Banning Concealed Carry

Gun violence kills 33,000 Americans and injures over 80,000 people per year. It is ridiculous how much damage guns have brought to not only us, but the world itself. From Columbine, to Sandy Hook, to the movie theatre to the Oregon Community College shooting, it has just been ridiculous. This is all because we in America believe it is okay for people to carry guns and for them to be used if “needed”. If they were always banned to begin with, we would never have had this problem. The private ownership of handguns should be banned in the United States. Handguns have been proved to be dangerous to society in recent events, they are the deadliest weapon in America, and lastly, guns cost Americans hundreds of extra dollars that could be avoided if they were banned.

The open carry law was not a good idea because it is dangerous and not protected. Even though it can protect you and your surroundings. Basically what open carry law is, it is when you get to carry any handgun in public. I really think it should not be legal to all states. Gun violence and Second Amendment rights have been banner issues as the U.S. grapples with our title as the only developed nation with such a large and ever increasing number of mass shootings. Although the federal government is at a standstill on how to move forward, Texas took it upon itself to pass new open carry and campus carry laws in June. One of the biggest concerns of law enforcement is establishing the fine line between respecting the rights of someone legally carrying a handgun and protecting the general public.

Gun control is a very controversial topic that has has a huge impact on the United States of America. One side believes that if guns were taken away as a whole, the country would see significantly less gun related crimes and death, while the other opposing side thinks that taking away guns is not only against the Second Amendment but would lead to an increase in crime and death because the government would take guns away from people who are legally registered to own and conceal guns. The ongoing debate will continue until the foreseeable future but their are plenty of reasons why more gun laws should be made. Taking away guns is not the answer, learning how to deal with gun violence is the key.

Gun control should not exist at all in the United States. Mass shootings have almost become seen as normal event in the United States. What people do not understand is that gun control is not the answer; there are countries with little to no control that have fewer shootings. According to The Washington Post,Finland is ranked number 4 in countries with the most guns despite that they only had 24 homicides by firearm (“Gun homicides and ownership by countries” n.pag.) . In the article Did Gun Control Work In Australia “it is shown that gun control has reduced the problems but it still has not completely got rid of all firearm deaths”(Matthews n.pag.). The number of murders, homicides, or suicides do not go up due to people just owning more guns. Clayton Perry, a staff writer at the University of Maine, even points out “Stricter gun laws were in place during the Assault Weapons Ban between 1994 and 2004, but that didn't stop the shooters at Columbine in 1999 ”(Perry n. pag.). In Iceland, thirty out of a hundred people own a gun and they have zero homicides caused by guns a year(“Gun Homicides and ownership by country” n. pag.). In this day and age, everything is unpredictable, guns are a form of protection for everyone and there should not be restrictions on protection. The U.S. Department of Justice released a data brief that states, “ On average in 1987-92 about 83,000 crime victims per year used a firearm to defend themselves or their property”(Rand BJS Statistician n. pag.). The National Sheriffs Association released that the average police response time is at eighteen minutes while the average school shooting only last twelve minutes (“Embracing Technology To Decrease Response Time” n. pag.). Gun control should not exist because other countries do fine without it , high gun ownership has no link with increasing death rates , and guns are not harmful when instructions are followed.

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

Gun control has been a long debate to determine if it’s better to have stricter access to firearms. America is one of the few countries that has gun rights embedded in their constitution. But what makes the US exceptional is that it has the right to keep and bear arms, other countries do not provide the right to have access to them, but rather, the government is allowed to regulate its use. The right to bear arms has also been the cause of growing violence and crime, at least according to anti-gun lobbyists. Citizens should be aware the dangers and harm that guns present to society. Controlling the sale of firearms can greatly decrease the number of violent crimes.

