I am a gun advocate. I own guns. I shoot guns. My dad is a hunter. We have over 35 guns and 5,000 rounds of ammunition in a gun safe, in my house. None of these guns are assault weapons. None can fire hundreds of rounds in a matter of minutes. None were designed solely to kill people. However, millions of assault weapons have been manufactured and sold in the past ten years. An unknown number are now in the hands of fanatics who will use them to kill people for effect. The massacres in Las Vegas, Sutherland Springs Church, Pulse Nightclub, and Sandy Hook Elementary School were all committed with lawfully protected assault rifles.The constitutional protection of the right to bear arms has inadvertently fostered an environment of perpetual danger that has become an accepted social normality. The second amendment reads, “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” (Sachs 1). Essentially, the second amendment protects the rights that US citizens have to buy, sell, own, and use weapons. The second amendment is certainly exercised, as Americans own more than 310 million firearms (Boyle 2). Now the question is, are fanatics that pervert the second amendment the reason we wake up to shootings merely everyday? An article written on November 6, 2017 says that there have been 377 mass shootings in 2017, and at the time we were only 309 days into the year (Hilbring 1). Although the definition of assault weapons is unclear, one thing about assault weapons is crystal clear--they were designed to do one thing, kill a lot of people in a short amount of time. Originally, assault weapons like the AR-15 and AK-47 were designed for military warfare (Dickson 52). From 1994 to 2004, a ban was placed on specific models of assault weapons such as AR-15’s and AK-47’s.In addition to banning specific assault weapons, the law set a limit of 10 bullets on high capacity magazines. During the years the ban was in act, the number of people killed in mass shootings decreased (Plumer 2). As said in a recent Commonweal article, the motives and circumstances of shootings had little in common (Normalizing Carnage 1). However, one
School should be a place of peace and opportunity, but gaps in the system of gun control threatens the safety of faculty and students. School shootings have killed a total of 297 lives, young and old (Slate Magazine). Gun control has been a continuous nationwide debate for many years. It seems that no one wants to take a stance against guns unless they are personally affected. In order to take control of the matter and prevent more incidents from continuing schools need to change. To achieve a safe environment in schools need to educate faculty, safe and students, heighten security, and assess mental health issues.
The issue of banning assault weapons and large capacity magazines has been debated for years, but has never been discussed with such urgency as it is now. The issue is the banning of assault weapons in our society. Are we the kind of country that allows and encourages its citizens to own weapons of mass destruction? The moral issue we face is banning ownership of these weapons to ordinary citizens while protecting their rights under the second amendment of our Constitution. Considering the bloodshed and death that assault weapons cause in the hands of citizens and criminals, it seems to me that assault weapons do not have a place in our homes and society.
The right to bear and keep arms comes from the Second Amendment adopted in 1791. There has been many shootings in U.S. history. One of the most frequent being the Las Vegas shooting killing 59 people and injuring 241. The deadliest shooting in modern U.S. Before that was the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007, only 10 years ago. The second deadliest modern shooting was only a year ago being the Orlando nightclub. Which scares me for what could happen in the future. People who are mentally ill are able to get guns when they should not. The CDC states that guns are responsible for 33,000 deaths a year in the U.S. with ⅔’s being suicides. For a bigger perspective how shootings are a problem here, it is shown that the U.S. is responsible for 31% of public mass shootings. Our homicide rate is ⅙ of Canada’s. These statistics should raise our concern on what type of people own gun and push for stricter regulations.
I’m sure that you have heard all the ramble about “assault weapons” (these weapons are actually called AR-15s) and how they should be banned from use of the public. Well I disagree; there’s much for politicians to learn about these weapons, which is one of the biggest problems. These weapons are actually not dangerous tools for murderers and psychopaths, as they are made out to be. They are sporting and hunting rifles that can be outfitted for a variety of jobs for the public. AR-15s should absolutely remain legal in the United States as the are more than just weapons of mass destruction: they can be used for safety and defence, they actually aren’t assault weapons at all, they are surprisingly good for hunting applications, most of the people
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 have 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.
Gun ownership is embedded in the fabric of America. The United States has the highest gun ownership rate in the world with 88 guns per 100 people. This is a staggering amount of firearms in the U.S. which our forefathers would 've never imagined when writing the 2nd Amendment. The 2nd 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.” Not everyone interprets this right the same way. Regulating and restricting the use of these firearms brings up opposing sentiments from those in favor of gun control and those who oppose
Assault weapons are the newest and the most popular type of firearm. When most people hear the term ‘assault weapon’, they think of an unnecessary weapon and their connections to mass shootings. That type of thinking is necessary when it comes to these types of weapons, and too many those disagree with people who think this way. There arguments are, “This is America,” and “It’s guaranteed in the second amendment,” but the issue is assault weapons have no place in American society outside the military and police use. The Second Amendment 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.” This sentence written by our forefathers says nothing about which weapons are allowed in this country. So it is up to our government to decide which guns are legal and which guns are illegal. From a logical and educated perspective all assault weapons should be banned from public distribution and possession, and be restricted to use by our police and armed forces. This can easily be proven by why the 1994 gun ban was not successful, assault weapon capabilities in the hands of citizens, and solutions to assault weapon control.
