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Gun Control Argumentative Essay

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Over the last few years, homicides due to firearms have seen a large increase in commonality and the debate over gun ownership is as impassioned as ever before. On one hand, avid gun owners cite the 2nd Amendment and their constitutional right to bear arms as reason to maintain possession over their firearms. On the other hand though, many fanatics believe that guns should not be accessible to any member of society, exempt of course for only members of the law enforcement or their country’s military. However, weighing all the possible options and providing resources for stricter gun control laws could help save the lives of many countless victims. Currently, there are over 33,000 gun related deaths per year, coupled with over 370 mass shootings …show more content…

Currently, each store must conduct a background check that consists of asking of prior convictions and commitments to mental institutions from the potential buyer. If in the case that the buyer is deemed fit for purchase, they can likely walk out of the store with a gun, including a high-powered automatic rifle, the same day. However, if their application is flagged a more extensive background check is conducted, rightfully so. Nonetheless, rejections only occur in less than 1% of gun applications and more often than not uninformed and untrained citizens become gun owners if they apply (LePore 4). Even members of the “No Fly List,” a list for potential domestic terrorists, who aren’t allowed to board American flights, are often allowed to obtain a gun license without much thorough investigation to their background as long as they haven’t been labeled mentally disabled. Such is the case with the Orlando’s gay nightclub shooter last year, Omar Mateen. Mateen, was a suspected terrorist, who although was on the “No Fly List,” was still allowed to obtain a highly powered automatic weapon just days before his unprovoked massacre. By applying a more thorough required background process, gun stores face much less risk of selling to a potentially unstable person with ulterior motives than

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