Gun Control Laws Do Not Reduce Gun Violence

Many tragedies have occurred recently that have spurred the debate on whether or not we need tighter gun controls. On one side of the debate are the gun control supporters, who claim that the easy access to guns is the primary cause for high rates of crime plaguing the United States. On the other side are people who argue that gun laws will not prevent criminals from obtaining guns, since they will continue to get them illegally. Guns are used for protection when in the hands of people who obey the law. It is crucial to not hinder law-abiding citizen’s ability to possess firearms with stricter gun laws, since gun laws do not lower crime, and guns can keep people safe.

In today’s society the majority of the crimes are still being committed by people who have possessed a firearm that has been obtained illegally or without proper permits. That being said there has been a strong push for gun control because of the rise of shootings involving a large group of people such as the Columbine massacre, Virginia Tech shooting and latest Aurora movie theater shooting involving people who have purchased firearms legally. Gun control laws in the United States have been established for many years but to maintain a civilized society with limited crime stronger control laws need to be enforced in which will help reduce crime in our country. Establishing stronger gun control laws will educate

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.

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

In a speech regarding the Charleston, South Carolina shooting in June of 2015, President Obama stated, “More than 11,000 people were killed by gun violence in 2013 alone.” After the Sandy Hook shooting, in Newtown, Connecticut with a death toll of 26, Congress has still failed to pass these regulations which 90% of Americans wish to have. While tightening the gun control may not guarantee the complete absence of mass shootings or gun violence and crime, it has definately been shown to significantly reduce these rates. America is in need of tighter gun control laws because current regulations do not deter violence and crime, and the interpretation of the constitutional right has since been misconstrued.

Some gun advocates often suggest the more law abiding citizens that have guns the less crime there will be. Gun control advocates will argue the opposite, and that no guns are better. People will always have their opinions on guns and gun control but most gun owners people are very responsible. This includes the safety of taking care of guns and putting them safely away. Keeping firearms locked up, trigger-locked, stored separately from their ammunition, or some combination of the three, the gun advocates, as well as non-gun owners, believe less accidents would occur. It is possible that this could make guns if gun owners took these actions. Statistics show that every year thousands of guns are stolen each year and end up in criminal’s hands because of improper handling and storage of guns. People sometimes abuse their rights to the second and fourteenth amendment. Sometimes guns do end up in the hands of irresponsible people. Thousands of people are killed, injured because of careless people leaving guns

Therefore, if the United States makes gun controls stricter, criminals will have the most access to guns. Gun control laws have a very good intention in mind -keeping Americans safe. Having stricter gun control laws makes it difficult to achieve the goal of American safety because only the law abiding Americans follow gun control laws. Many criminals are willing to murder, rape, assault, and rob people easily, hence buying an illegal firearm is not an issue for them. Gun control laws could take away ninety-nine point nine percent of the guns in the United States, leaving the remaining 200,000 to criminals (Epstein). This not only leaves stand-up citizens defenseless during an attack, but it also gives all of the power to the criminals. The opposing side argues that a law will fix this, but the government will forever be unable to pass laws that affects the criminals, due to the fact that they will not follow it. The issue is not the gun, or even the rules that come along with gun ownership; it’s the people behind the firearm. Gun control laws cannot¬¬¬¬¬ change the person, but it can give them more

A majority of the American people feel that gun control laws will help reduce crime rates because the waiting period would allow time for a person’s temper to cool down. They also feel that gun control will prevent repeat offenders because when a person tries to purchase a handgun, he will have to fill out a lengthy questionnaire. The questionnaire will include questions about the buyer’s past, for example, if they have a criminal record or a record of any mental illness. If there is a criminal record in that person’s history, he will not be able to make the purchase. Restricting handgun ownership would also reduce crime, because guns are used most often in robberies and murders (Mayer 28). They are very easily concealed under a coat, or even in the waistband of pants.

