Gun control has become a topic of debate from recent shootings, to political disputes, to citizens’ Second Amendment rights, but now the government is stepping in and considering stricter gun laws to help, but is that the answer? I recently read the article “Just Take Away Their Guns” (Barnet 126) where the author stated there should be more gun control without infringing on the rights of citizens who carry legally. We, the People, need to control whose hands these guns are in and how to stop them from obtaining them illegally in the first place.
According to the author, the public does not think that tougher gun control will work even though the public supports stricter gun laws. The people who want additional gun laws are the same people who do not pay attention to the facts of lawful and responsible gun owners. The President of the United States however believes and wants gun control to work. Unfortunately, creating new laws on buying a gun will not have much of an effect on the guns that are illegally used or bought as “there are some 200 million guns in private ownership” (Barnet126). Only about 2 percent of legally owned guns have been linked to crimes. Most of the guns in the hands of criminals are bought off the black market meaning in the streets, guns that have been stolen, or private purchases which are all unaffected by any new laws created. To put it in a different perspective, in 1992 police had made many arrests for having an illegal gun. This number
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.
What makes gun control reform even more difficult is that many Democrats themselves can’t support gun control without risking their seats. Many representatives or senators come from districts and states that vote Democrat for different reasons, such as union strength in the Midwest or rising immigration numbers in the Southwest. However, states like Wisconsin, Florida, or New Mexico also are strong supporters of guns, putting Democratic lawmakers in a precarious position (Scher 2017). This split in the party makes it nigh on impossible for bills to get anywhere. Indeed we saw this to be true after the Sandy Hook shooting. Senator Dianne Feinstein has been a passionate advocate for gun control nearly her entire tenure as a Senator, becoming one of the leading Democratic senators in the push for gun control (Friedman 2013). Feinstein represents a state where gun control measures such as assault weapons bans are extremely popular (California), so there is no constituent fear from her to back off gun control (Wheaton 2017). After the Sandy Hook shooting, Senator Feinstein introduced a new Assault Weapons bill to replace the previous one which had expired in 2004. It made the sale, manufacture, or transfer of 150 semi-automatic weapons illegal, which had features like magazine releases and thumbhole stocks, restricted large capacity magazines, and used a one feature test to determine whether or not a gun was an assault weapon (Feinstien 2013). Democratic majority leader Harry
Every day in America an average of 93 are killed people due to gun violence. One of the biggest concerns today in American policy is gun control. This is a very controversial and complicated topic for both pro-gun and anti-gun supporters. American policy makers need to make it harder for the wrong people to obtain firearms and the fact that Second Amendment and gun control can co-exist. Mental illness constantly emerges in relation to mass shootings and shooters a like, as well as day to day homicides and suicides. America doesn’t necessarily have more crime then other developed countries the crime is just much more lethal. Right-wing Republicans constantly use the Second Amendment as shield to use firearms, the fact is the document is
Every so often the media and news feeds flood with reports of a mass shooting. Families mourn. In the days that follow, calls to action can be heard, and there is a demand for change. Sometimes minor legislation passes, but in the United States extreme change is rarely seen. Other developed nations provide an opposite comparison. Following the Port Arthur shooting in Australia and the shooting in Great Britain, both countries organized for significant gun reform.
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.
October 1, 2017 marked the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. With almost 500 injured and 58 killed, not only did Las Vegas feel the tragedy of a personal loss, but the incident had rippling effects that shook all of America (Flaherty). With the fresh wounds of the recent Las Vegas shooting, politician's initial reaction is to implement more strict gun restrictions and "lay down the law" to prevent a similar event from happening again. Due to the drastic laws being carried out, the topic of gun control is a current issue in society. Is the solution to implement more firm restrictions on gun ownership or can the government allow the people to be their own advocates? While the opposing views of pro-gun restrictions argue that is up to the discretion of the government, they are often narrow-minded resolutions with no hope to finding a real solution. This particular shooter obtained his guns legally and passed all background checks, going unnoticed until his plan unfolded. Establishing more strict firearm restrictions would not have stopped the Las Vegas shooting from occurring. The number of gun restrictions can not increase, the government needs to either fix the existing laws or do away with gun restrictions entirely. Gun restrictions are not the solution because guns are not doing the killing--people are, the laws only attack the law-abiding citizens, and the gun restrictions add another infringed upon right that the government controls. While voting against additional gun rules will not completely eliminate the controversy behind this topic, voting against these laws will be a milestone to regaining the rights we have already been promised.
