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Gun Control Essay

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Firearms are dangerous weapons used to intentionally and unintentionally kill people, which lead to one of America�s most heated debates: gun control. With increasing crime and violence, many people look to gun control laws as a way to slow these trends down. On the other hand, others believe that owning a gun is a constitutional right that should never be taken away. James Q. Wilson�s essay �Just Take Away Their Guns� is an attempt to offer a solution to both sides of this argument. He claims that illegal possession of firearms is the problem and that frisking suspicious characters would be a good solution to the debate of gun control. However, random frisking to end illegal gun possession is a violation of privacy and an overbearing task …show more content…

A study showed that between �1997 and 1998, 35,000 of the 45,000 stop-and-frisks reported by the [Special Crime Unit] did not result in an arrest. A statistical analysis revealed that the [Special Crime Unit] stopped 16 African Americans for every arrest made� (Boyd 31). This statement proves that if racial profiling is a problem in one of the most diverse cities in the world, then it will definitely be a problem anywhere else in the nation.
Another problem Wilson faces is unnecessary search and seizure and the violation of the Fourth Amendment. The Fourth Amendment protects citizens against unreasonable searches and seizures. Wilson�s proposal to end illegal gun possession by random frisking goes against the Fourth Amendment. It is lawful to search someone who is suspicious or of questionable character, but only the police officer conducting the search is able to determine who meets these requirements. For example, a police officer could say that a piece of clothing may be suspicious because it may be gang related or that it is baggy enough to fit a gun in the pocket. The possibilities of what a police officer can deem suspicious are limitless and unfair. The rights of citizens� privacy are at the discretion of a single officer and he or she could easily violate and abuse the rights and responsibilities entailed to him or her, as

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