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

Secondly, we should have the right to conceal one at all times for safety reasons. According to “Should Adults Have the Right to Carry a Concealed Handgun?” “States that implemented ‘shall-issue’ concealed carry laws reduced murders by 8.5%, rapes by 5%, aggravated assaults by 7%, and robbery by 3%, according to a 2000 analysis of FBI crime data by economist and political commentator John R. Lott Jr., PhD. Lott calculated that 1,570 murders, 4,177 rapes, 60,000 aggravated assaults, and 12,000 robberies could have been prevented between 1977 and 1992 if concealed carry had been legal in every US state during that time period. In addition, a 2013 peer-reviewed study in Applied Economic Letters, found that between 1980 and 2009, ‘states with more restrictive CCW (carrying concealed weapons) laws had gun-related murder rates that were 10% higher.’Detroit Chief of Police Larry Craig said permitted concealed weapons are ‘a deterrent,’ and ‘Good Americans with CPLs (concealed permit licenses) translates into crime reduction.’ A 2013 survey of 15,000 current and retired police officers found that 91.3% support the concealed carry of guns by civilians.” Crime numbers reduced when states allow citizens to conceal a weapon at all times, while states that made it difficult to conceal a gun saw the crime rates jack up. We should be able to carry concealed weapons to stop crime in its tracks.

Gun control is an ineffective means of reducing both violent, and firearm related crime. Limiting the ability for law abiding citizens to responsibly own arms only reduces their ability to provide to provide security to themselves and their family. It is not the duty of the federal government to dictate what a citizen chooses to legally defend themselves with.

As of the beginning of this year 2016, Texas has now been an open carry state. Open carry simply means that every single 21 year old or older gets to purchase a gun if they choose to do so and wear it out on the streets. Texas had been going back and forth on whether or not to allow this to pass and in the end it did. Many Texans had mixed emotions about the open carry system and did not approve of it due to situation that might have occurred in their lives or others that hit them hard, and/or because of the sense of fear that guns just can have on a person. Texas’ citizens are usually portrayed as cowboys/girls, and westerners that live-eat-breathe all things country, and gun loving machines. In some cases that may be true but not all Texans are, for example the Valley. There are many views and opinions as to how others feel about Texas’ new gun control policy and they vary from great things that this new policy can contribute to this state, compared to negative aspects that it can lead up to. In my opinion there is nothing wrong with Texas now allowing the open carry system in this state. Yes, it might be frightening at first but to me there is nothing wrong with letting people carry guns. It is simply giving them their rights as a citizen of the United States of America.

The founding fathers of America declared that everyone has the right to bear arms, but there is evidence to prove otherwise. Mass shootings, school shootings, and gun violence in general are all caused by people with guns. Eliminating the one thing that these things have in common is the only way to prevent more violence from happening. The Second Amendment needs to be updated to current times. A country-wide gun control law needs to be put in its place in order to help prevent mass shootings and gun violence as a whole.

. 14 percent of our states prohibit open carry, 25 percent allow it with a specific permit or license, and 61 percent allow open carry without a permit or license, according to the Wall Street Journal's “Map: Where Is ‘Open Carry’ Legal?”Although many people find it dangerous, Indiana allows licensed unconcealed carry handgun rights, and other states should follow.

First, just because your state does allow open carry per the constitution does not mean that those that cannot legally own a firearm can carry one openly or otherwise.

Opponents of stronger gun laws say that guns are not the cause of mass shootings because on November 26, 2013 a study found that banning assault weapons did not significantly affect murder rates(http://gun-control.procon.org/). This may be true, however guns are the cause of too many mass shootings and should not be allowed. High capacity mags should be banned because between 1982 and 2012 50% of 62 mass shootings used high capacity mags to fire at innocent people. Also stronger gun control will protect children and families from armed assailants (http://gun-control.procon.org).Plus parents are demanding action after the sandy hook shooting in which 20 children from the age 6-7 were shot(http://www.newsmax.com/Fast Features). This is a real problem in the us because of firearms many people are killed everyday by people with guns.

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