Gun Control Is Bad Research Paper

“Legal restraints on the lawful purchase of guns will have little effect on the legal use of guns” (pg.125). Author James Q. Wilson, a professor of management and public policy at the University of California in Los Angeles writes the article “Just Take Away Their Guns” to provide the American public with evidence of why taking away their guns will have little effect on crime in the United States. “Just Take Away Their Guns” was published into the New York Times Magazine in March, 1994. Professor Wilson, author of many books such as “Thinking about Crime,” “Bureaucracy,” “The Moral Sense,” and “Moral Judgment” uses statistics to advocate for perspective on gun control. The article not only addresses the use of guns but also provides a lot of textual evidence to support the author’s claims related to legal restraints on lawful purchases of guns. Firearms present in the homes of American citizens, while potentially dangerous, provide these citizens with a sense of security.

In addition, probably less than one percent of all guns will ever be involved in a violent crime. The problem of criminal gun violence is concentrated within a very small subset of gun owners, indicating that increasing gun control aimed at the general population faces a serious "needle-in-the-haystack problem" and will not achieve the intended benefit (Young, 2002).

Gun violence is one of the most serious problems in the United States. Each year in the U.S., more than 35,000 people are killed by guns, a death rate much higher than that in any other industrial nations. In 1997, approximately 70 percent of the murders in the United States were committed with guns. However, ironically, the United States also is the country that has the most gun control laws. Gun control laws generally focus on passing legislation—by local state, or national government—to restrict legal ownership of certain firearms. Seemingly, gun control laws may decrease criminals’ access to guns, but in fact the same laws also have their negative effects. Thus, the controversy over gun control is always heated. But my paper is not

Recently, the topic of gun control has been at the top of everybody’s list in regard to what this country needs to focus on. With the recent tragedies in Las Vegas and Orlando, some may claim that giving more people the ability to carry a concealed weapon would deter some criminals from committing crimes due to fear of failure. This theory was discussed and tested in an article by David Fortunato entitled, “Can Easing Concealed Carry Deter Crime?” This article shows results of many surveys and case studies completed within the US regarding topics like types of permits, ease of issuance, and the perceived number or carriers per state. It then goes on to break down this data, and draws a conclusion from it that may surprise some.

In looking over how gun control single handily affects crime, advocates of gun control continue to argue that restrictions on firearm accessibility, handguns in particular can reduce the rate of firearm-related crimes, suicides, and accidental deaths.. People that oppose gun control argue that it won’t reduce crime, because it would embolden criminals, who manages to secure firearms, to attack citizens whom are to be believed unarmed. When it comes to debating the issue as to whether or not gun control is constitutional, the focus is mainly on the Second Amendment and it’s what it means. Gun-control advocates argue that the Second Amendment refers only to the arming of a State militia and cite court cases that have offered this interpretation. Gun-control opponents maintain that the "right to bear arms" is guaranteed not only to members of a State militia but also to every citizen. In debating whether or not gun ownership is an effective means of self-defense, opponents of gun control use situations where as gun ownership stopped or prevented a crime from happening. Gun- control advocates tend to use statistics that show a gun in the home place is more likely to kill a family member rather than its intended purpose.

One may attribute the increased rate of violence in the U.S. to guns, and while this may hold some truth, the fact remains that the mere presence of guns does not cause violence. Gun ownership is at about twenty five percent per capita in Switzerland, yet the homicide rate was about point five per hundred thousand residents, according to the Swiss Federal Government. Violence rates in the U.S. are not just because of the presence of guns; guns and peace can coincide. In addition to this, tighter legal regulations do not necessarily reduce violence, as about seventy nine percent of gun crimes are caused by illegal gun owners, according to a study conducted by Pittsburg’s Graduate School of Public Health and the Bureau of Police. Why would one with the desire to commit a crime bother obtaining a gun legally when the same gun could be purchased

Crime and guns. The two seem to go hand in hand with one another. But are the two really associated? Do guns necessarily lead to crime? And if so do laws placing restrictions on firearm ownership and use stop the crime or protect the citizens? These are the questions many citizens and lawmakers are asking themselves when setting about to create gun control laws. The debate over gun control, however, is nothing new. In 1924, Presidential Candidate, Robert La Follete said, “our choice is not merely to support or oppose gun control but to decide who can own which guns under what conditions.” Clearly this debate still goes on today and is the very reason for the formation of gun control laws.

