Don’t Pull the Trigger on Gun control
Have you ever wondered why the United States always seems to have mass shootings in the news? Well, this is why gun control should be mandated in the America. Gun control is a debate fueled by the recent shootings of Colombine, Sandy Hook, Marysville Pilchuck, and the recent shooting at a social center. Gun control is a proposal to ban or further restrict gun laws, gun control has been put in place in many other countries such as Canada, The United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, and most of the other developed nations. What’s stopping gun control from being passed is the NRA and other lobbyists say gun control violates the Second Amendment in the Constitution. There should be gun control because it will
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However, today there is the military and there is no use for the guns. The Gun Control Act of 1968 was put in place after a mass shooting at the University of Texas. As well after, the murders of John F Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Robert F Kennedy. That law prohibited the transfer of guns between states without a license. Then in 1994, there was a ban on assault weapons, which banned certain semiautomatic weapons and guns with military features. However, that law expired, and was not renewed due to the NRA’s lobbying efforts.
An unacknowledged side effect of gun control is the sheer cost of gun violence. In 2010, the United States lost 5.5 billion dollars in tax revenue due to gun violence. That is $564 per person. The lost tax revenue consists of, 1.4 Billion for Medicade and Medicare. Just the response to gun crimes with medics and police cost $133 million (Pro-con.org). Costs also include, 180 million for mental health care for victims and $224 million for processing insurance claims(Pro-con.org). Putting the criminals through the justice system also takes $4.7 Billion (Pro-con.org). All of this money could be used to improve schools and other parts of society.
Gun control needs to be instated because it will reduce suicides and mass shootings. Between 1999 and 2013 guns were the number one choice in crimes. shown by the fact that a gun was used in 66.6% of all homicides(pro-con.org). During this period guns were used in 52.2% of all suicides.
Guns are a major problem in our society and the numbers of these gun-related murders are continuing to rise. On top of the murders you also have people losing their lives through misfire and gun-related suicides. The total death toll of all gun-related deaths averages over 30,000 per year in the U.S. (http://blogs.kqed.org/lowdown/2013/03/07/u-s-gun-deaths-visualizing-the-numbers/). I believe that enforcing stricter gun laws will contribute to getting these numbers lower. The numbers do not lie, we as a society have a problem with gun-violence and we need to do something to fix it.
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.
We have had several of the worst mass shootings in our nation's history in quick succession over the past few years. Certain legal restrictions and acts from our government could have prevented numerous deaths. Common sense background checks and limitations to cartridge size and assault weapons would surely have saved many lives at the Las Vegas Massacre, but certain men and women claim that these restrictions violate their second amendment right. They claim that guns aren't the problem. That guns don't kill people, people kill people. So limiting access to devastating guns is just avoiding the problem. The Second Amendment right presumably violated by common sense gun control is “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” (Second Amendment). The Second Amendment states that for the need of a well regulated militia to protect the security of the free state and the right for the people to keep and bear arms. Militias have been inactive for decades so in a sense the intent of the amendment is no longer relevant. Based on the 2nd Amendment, the Constitution is not still a valuable and viable document in modern America because it stands in the way of thorough background checks, training courses, and its vague wording and absolute intent make it inefficient to maintain peace and order and should be amended “To the People of the United
If gun control is regulated, then we will have less crime. Access to firearms makes killing easy, efficient, and impersonal, which increases the lethality of crime. Josh Sugarmann, the Executive Director of the Violence Policy Center has once said, "We recoil in horror and search for explanations, but we never face up to the obvious preventive measure: a ban on the handy killing machines that make crimes so easy.”Allowing untrained people to carry guns puts others at risk and it can result in self-inflicting injuries both by suicide and unintentional incidents. Gun violence in America kills more than 30,000 and injures almost 70,000 each year. Guns can be misused and abused, which is why gun
Imagine going to school where instead of worrying about a grade you got on a test, you have to worry about your school being the next victim of a mass shooting. The Second Amendment 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” (United States Constitution), and yet instead of some people using their guns for self defense, they use it for mass shootings. Some argue that we already have gun control laws that don’t work, but others say if we had better gun laws than it would work. The debate on gun control started in November 22, 1963, when evidence in the assassination of president John F. Kennedy increased public awareness
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.
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.
Too many people have lost their lives due to careless accidents and violent acts of crime that could have possibly both been avoided with more control. According to a Lancet study implementing federal universal background checks could reduce firearm deaths by a projected 56.9%; background checks for ammunition purchases could reduce deaths by a projected 80.7%; and gun identification requirements could reduce deaths by a projected 82.5%.(pro) Research shows that more gun control law being implemented could saves thousands of lives each and every year.
