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Gun Control Essay

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A debate that has lasted since the beginning of the United States is the debate over guns. What started off as a debate over who should have guns in colonial times, ended up a debate over whether the government should impose stricter laws or leave gun rights alone. There are numerous reasons to have stricter laws, such as the protection of society, but there are still people who oppose strict gun laws. First, let me give a brief history of this public concern. The issue of gun control has been an ongoing debate since the colonial era of American history. According to ProCon.org, when the Second Amendment was ratified in 1791, historians proposed that the individual right to own a gun was intended to coincide with the right of serving …show more content…

This became the worst mass shooting in American history. A little over a year prior a gunman attacked Pulse, a gay club in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people and injuring 58 (Los Angeles Times Staff, 2017). This tragic attack was the worst mass shooting in history until the Las Vegas attack. A year prior to this attack Dylann Storm Roof, a white supremacist, prayed with and shot nine members a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina (Los Angeles Times Staff, 2017). Lastly, the Los Angeles Times staff wrote about the Sandy Hook Mass Shooting in December of 2012 when Adam Lanza went into an elementary school in Newton, Connecticut, shot and killed 20 first graders, six adults, and himself (Los Angeles Times Staff, 2017). These attacks broke the heart of millions across the nation and caused the debate over stricter gun laws to be dominant in the discussion of public policies and reform.
Regardless of the obvious risk posed by not having stricter gun laws and safety regulations, opponents still fight for gun rights. Melissa Leon’s article, “This is how Gun Owners of America responded to the Vegas shooting that killed 59 people, injured 500+ others” details the response of the Gun Owners of America’s response to the mass shooting in Las Vegas. “We cannot blame gun owners, the gun itself, or the liberties protected in the Second Amendment for how evil people abuse that freedom” (Leon). This group believes that the majority of people who own guns use them for

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