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Gun Needs And Gun Control

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David Kopel states that, “The United States has the highest death rate of firearms than any other country.” This is very eye opening and should not be ignored. As a country we need to change this fact. The question is whether conceal and carry is the answer. On the one hand, conceal and carry can benefit the community and United States as a whole by crime rates dropping and people being able to protect themselves from criminals. However, it is a thin line as conceal and carry can also hurt the community or United States as a whole by more conflicts between people ending in gun violence. Before getting into conceal and carry, a little background on gun safety and some of the laws addressing it may be helpful. When buying a gun the person wanting to buy the gun has to wait a certain amount of time before they can actually have the gun (Gun Control). This is called a cooling-off period so that a person cannot just go buy a gun and kill someone because they had a disagreement. It gives the person time to think clearly before taking action. In addition, according to Illinois Department of Natural Resources as of 1 January, 1996, anyone born on or after January 1, 1980 that is wanting a hunting license is required to have taken a hunters safety course. This course is to show people how to be responsible with firearms. You have to pass a test to get your hunters safety card, which lets you, shoot a gun legally. This class helps keep guns out of people’s hands who should not be allowed to shoot a gun or even handle one for that matter. Now, a little background on conceal and carry and how it came to be allowed in Illinois. Jacob Sullum states, “In December of 2012 the U.S. Court of Appeals ordered Illinois to take away its ban on conceal and carry.” According to Sullum, the Court ruled that it went against the second amendment, the right to bear arms. So in July 2013, Illinois became the last state to allow conceal and carry. The Illinois law is a “shall issue” policy, giving police no choice to deny a permit. This means that if you are at least 21, have a firearms owner identification card (FOID), a clean record, and completed 16 hours of training, your application for conceal and carry will be

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