What is a gun, A gun is defined as a “weapon incorporating a metal tube from which bullets, shells, or other missiles are propelled by explosive force, typically making a characteristic loud, sharp noise.” "Gun | Definition of Gun in English by Oxford Dictionaries." Oxford Dictionaries | English. Oxford Dictionaries. Web. 30 Sept. 2017. There different types of guns such as rifles, shotguns, and handguns. The culture of the United States cultivates an attitude toward firearms. They believe that the gun is used for survival. Many authorities claim that handguns are involved in the violence issues in the United States because handguns are easily available and they function as an instrument to commit suicide or a crime at any time without much effort. There are several disadvantages of gun ownership they are: they contribute to violent crimes, they decrease personal safety and, Public shooting. They Contribute to Violent Crimes. In general, the higher the gun ownership in a state, the higher is the percentage of the occurrence of the homicides caused by firearms. Due to little gun control law enforcement, murder and crimes are on the rise. This is because the handguns are too easily accessible to the children, the teens, and the adult and this increases the risk of gun violence towards innocent people. The gun owners can use their gun to commit suicide when they wish to. The robbers use the gun to get involved in robbery cases. (Egendorf 2005).Torr (2002) argues that
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun. If gun laws become opposed to the law, then only criminals will have guns. Stricter gun laws will not stop a madman from killing. In fact, 34% of mass shooters were prohibited from owning weapons; although, a surveyed showed 57% of gun owners believe guns are too easy to buy and 35% of people who carry guns would make Americans feel safer. Gun control will only affect the law-biding citizens simultaneously as the demand of illegal weapons on the black-market increases. Background checks will only restrict criminals from legally buying a firearm, but that does not stop a mentally ill person; which are usually the ones to start a shooting massacre. The second amendment literally states “the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” Protected by the second amendment, it will be hard to regulate guns because now every single individual has a right to bear arms. For example, the Texas Baptist church shooter was gun downed by an armed citizen. Had there been stricter gun laws in Texas towards not being able to have a concealed firearm in public, the shooter could have gotten away. People should have the right to exercise the second amendment; therefore, gun control will not work because criminals will always find a way to obtain guns, supply and demand on the black market will increase and there are more existing weapons than people in the U.S.
With the popular culture providing positive images of guns, the United States has a gun prevalence that is very rare in the modern world. While many people appreciate the “gun culture”, guns are heavily involved in violence in the United States. According to U.S. Department of Justice, since 1960, more than 750,000 Americans have died under firearms, including homicides, suicides, and unintentional injuries. The figure 1 provides a comprehensive survey of U.S. violent crimes for the period from 1993 to 2011.This figure illustrates that from 1993 to 2011, about 60% to 70% of homicides were associated with a firearm. Over the same period, between 6% and 9% of all nonfatal violence, with about 20% to 30% of robberies and 22% to 32% of aggravated assaults involving a firearm.
The article “Gun Control Laws: Should the United States adopt stronger gun control laws?” focuses on the debate on passing stricter gun control laws. For example, supporters believe that gun control laws will decrease mass shootings and gun violence. Additionally, adopting these laws does not violate the Second Amendment, and as a result it does not limit the government from the use of fire arms when it is necessary. However, opponents argue that the gun control laws will not stop gun violence. The problem is the people holding the gun and not the gun itself. Furthermore, opponents gathered that stronger gun control laws do violate the Second Amendment. The author illustrates the debate on whether the United States should or should not adopt stronger gun control laws.
Gun control in the U.S has been a highly talked about topic the past couple of years. Through the development of technology and social media; many people across the country have been more involved in voicing their opinions about this issue. America is known as the land of the free, many people take pride in being able to bare arms. However, this right has been abused by not only civilians, but law enforcement as well. The United States has the 31st highest rate of gun violence in the world and it is not decreasing anytime soon. The phrase “America's largest mass shooting” has been reassigned to numerous occurrences that have taken place over the past decade. It is apparent that through these tragedies it is time for a serious change, innocent lives are being lost for no reason.
The topic that I have chosen to write about is should there be more gun control laws be enacted. What does gun control do you may ask? Gun control is any kind of firearm that is bought or sold. What will be in the essay will be different things of Pros and Cons on the different things that gun control is in. The gun control law should not be enforced more is should be managed better for people who do not know what they are doing. The Second Amendment protects the people the rights to own guns. As us the people we have the right to bare arms for the need of protecting ourselves.
The United States has 88.8 guns per 100 people, or about 270,000,000 guns, which is the highest total and per capital number in the world. 22% of Americans own one or more guns (35% of men and 12% of women). America's pervasive gun culture stems in part from its colonial history, revolutionary roots, frontier expansion, and the Second Amendment, which states: "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." Proponents of more gun control laws state that the Second Amendment was intended for militias; that gun violence would be reduced; that gun restrictions have always existed; and that a majority of Americans, including gun owners, support new gun restrictions.