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.
Recently, mass shooting is happening everywhere across the country once in a while, notably in Las Vegas and Texas. And even on our campus, a Soka alumni was arrested for threatening a “killing spree” last Friday. The debate about the gun control has been a hot issue throughout the history of the United States, yet during the interview after the mass shooting in Texas, President Trump responded "we could go into the gun control policy], but it's a little bit too soon.", and called the shooter a "very deranged individual" with "a lot of problems over a long period of time" rather than calling him a terrorist. The right to bear arms is one of the unique features in the American society. Only in the United States, Guatemala, and Mexico clearly states the right to bear arms in their constitution. The Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States 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.”
Gun control is one of the most talked about topics in modern day America. 43 of 50 states have the right to bear arms. Most states have to background check you in order for you to purchase or sell guns. Some other states prevent carrying guns and some other ban assault rifle weapons. People who support the gun laws say that the second amendment was meant for militias and that gun restrictions have always existed. People who oppose that say that guns are needed for self-defense from people who invade houses or are actual threats. Although both of those are correct, there will always be two sides for control laws.
October, 1st 2017 has marked the latest in a now all too familiar trend of tragedies; a mass killing of civilians by a sick individual. In the wake of this tragedy, there is a mass of human emotion, grief, anger, sadness, and a demand for justice to right what has been wronged. In looking for justice, one needs an antagonist to blame, in this case an object, the gun. While it is true that firearms are the weapon of choice for many violent tragedies across the United States, will a ban on firearms truly solve the problem of violence for the country? Although a firearm ban may seem like a preventative for violence in the United States, a comparison of violent crime in other countries with varying levels of gun control, the lack of
Over 13,286 people yearly die from gun violence. In 2016 over 700 people were killed due to guns in the streets of chicago. Which is the most restricted place to purchase weapons. So they would get it from other ways. Such as buying out of state, or the black market. People would have to resort to these dangerous tactics if only there were less gun control laws. When there can be a simple solution that is not looked at. A solution that could completely fix the problem by the way it started.
In the United States, we have issues that affect many Americans in their day to day lives. They live always wondering when the next breaking news alert will show up on their television, smart phone, or computer; listening to the constant blast of sirens running through the downtown city streets, from police cars, firetrucks, and ambulances. Anything from burglaries, high speed car chases, or shootings keep these emergency personnel on the clock 24/7. The government has many laws established to prevent these outbreaks yet they still constantly happen. Although many of our laws do keep must of our daily lives in a safer routine such as traffic laws and laws meant to keep humans civil such as laws about murder and theft, you would think
How many people have to die before this world will let go of these dangerous weapons? The Chinese invented gunpowder in the 9th century which lead to the creation of guns. A repeating firearm is a firearm that holds more that one cartridge and can be fired more than once between chargings. Gun control should be enforced more because it will help prevent violence, it can help stop crime, and although some people may argue that gun control should not be enforced because guns can help save people’s lives but they are wrong because people misuse guns.
In december 15, 1791, the bill was passed and the second amendment was the right to bear arm. This was the second most patriotic law in the bill of rights because as americans we felt like we had the right to protect our own family from any harm. I believe it is right as humans to protect our own because guns don't kill people, people always have the power to do that guns are just a method of killing someone. The gun movement started in 1968 with the first gun control law to prevent anyone with felons from purchasing another weapon for over 49 years the united states has been combating gun control. It is important that we find the right law for gun control because some states gun laws are out of control to a point where anyone can purchase a assault rifle and many mass murders or school shooting have been committed with military weapons. According to gun archive there was 282 mass murders caused by gun violence, in these articles there going to explain how we can reduce gun violence and what would happen if we eliminated guns. The first article I chose was called police in schools makes student safer. Many people have suggested ways to prevent more gun violence like school shooting by adding police officers in schools or having teachers be armed inside the school. The first article stake from someone who does have. I believe that it would be a great idea for having actual officers inside the school instead of giving teacher the right to carry weapons because kids would
Guns are used all over the world and are controlled in some countries but in others people are allowed to have any type of gun ranging from automatic assault rifles to big rocket launches. Should it also be controlled in our country the United States of America? Many say no yes and many others say NO! In my opinion it should be controlled.