“But in practice, criminals, being criminals, don’t obey the law.” It just like what professor Li said, gun control is a problem connecting with civil rights and social security. If the government prohibits gun purchase, people would fear to go out, because they cannot forecast what dangers would be happened outside. “Why they feel fear? Because the evildoer has guns, people are defenseless.” professor Li said. While Americans remain sharply divided in their overall view of the tension between gun control and gun rights, shootings were happening again and again. In a word, the government, not only put into gun control effect, but have to ban illegal guns in the black

The function of guns in society is a very controversial topic that has long been debated. There are those who believe that guns have no purpose in the hands of private citizens and civilians. Whereas, others believe that guns are the very foundation that protects American’s rights and liberties stated in the Constitution. Under the second amendment that was ratified in the Supreme Court’s ruling in 1791, Americans have the right to bear arms at the level of an individual, not just the “well regulated militia.” For the vast majority of Americans, the central issue associated with gun control is the upshot of crime, which rolls over onto public health. Americans are twenty times more likely to be killed by a gun than any other developed nation on Earth. It is a sobering fact that today, there have been more American deaths by guns than American deaths caused by wars dating by to the American Revolution. Gun control advocates believe that having stricter gun control laws will make guns less accessible and more difficult to gain possession of by people who should not have them such as criminals or the mentally ill. They reason that this will cause a decrease in the number of deaths. Gun ownership proponents argue that the creation of such laws would interfere with American citizens’ rights to bear arms (for self-protection against crimes and unjust government.) Following these laws would also create other issues such as law abiding citizens being prey to criminals due to their

Ownership of guns in the United States of America is a topic that has some criticism along with support from many citizens. It is a hot button and polarizing issue, leaving people divided into two groups, especially in the wake of so many recent tragic mass shootings. The two opposing views of supporters and opponents have put pressure upon the federal government to decide whether to abolish one of our Constitutional rights, to severely limit that right, or to protect the rights of Americans to own guns. Exerting the control over possession of guns by law-abiding citizens will not ensure their personal safety. Despite the argument that controlling the possession of guns would result in decreased gun-related violence, gun ownership should not be curbed as it will result in the loss of security and in the loss of the fundamental human right to self-defense.

Gun violence overall has taken a heavy toll across the country. America for the past decade has had an issue with gun violence due to the recent mass shootings. Leading the US to discuss and question the topic of whether there should be more gun control laws or simply more guns. Many US citizens have assumed that with gun control laws, there would be a definite decline in gun violence. However, others believe that if more guns are involved, the US can defend themselves from public shootings or any terrorist attacks. With this, these two sides both have the similar goal of finding a solution to this issue.

Throughout the 20th and 21st century, the value of gun control has changed drastically and how the nation has handled this situation. In the United States, around 22% of Americans have at least one or more guns in their possession for recreationally or personal use. Recently, there has been debate over gun control in the country. While many people think there should not be any more government involvement, more gun control laws would greatly benefit the United States by having less crime, less mass murder, and protect people from the mentally ill. Reducing the ability to access a gun in the United States would effectively lower the death rate in the nation as well as lower the crime rate.

“Every day ninety-three Americans are killed with guns. For every one person that is killed with a gun, two more are injured. America’s gun homicide rate is more than twenty-five times the average of other developed countries.” (CDC, 2015) These facts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control show us that a real problem has arisen in America. Guns have caused a division in the country, and give people more power than some can handle. This dilemma strikes a question into the minds of Americans. When will the problem of gun violence in the country cross the line from a small issue, to a national dispute? The time for gun control has arrived. Controlling the movement, sales, and production of guns could reduce crime in America by lowering murder rates, reducing armed robberies, and decreasing other gun related crimes.

In a perfect world, one would imagine no violence and no use of weapons. However in the world we live in today we can agree that violence and weapons are unavoidable in America. “In 2014, ATF released firearms trace data for year 2013. It traced more than 336,000 crime guns and identified the sources of 166,426 crime guns in 2013. Among them, 47,803 crime guns or 29% of all crime guns identified crossed state lines, indicating that cross-jurisdiction gun buying accounts for a significant portion of crime guns” (Lee). From state to state, gun laws are diverse and while some argue that there is evidence for guns being an asset to their safety, others believe that these laws need to be redefined and adjusted to ensure their safety. According to the nonprofit project the Gun Violence Archive, the number of Americans killed by terrorism in the last decade was 24 while the number of Americans killed by guns in the last decade was 280,024 (Koper). From just this comparison, one can clearly see that a vast majority of the deaths in our country result from guns. It is one’s belief that gun control should be adjusted and policies should be set forward that ensures the safety of their citizens in a constitutional way while respecting their rights. Each state has the right to obtain their own laws for guns, however in respect to our country as a whole, gun laws in each state should also consider the wellbeing of neighboring states to further enhance security. The community may say that

Once upon a time Americans had what they believed to be a solution to crime it was called gun control. Gun control was a relatively simple concept; if you reduce the amount of guns out on the streets then you reduce the amount of gun related crime. After a few months, however, something astonishing happened people started losing their minds crime actually increased once gun control took effect. The golden goose solution for diminishing crime was backfiring. It is not the law-abiding citizens that cause problems with murder, robbery and school shootings. Neither is it the few incidents of children finding guns.Perhaps the most pressing issue today is gun control which is wrong because it impedes on an American's second amendment right and increases crime.