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
Gun control is a vital necessity to the welfare of our nation. Many people out there are supporting the “anti- gun control cause” with the excuse of “self-defense”. I believe that not everyone will handle a gun for self-defense. The possession of a gun is a sign of power. One of the bigger ambitions that one has is to have power and the easier it is to obtain a gun; the faster a criminal will gain power over an innocent person. When one is in possession of a gun, that person has complete control of their actions and may act upon the weapon however the person may please even if they know that their action will cause harm to defense-less people. There are many deaths caused by guns out there that could
News is all around us and is readily available to everyone. There are many flaws in the system that hurts the authenticity of the news when you see it. The media is indirectly part of the political system. Most news is either considered liberal or conservative by many.
Gun control in the United States has been a controversial issue for some time now. So much so that the Supreme Court even refuses to address this issue directly. Gun control really boils down to the the Second Amendment of the Constitution. Many people have different interpretations of the Second Amendment and the trenches are dug in deep on this issue. The Second Amendment can not provide the right to bear all types of arms to protect the people from governmental tyranny. If the Second Amendment was absolute, then we would allow the public to possess nuclear weapons, missiles, and other such arms, because like the 9 mm handgun that is an arm, a nuclear warhead is also a type of arm. The more our government restricts our rights to own
As you and your family walk through the store, a man dressed all in black walks in and pulls out an assault rifle and starts firing. People fall to the ground including your mother, killed by the raging bullets. You and your surviving family hide, hoping to not be seen by the gunman. By this time the Police arrived, ending the carnage. You were lucky, although others were not. Reports later prove this man was mentally ill and was able to acquire weapons without questioning. How could this of happened to your family and countless other families? The answer is the lack of gun control.
It is essential that the United States government implement the following three policies to protect the lives of its citizens: mandate a gun amnesty program, require owners to pass tests and insure their weapons, as well as prevent persons lacking mental capacity from possessing such deadly weapons.
President obama said at a press conference on October 01, 2015 “The solution to such violence is obvious. It cannot be this easy for somebody who wants to inflict harm on other people to get his or her hands on a gun.” (Simple Minded Gun Control). Gun control is a controversial issue worldwide. The reason why this has attracted so much attention is because not everyone is in favor of gun control and each side brings up excellent points about the issue. Research related to this issue strongly supports the claim that there SHOULD be more gun control laws. Three arguments that prove this position are (1) Incidents like Sandy Hook will be less likely to occur (2) It reduces the high rates of accidental deaths (3) As the years pass by and technology updates the laws should be up to date as well. Members from the National Rifles Association state that No law-abiding American should be forced to face evil with empty hands. I say I agree with President Obama there SHOULD be more gun control laws because it should not be as easy as it is for someone who wants to inflict harm on others to get their hands on a weapon.
As one of the most controversial issues in today’s society due to the numerous tragic shootings around the world, gun control attracts many opinions. James Q. Wilson’s essay, Just Take Away Their Guns, features his solution to the dangerous dilemma and discusses his reasoning. He believes that eliminating the plethora of illegal guns in America would limit crime and shootings. Wilson feels that the most effective method would be police frisks, where they would search suspicious citizens for unauthorized guns. While one may question how successful this will be, James Wilson’s use of facts, tenable sources, and his exploration of all flaws in the idea make for a strong argument in favor of his plan.
“You won’t get gun control by disarming law-abiding citizens. There is only one way to get real gun control: Disarm the thugs and the criminals, lock them up and if you actually don’t throw the key, at least lose it for a long time....It’s a nasty truth ,but those who seek to inflict harm are not fazed with gun controllers.”- Ronald Reagen. Limiting gun ownership to mentally stable, law abiding citizens will do nothing positive for this country. Mr.Reagen couldn’t have said it any better in that quote.
Doing anything to stand up against criminals with guns is too difficult, so now the legal gun owning people of the United States who follow and abide by the Constitution are being victimized. Based on the article by Carolyn Wolf (2015), the gun control debate is said to be “Missing the mark.”, this quote indicated that the restrictions of firearms keeps them from the “mentally-ill”, or considered criminals, is a misguiding argument. Wolf states that the restrictions that are aimed at preventing all gun ownership are inaccurate and it should be focused more intensely on the people who are in search of a firearm, suggesting that there should be consistent background checks on the citizens who look to purchase a firearm. The government is now requiring background checks before any person can purchase a firearm, which is a safe and effective law, but restricting the purchase and ownership of a firearm is turning the citizens against its own government. The government wants to fight a battle it was not meant to be in; it is not meant to be in this battle because the Constitution contradicts the government’s
He thinks taking guns away from individuals would not be the most effective way to cut illegal guns from being used. I think all individuals with guns should have a permit and the law officers should take away all others. I agree with Wilson, letting the proper authorities fulfill their duties, allowing individuals to have guns for self-protection, and controlling the criminals’ use of the guns is the only way to control
“When Governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.” (Beck 35). This quote is from one of the greatest men in the history of the United States of America, Thomas Jefferson, the father of the Declaration of Independence, and the third President of the United States. The validity of his statement is not only historical, but as pertinent today as it was when spoken anew. It is learned in schools across the nation, although the importance of the words depends on the teacher, school, and region of the country. During the revolutionary period, King George learned this same concept the hard way, “…an armed populace is a populace that will not be pushed around.”
Should Gun control have more restrictions or less restrictions? This issue has been going around for a really long time. The second amendment helps balance the situation because of course it is the right to bear arms, and having more restrictions is where it balances it out. You have the right to have a gun, but restrictions are needed. The best way gun control is measured is generally by surveys taken by people. Gun control really becomes an issue when there is crime, shootings, self-defense, etc. Some states have had different acts for different reasons and it all just depends on the situation the state is in. The main concern about gun control is safety for the people, and that is the issue. More restrictions for less deaths, or less for
Living a life in America, we all get to have all the rights that included in the Constitution. One of those was the Second Amendment which is the rights to bear arm, the purpose was to protect ourselves from danger but nowadays a lot of people have take advantage of it and use it in the wrong way. I believe our government need to have a strict limit on guns possession.
guns that are kept in houses as a means of defense end up doing more
There are gun control laws to try and reduce the number of violent shootings that occur. They are trying to put limits on weapons that Americans can own. The government is trying to take our guns away mainly because of people that are criminally insane. Most of the people who commit crimes don’t even have the weapons legally. If the government takes away the rights of people who are allowed to have firearms in their possession, it will most definitely cause an outrage. Most people believe that the people should be more capable of maintain proper use of the firearms instead of having them all taken away. Taking the firearms from Americans away would cause a lot more problems than there actually are. The people will be upset with the