The amount of crimes happening today will only increase with stricter gun control laws because there is a higher temptation to steal guns. An American citizen claims, “Ever since I first learned how to shoot, the issue with gun violence around the nation became clear: Guns are not the problem; people are” (Sherfenski). Police need to lock up these people committing the disastrous crimes that affect so many innocent lives. These blameless people are not prepared when they are being attacked, and that is because most shootings tend to happen in areas where guns are controlled. The former United States Secretary of Education, William Bennett, explains the reason that criminals decide to go to places that have controlled gun laws is because: “These murderers, while deranged and deeply disturbed, are not dumb. They show up to schools, universities, malls and public places where their victims cannot shoot back” (Bennett). Even if guns are controlled in public places including malls and schools, where there are uncontrolled shootings, why would it make a difference if they were controlled everywhere? It would not make a difference whatsoever because these crimes are done out of pure, revolting pleasure. Committing a crime is one thing, but taking away a right that was given to Americans in the 1790s is a whole different story.

There have also been references to second amendment that it states that the ownership of handguns rights are not protected, and that it should be easy to make a law to ban them(Roleff, 82). Another person also says that stricter laws on gun control is needed to ensure the safety and wellbeing of other citizens of the United States(Roleff, 144). Handgun control inc. also supports tough and stricter gun laws and states “waiting periods will reduce the number of criminals who obtain handguns”(Roleff, 153).

In this article, Robert McCartney, a newspaper reporter from the Washington Post who also has his own radio show, interviews a Washington D.C. doctor about gun violence. Dr. Janis Orlowski, former chief medical officer of a D.C. area hospital, Medstar Washington Hospital Center, is all but a stranger to the effects of gun violence. Growing up in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, she was one of eight siblings, and her father loved to hunt. She stated that she had been around guns all of her life, not only at home, but throughout her community. While she does believe that something needs to be done about the gun laws, and she would support them, she also believes it is not “the sole answer.” This is coming from a doctor, who sees the awful, tragic effects of gunshot wounds every single day. As the chief medical officer, she is in charge of over 6,000 staff members. During a news brief following a shooting at a Navy yard, her sincere though trajectory had inadvertently made her a local and national celebrity. She said; “Put my trauma center out of business…. I would like to not be an expert on gunshots.”

Based on Barack Obama “We know we can’t stop every act of violence, every act of evil in the world, but maybe we could try to stop one act of evil, one act of violence”. This means that we might not be able to stop all the violence but we could try to stop it. Gun control should be enforced because a lot of people that are mentally unstable get guns really easy, people use it to kill people instead of using it to protect themselves, and the terrorist will get weaker.

Tighter gun laws will reduce gun violence because it would be harder to access guns. According to the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives), “Thirty percent of guns involved in federal illegal gun trafficking investigations are connected in some way to gun shows” (“Gun Show Loopholes Should be Closed”). This shows that a high number of crimes and violence done by guns are done by illegal guns bought at gun shows. All this crime can be stopped if we put a ban on gun shows. In addition, the article also contained a experiment they used to test the credibility of these sellers, they used undercover agents as buyers, and went to Ohio, Nevada, and Tennessee. Out of 47 sellers, both licensed dealers and private sellers, 63%

In the article “Gun Control Won't Prevent School Shootings” was written by John G. Malcolm, and Jennifer A. Marshalland and was posted on their website. In this article, a group of people are defending why having more gun control would not stop shootings in schools. This article provides many facts and reason why less gun control is better. Malcolm and Marshalland emphasis particularly on, the second amendment, mental health, and family issues.

For better understanding it is always important to know the roots of an issue, gun ownership and gun control date back to the colonial days; even further back to the British heritage. In 1689 the British Parliament enacted the Bill of Rights, written in this document is the statement: “That the subjects in which are protestants may have arms for their defense suitable to their conditions, and as allowed by the law”. Part of the meaning this article was given, was that not only the nobility and rich landlords could own firearms, making the claim that Englishmen did not guarantee the right to possess weapons to ordinary citizens.