Gun Control in America Essay example

We live in very violent times. There are daily accounts reported in the media about shootings. We do well to ask, Is there a solution to this growing crisis? Yes! It is call gun control. The lack of stricter gun control has damaged our communities. How so? Well, in order to answer that question, first we have to understand what makes up a community. Then we will explore the history of our gun control laws.

Some States have enacted their own laws. Florida has allowed its citizens to carry a concealed weapon. Since this law was enacted the murder rate has dropped by 29%. Over the same period of time the nationwide murder rate increased by 11%. This clearly shows that guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens can prevent crime.

Current Gun Control regulations do not deter violence and crime. It has been shown that places that have relaxed their gun control laws have a higher crime and death rate. Data proves that homicide rates “[...] among the metro areas whose principal city is in a state that requires some form of permit to purchase a gun, is 4.32 per 100,000 residents, compared with 5.74 among cities in no-permit states”(Bailey). This is evidence that there is a correlation between gun control and death rates. It is also proven with statistical evidence that places with the least amount of gun control have the most violence. Statistics show that “‘none of the states with the most gun violence require permits to purchase rifles, shotguns, or handguns. Gun owners are also not required to register

The Second Amendment states that “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed”.1 It is important to understand that the Second Amendment was created in order to allow the American people to form militias in response to a tyrannical government attempting to suppress the American way of life. In order for Americans to form militias, they must uphold their freedom to bear arms as a

Gun control laws do not deter crime; gun ownership deters crime. A Nov. 26, 2013 study found that, between 1980 and 2009, "assault weapons bans did not significantly affect murder rates at the state level" and "states with restrictions on the carrying of concealed weapons had higher gun-related murders." While gun ownership doubled in the twentieth century, the murder rate decreased. John R. Lott, Jr., PhD, author of More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws, stated, "States with the largest increases in gun ownership also have the largest drops in violent crimes... The effect on 'shall-issue' [concealed gun] laws on these crimes [where two or more people were killed] has been dramatic. When states passed these laws, the number of multiple-victim shootings declined by 84 percent. Deaths from these shootings plummeted on average by 90 percent and injuries by 82 percent." A Dec. 10, 2014 Pew survey found that 57% of people believe that owning a gun protects

The Second Amendment says “ A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed”

Is the violent crime rate affected by citizens legally carrying concealed weapons? One side argues being legally allowed to conceal carry weapons lowers the violent crime rate. Another side argues being legally allowed to conceal carry weapons increases the violent crime rate. Currently, there are forty three states that are “right-to-carry” states and seven states “may-issue” which makes it very hard to obtain a concealed weapons permit. This paper will compare violent crime rates within the state of Florida before and after the implementation of legally concealed weapons. This paper will evaluate how legally concealed weapons affect the crime rate. Such findings will be gathered from a combination of studies and sources, including: an interview study of police officers (qualitative data on how concealed weapons effect crime rate), crime rate statistics illustrating Florida’s violent crime rates per capita and various experts within the field of concealed weapons and their impact on violent crime rates. The improvement of police methodology will also be evaluated to test the impact of concealed weapons and its effect on the violent crime rate.

believes that states with the largest increases in gun ownership also have the largest drops in violent crimes. John Richard Lott, Jr. believes that the law called shall-issue a law that allows adults the right to carry concealed handguns will help save lives as long as the adult does not have a criminal record or a history of significant mental illness. John Richard Lott, Jr. also states that allowing adults to carry concealed weapons reduce the number of attempted crimes because criminals are uncertain which potential victims can defend themselves and victims who have guns are in a much better position to defend.

This paper examines concealed handgun laws in the United States with the purpose of measuring the effects of the laws on crime rates. There is a lot of previously done research on the subject of concealed handgun laws with conflicting results and opinions. Many researchers are in agreement that more research on the subject needs to be done. In this study, states that have implemented the concealed handgun law are compared to crime rates before it was in effect as well as other states that have implemented the law. The results of this project show evidence that when citizens are allowed to carry concealed weapons __________ lower/raise crime rates, in particular, violent crime rates.

As far as overall gun violence is concerned, according to the FBI's 1998 Uniform Crime Reports, the overall violent crime rate in the US decreased about 7%. Robbery alone declined by 11%, the lowest since 1969. In addition, murder dropped by 7%, the lowest since 1967. More significantly, despite the fact the number of firearms and handguns owned by individual Americans continued to increase from 1997-1998, the FBI also reported the rate of firearms used to commit murder and robberies decreased in 1998. (1998 Uniform Crime Reports). These facts conclusively prove that firearms owned by peaceable citizens do not lead to increased murder or violent crime rates. In fact, they demonstrate that armed citizens lead to reduced rates of violent crime. When the gun is in the hands of a well-rounded person, it is no more of a weapon than your every day curling iron.

The Second Amendment to the U. S. Constitution states, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed" (United States of America).

Concealed carry can reduce crime. If citizens are armed on the streets and everywhere else and a shooting happens they can stop it. With this being said people won 't try to pull risky crimes because they know citizens have weapons. 1,197,704 violent crimes happen in America each year (Lott). Since 2007, the number of concealed handgun permits has soared from 4.6 million to over 12.8 million, and murder rates have fallen from 5.6 killings per 100,000 people to just 4.2, about a 25 percent drop (Washington TImes).

Additionally, in states that have laws permitting concealed weapons for those who qualify, there has been a measurable reduction in violent crimes and murder. There are forty states that allow those who have permits to carry a handgun. Consequently, there are approximately 3.5 million U.S. citizens that are permitted to have a concealed weapon on their person, or in their car (Kates & Mauser, 2007). John Lott and David Mustard conducted a study on the concealed handguns law. They analyzed FBI crime statistics for the entire United States, covering the years from 1977 to 1992. With conservative approximations, states enacting the concealed weapons law had a reduction in rape by 5%, robbery by 3%, aggravated assault by 7%, and murder by 8.5% (Lott, n.d.).

Research shows that states with a law against concealed carry weapons have an 11% higher crime rate than the national average (“Gun Facts,” 2013).

When you see someone openly carrying a weapon your natural reaction is to stay away from that person, but if you have a gun as well then you will think differently than you would if you didn’t have a weapon. Although it will be hard to distinguish predator from prey, almost everyone will be thinking the same way you are. Another example that shows that crime is being decreased is that with everyone carrying a gun people will more than likely think twice about using it.