America has the highest amount of gun related deaths each year in the world. “In Germany 381, in France 255, in Canada 165 in the United Kingdom 68, in Australia 65, in Japan 39 and in the United States, 11,127” (Moore Michael, 51:15-51:48). Since the United States has the highest number of deaths, it is important to have gun-control laws that restrict people from owning dangerous firearms like machine guns. Gun-control laws should support both sides of the debate. Of course, both sides will not be completely happy with the laws created, but America should have a balance. In 2008, a poll was taken stating: “Adult poll respondents’ views on the meaning of the Second Amendment; An individual’s right to bear arms: Republican 51% and Democrats 41%” (The History of the Right to Bear Arms). Today, the United States is more divided on gun-control than it has ever been. The Second Amendment 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”(Milestones in Federal Gun Control Legislation). Unless the Second Amendment is changed, we cannot take the right from others to own guns. However, the government should regulate the types of gun Americans can own and who can own a gun because times have changed and American’s mental health system is broken.
“The beauty of the Second Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it” said Thomas Jefferson (insert citation). What would happen to American Citizens if there safety and protection was completely in the hands of Uncle Sam? How could a person live without fear? Gun control has been an issue that has concerned the United States for many years. While the legalizing of gun control specifically about high capacity magazines and assault weapons has only been a forethought, never passing all the way through lawmakers, it is a thought that many people have had, and is definitely a thought people are having as mass shootings are becoming more common. Advocates for these set of laws feel that guns are a threat to society and should be outlawed. There are many important arguments about whether or not guns are an inhumane part of American culture. The first of these is that many people are not in the correct state of mind to make a decision that can end lives. Another argument is that guns should be used to build up our country, to protect it, not to break it down. The third argument against gun control is that the use of guns has become outdated in the protection that our local law enforcement can provide. High capacity ammunition clips and assault weapons should be legal in the United
Stronger gun control laws should be enacted. Firstly, the murder rate in America will decrease. Secondly, there wouldn’t be so many gun attacks and suicides. The article “American deaths in terrorism vs. gun violence in one graph” by Julia Jones and Eve Bower shows how dangerous guns are now and how they are used for attacks rather than protection.
Guns, Guns, Guns. In today’s news Gun Control, has become a controversial topic. I have heard many people say that, “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people”. So, do we need gun control? People talk because they have mouths, they don’t know the extent about gun violence. About half of the country’s population is for / against gun control. Consistently, the media outlets are reporting shootings, that is accidental or intentional whichever way it is trending across the United States. Stronger gun control laws, mains fewer suicides. Also, stronger gun control laws, needed to protect women from domestic abusers and stalkers. Such a variety of individuals say that stricter gun control legislation is an assault on the second amendment. As we all know, the second amendment protects everyone who has a firearm. Many people should be able to protect themselves from local criminals or vicious attacks indeed, but some individuals abuse their rights. To some people gun control is an issue, and to others it is not an issue. I strongly believe in adding more laws to the gun control policy that it will reduce the crime rate. I stand strongly with being able to carry around a firearm, but stricter gun control laws should be implemented. Reasons being, if stricter laws are being put into place, we as an society can have safer communities and not have any fear for our lives as we walk down the streets.
The first reason that there should be more gun control laws is that it would prevent thousands of deaths. For example, “guns are the leading cause of death by homicide and by suicide;” along with that, firearms are the “12th leading cause of all deaths [overall]” (Gun Control, n.p.). With this in mind, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that there were “270,237 firearm suicides in the United States,” including more than half of the total suicides throughout the years of 1999 and 2013 (Centers for Disease, n.p.). As a result, it would also decrease gun violence significantly and reduce the costs of gun violence-related expenses. According to the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, “gun violence cost each person in the United States around $564” (Gun Control, n.p.). Ted Miller also estimated that the “annual firearm injury costs an average of $645 per gun, in America” (PIRE, n.p.). Not to mention, statistics show that “every day, 315 people in America are shot in murders, assaults, suicides and suicide
In addition, did you know in 2008, more than sixteen thousand crimes and murders occurred in the United States (Agresti and Reid 1)? And more than ten thousand of those crimes and murders were due to firearms (Agresti and Reid 1). Also at this rate, if gun control does not take effect and become stricter, the rate of Americans getting murdered by firearms will be over two hundred per year (Agresti and Reid 2). That is why gun control will also make it tougher for anyone to just get or buy a gun. Doing things such as back ground checking and having a waiting
Gun control has been one of the most controversial topic in the society. Some people support gun control because they think it will help reduce homicide. However, gun control won’t help reduce homicide, and it will have negative economic effect. In addition, people can be safer when there is no gun control.