The United States is one of the few countries were the right to bear arms is protected by the constitution. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most violent with incidents involving guns this year reaching an estimated 36,212 and an approximate 9,050 deaths (“Gun Violence Archive”). There are an estimated 310 million firearms in households across American, these are only estimates because current gun laws do not require them to be registered or tracked. A more staggering estimate is that most of the guns owned by private citizens are semi-automatic guns, the same type of gun used in almost all mass shootings. While these privately owned guns are legally purchased, many times, they land in the hands of criminals, and owners never report them stolen. Mass shootings and gun crimes are not the only issues with gun violence the one never talked about is suicide, more guns available equals more suicides. The United States is one of the easiest countries to own a gun legally or illegally, stricter gun control laws are necessary.
The recent terrorist situations in America could have turned out differently if the victims had been armed. There have been too many terrorist situations lately in America. Many people who are not in favor of gun rights want to make it more difficult or even impossible for citizens to purchase weapons. When stricter gun control is enforced, then citizens may not be able to protect themselves. We need to find a way to prevent gun related tragedies, but that does not involve taking guns away from citizens (Hockley). We need more guns in the hands of citizens, then they will be able to protect themselves during violent crimes (Goldberg). The call for increased gun rights in America is vital for the safety
You’re in your house and someone breaks in. Oh no, gun control laws said you can’t have a gun! You have no protection, so you’re dead within seconds. This is why the U.S. does not need tougher gun control laws. We need guns for protection, we should have the right to conceal one at all times, and the second amendment says we can have a firearm.
Researchers at the University of Alabama have conducted studies trying to find links between guns and mass shootings (Michaels). There are hundreds of millions of guns in circulation in America today. In fact, “the total number of guns in circulation is at least 240 million” (Ballaro and Finley). Adam Lankford, an associate professor of criminal justice at the University of Alabama, suggests that “America’s high rate of public mass shootings is connected with the number of guns circulating in the country” (Michaels). Implementing stricter gun laws would cause fewer people to want to purchase guns, resulting in fewer guns in circulation in the coming years. In the United States, “around 30,000 people die from gun fire each year. Around half of these are murders, a little less than half are suicides, and the rest are lethal accidents” (Ballaro and Finley). (2) Currently there are several million guns in circulation, and gun deaths in America are higher than any other developed country. (5) If the trend continues, the number of gun deaths will continue to increase. As stated in the article “10 Pro-Gun Myths, Shot Down.” author Dave Gilson states that “People with access to more guns tend to kill more people- with guns. States with higher gun ownership rates have higher gun murder rates- as much as 114% higher than states with lower gun ownership rates” (Gilson). (7) More
There are thousands of people that own guns in the United States. People have owned guns for the entire duration of American history. Even pre-dating the formation of the country, there were the Massachusetts minutemen who owned their own firearms and used them to defend themselves against oppression. Many lawmakers now want to go against these principles of allowing gun ownership for civilians (Dreier 92). They want to challenge the freedoms that have built the United States into the nation that it is today. They want to challenge the freedoms that Americans are specifically promised in the second amendment of the Constitution. All lawmakers need to stop consider the effects that will come into play with the creation of gun control laws.
After recent tragic events, such as the mass shooting that took place at a musical festival in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 1st, 2017, which left over 50 people dead, and over 500 others injured (Bui, Zapotosky and Barrett), the topic of stricter gun controls in America has become a controversial topic for many people in our society. Those in favor of stricter gun controls believe that by implementing laws that would make it more difficult for the average person to purchase and own guns, the result would be a decreased number of mass shootings and other gun deaths in our country. Typically, with these proposed laws, it is suggested that potential gun owners should be required to undergo mental health screening, in addition to regular background checks to see if the person has a history of any mental illnesses or past crimes. However, reducing the number of mass shootings and other gun deaths in America is not as simple as just implementing new laws.
The argument in this article is President Trump signaled support for one piece of gun control legislation on Monday, five days after a mass shooting at a Florida high school left 17 people dead and scores injured. "The president is supportive of efforts to improve the federal background check system," Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, wrote in a statement Monday morning. After a mass shooting in Las Vegas last year, officials said they were studying a ban on bump stocks, an attachment that allows a rifle to fire more frequently. Over the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Trump weighed gun control measures in conversations with friends, according to people who spoke to him. Trump has faced two of the country's
Gun control is a good thing and beneficial for the society. Gun control law reduces the crime rate, reduces number of suicide deaths, reduces the number of less mass shootings, and reduces the accidental gun deaths. For example, “Both international and national multivariate analyses show that gun control legislation reduces overall fatalities related to firearms. This correlation is true for Canada and Australia, which adopted and maintained stricter gun control laws” (90). If you take away the guns, there is nothing that you need to defend yourself from gun violence and therefore without guns, it will be more peaceful. On the other hand, guns are essential for: formers who live near the forest (to protect themselves from wild animals) professional
“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” (Wikipedia). Some people presume that this means banning guns. In actuality, gun control only acts to protect citizens through enforcing the appropriate use of firearms; it does not ban the weapon. By implementing stricter gun laws and regulations, there would be a large decrease in death rates and help prevent violence in the United States of America.