlighting the dangers posed by guns in the hands of members of the public.
In the year 2016 alone, there have been 145 mass shootings around the United States, while there have been only 173 days in the years so far. In order to prevent these atrocities from occurring so frequently gun ownership should be regulated by both the federal and state governments through a background check for all sales of firearms. The National Instant Criminal Background Check System has prevented more than two million convicted felons and other prohibited purchasers from buying guns. The law also has a deterrent effect since the prohibited purchasers are less likely to try to buy guns when they know comprehensive background check requirements are in place. However, currently the federal law requires criminal background checks only for guns sold through licensed firearm dealers, which counts for only sixty percent of the total gun sales. The U.S. Congress needs to regulate the obtainment of guns with a background check for all sales of firearms in order to protect the lives of citizens in this country while not violating the Second Amendment and the rights of the state.
For many years there have been arguments over gun control, and if there needs to be more regulations or even ban them. I do not think that banning firearms or adding more regulations would help; if anything it would make things worse.
Although the Second Amendment stops the federal government from entirely banning guns in America, limited restrictions are permitted on the possession and distribution of firearms. The ease of obtaining a firearm in America fosters a dangerous environment and crime. Hence, the Second Amendment should be reinterpreted so that sterner gun laws can be implemented because current background checks are flawed, gun accessibility has been abused by foreign and domestic criminals, and some
The topic of gun control in the United States is not debated enough. Every time a headline reads about an incident that happened where guns were involved, powerful politicians and everyday citizens alike turn the other way and choose to be ignorant instead of being upset about these awful current events. Clearly, with so many occurrences and deaths that are caused by gunfire, the United States needs reformation about its current gun control policies, essentially, the United States needs more gun control. It need gun control because several United States citizens take the Second Amendment too literally, and the amount of gun-related crimes, such as mass shootings, suicides, and homicides is too high.
Original: A study shows that “46% of gun owners report that their primary reason for owning a firearm is for protection against criminal victimization” (Wallace 158). This statistic is one main reason why gun control should be limited. If America were to take away the right to bear arms, nearly half of all people who own guns would lose their sense of security in their own home, town, and country. Esposito and Finley quote a policer office from 2013 saying “simply calling 911 and waiting is no longer your best option” (86). This isn’t because the police force doesn’t do their job well, but because criminals in the twenty first century are merciless and don’t allow time for cops to come save the day.
Recent incidents of gun violence have brought a new group of supporters against gun violence. Increasing support from the young people has significantly strengthened the gun control movement. For instance, thousands of students participated in a demonstration after the Parkland shooting, and this was one of the largest demonstrations by students in the US history (Holpuch, 2018). The students’ demonstration included a memorial for the victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school shooting. The youth-led campaign has been creating pressure for the government to act. According to Szekely (2018), the students’ participation in the demonstration against the killing of their fellows “has chipped away at legislative gridlock on the issue.”
There are already many laws barring citizens from purchasing weapons, as there should be. Since those people are obviously not law abiding citizens, they shouldn’t have the right or be trusted to use a deadly weapon. That is why when you purchase a gun, it is the law that you must be screened by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) that the FBI introduced in 1998. However, that system has some flaws. There are thousands of criminals and terrorists that go through the system and are still allowed to purchase a gun. For example, if an FBI background check takes longer than three days, the gun sale is approved by default. This is how Dylann Roof, the killer of nine people at a black church in South Carolina in 2015, was able to buy a gun despite having a police record that included drug possession. “Mr. Roof exploited the three-day waiting time that has allowed thousands of prohibited buyers to legally purchase firearms over the past decade — and some of those weapons were ultimately used in crimes, according to court records and government documents” (Schmidt). I am all for the right of the people to keep and bear arms, but have no argument against these issues. Loopholes in the background check system do need to be stopped. Mentioning the right of the people to keep and bear arms brings me to my next point.
One early morning, April 16, 2007, on the Virginia Polytechnic Institute campus, thirty-two teachers and students were slaughtered by a student named Seung Hui Cho. This was only the beginning of many more of tragic shootings caused by the possession of firearms. On the twenty-sixth of February 2012, a 17 year old boy, by the name of Treyvon Benjamin Martin, was murdered by the hands of George Zimmerman. More recently a 21 year old male, Dylann Roof, opened fire on a church in Charleston, South Carolina. Nine catastrophic deaths occurred on the account of Roof. In recent discussions of gun control, a controversial issue has been whether to increase the availability of guns so that people can protect themselves, or to make them extremely hard to obtain. On the one hand, some argue that the control of guns is considered to be the infringing on
There are many controversial argument about whether to be for gun control or whether to be against gun control, I personally think that gun control should be even more strict then it is right now. The Federal Law prohibits certain groups of people to possess a firearm. Those people include illegal immigrants, convicted felons, and people that are diagnosed with certain types of mental diseases. President Obama announced that he is expanding the amount of background checks for gun buyers. Having gun control can lessen the amount of homicides and gun related deaths. There are many debates about gun control, but the main issue is carrying out and supporting the laws.
Gun rights and gun control are always hot items during any political discussion, whether it is between peers or politicians. One of the many great advantages to being an American is the ability to choose for one's own self what to believe in, another advantage, in my opinion, is the right of the people to keep and bear arms. It is my intention over the next several pages to make you aware of my point of view on the issue of gun rights. I will bring up arguments for gun rights and against gun control, citing all sources used. Some topics to be discussed are the Second Amendment, media influence on weapons violence, and the effects of crime rates in areas that allow open or concealed carry. I would like to preface with some safety notes,
The correlation with handgun ownership and the amount of suicides every year is a highly debated subject. A majority of suicides in America were decided on impulse (less than five minutes of thought) rather than non-impulsive. With this in mind, the quickest way for a person to commit suicide is with a gun. Gun control advocates believe that having guns present in a household increases the risk of suicide. “There are at least a dozen U.S. case-control studies in the peer-reviewed literature, all of which have found that a gun in the home is associated with an increased risk of suicide. The increase in risk is large, typically 2 to 10 times that in homes without guns, depending on the sample population (e.g., adolescents vs. older adults) and
The argument of gun control has become a debate of society. There is a lot of emotional rhetoric behind this debate. Gun control will not work as statistics, history (with other foreign countries), and common sense have shown. Gun laws will not significantly modify the already false accusations made against guns and gun violence.
Gun control is not only one issue but many. To some it may feel a danger to their safety, to others it may be a rights issue. “Gun Control (or firearms regulation) is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians”(Gun Control). It is a safety issue , racial issue, political issue and so on. However , within each of those issues there are those who want to have more power and those who want less. With each view comes with a wide range of opinions.
The Second Amendment has brought a lot of controversy to the table of governments. There are two opposing sides, one who supports the Second Amendment while the other side does not. This topic seems to be around a lot lately especially with the incidents that have occured in the past few years. One of the things to keep in mind is whether or not guns kill people or people kill people.