America is known as the land of opportunity, freedom, fast food, and raging numbers of gun violence. According to Mass Shooting Tracker there has been about 367 shootings so far since the year started (Mass Shooting Tracker). This is outrageous considering that in other countries, gun shooting numbers don 't even reach a two-digit number. Far too many people have been victims of these unregulated weapons, claiming lives and ripping families apart. There is no safe place from these assault weapons, no movie theater, night club, church, or school. American’s must deal with the fact that any unsuited person is legally allowed to purchase a weapon with the weak regulations we currently have. Assault weapons have been damaging for this country and it 's time to change the laws. Gun regulations and laws need to be stricter to make it harder for individuals to purchase guns to prevent any future tragedies from happening.
The Second Amendment of the constitution of the United States was adopted on December 15, 1791. “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” (Gun Control Laws). There is controversy on the exact meaning of the Second Amendment. There is also a lot of controversy surrounding guns and gun laws, and what could be done to prevent gun violence and mass shootings in our country. There has to be a way to prevent gun violence, while still upholding the Second Amendment and protecting the rights of law abiding citizens who have the right to own and carry guns legally.
Over the last decade or so, the United States of America has been shaken by an epidemic of terrifying mass shootings, devastating slayings of unexpecting victims, and unnerving annihilations of the innocent. There is no specific target, no explicitly sought-out group, nor definite individual. From a classroom of first-graders, to a crowded movie theatre, to a U.S. Naval yard, the location seems at most, random, other than that it is almost always a public place. The perpetrators responsible for these horrific murders also vary, and often surprise those who thought they knew them. However, while the occurrences of mass shootings are unpredictable and always shocking, most have one thing in
Did you know from 1950 to 2016 98% of all public mass shootings were committed in gun free zones? I believe that the second amendment is important because, it gives you a right to protect yourself and your family. Guns save lives and lower crime rates. Banning assault rifles won’t do much to help lower crime or stop mass shootings.
According to Nicholas Kristof’s article “our blind spot about guns” gun control is a lot like cars regulation such that if we can regulate cars we can regulate guns. It took a lot of time and effort but thanks to regulations cars are safer than they were many years ago, and the same is very possible with guns. We need to keep our country safe. The first steps to gun control are improving on background checks and also requiring trigger locks on all guns.
“The boundaries of the Second Amendment do not coincide with the boundaries of gun control” (Blocher and Miller, 2016, p.296). Guns and the idea of gun control have been a high valued topic, between the Federal Government and state governments since the beginning of the 20th century. How strictly guns should be regulated is a common topic between the Federal Government and state governments, especially with the increase in mass shootings over the years. Although there are regulations set by the Federal Government, most of the time, it falls on state governments to mandate guns because it is easier for each state to determine what is best for it and the people that live there. State governments are more closely related to the people in
This topic of gun control is such a great thing in today's society. People say they want change people say thing need to be done that we need to get rid of assault weapons. This thing of banning assault weapons is just not possible because the AR 15 as they say “ the worst killing machine that has ever been introduced to the public” stated a freshman girl from the parkland shooting, is the worst and most deadly thing and we have to get rid of it. But it is one of the most widely guns used for hunting in the US; in total gun deaths the handgun is the most deadly and bad people will still get the guns they want you will only take away from the good people. So why do we need to ban assault rifles why not just work on making school and workplaces safer. The AR 15 is the gun most under scrutiny now. People don't like it because it looks tactical and deadly. But what people don't know is that it is one of the most used rifles in the US for hunting. this is du to it having such a small round it shoots just a little bigger round than a handgun, but people don’t like this
From 1988 to 2001, the usage of anti-depressant drugs in the general public increased by four-hundred percent (Swanson). The mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary took place in December of 2012, and during 2014, firearms were used in 88 percent of teen homicides, and 41 percent of teen suicides (“Suicidal Teens”). On February 28th, 2017, the Trump administration repealed a firearms regulation that prevented mentally disabled persons from owning guns. At the same time, teenage mental illness is on the rise, specifically in cases of depression and anxiety. A report from the Surgeon General shows that over 90 percent of adolescents that committed either suicide or homicide have or had a mental disability. Mental disabilities such as depression and anxiety put teenagers at a high risk for homicides and suicides. Teenagers who are stressed due to school, lack of parenting, puberty, bullying, and other factors can develop depression, anxiety or another mental illness. Allowing these teens easy access to firearms proves time and time again to be very dangerous. In some cases, the families of these teens have never been assessed to see if they can responsibly store firearms. The only background check performed is on the owner of the firearm, meaning that a person may own the weapon even if another family member living with them legally cannot. Loose gun control laws allow families with physiologically ill children to have access to firearms, without first checking to see if the disabled children in the home are responsible enough to be around said firearms. Repealing gun control laws instated by the Obama administration will cause an increase in adolescent firearm-related homicides, suicides, and tragedies similar to the one at Sandy Hook Elementary.