Persuasive Essay On Gun Control

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.

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 On February 28th, 2017, the Trump administration repealed a firearms regulation that prevented mentally disabled persons from owning guns.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.

It seems as though firearms are able to be placed in the hands of anyone; regardless of what their background looks like. The basic background check consists of completing a form which is then followed by a phone call to the NICS (National Instant Criminal Background Check System) who then gives the approval or denial of the applicant. According to NICS (https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/nics ), in the past ten years the increase of background checks has nearly tripled from 8 million in 2005 to 23 million in 2015. Although these statics do not represent the amount of approvals or denials, it simply states that there are 23 million people trying to obtain a firearm. This increase has also affected the number of murders which has now decreased since 2005. These numbers reflect the positive effects that having a firearm can have in our society. It seems that crime is less likely to happen with so many Americans having firearms in their homes. In some states a license and a permit are required to own and carry a

Having qualifications for the first time buying and owning of a firearm is crucial. Having specific criteria that everyone has to go through at least once would keep firearms out of the hands of dangerous people.To be able to buy a gun everyone should have to go through three basic criteria; A background check, a Mental health test, and a firearm safety course. According to Everytown Research, “Since 1999, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System

Assault rifles are becoming the weapon of choice in these recent mass shootings. Since 2004, out of 48 mass shootings 13 of them included assault rifles. The assault rifle can be bought in many states starting at the age of 18. According to the gun control group, since 2009 individuals under the age of 21 committed two mass shootings with an assault rifle. Only one of the two rifles used was bought legally, which means just a single shooting where at least four individuals were shot and slaughtered could have been prevented. Everytown for Gun Safety reports, since 2009 there have been 156 mass shootings, eleven of these shootings were committed by individuals under the age of 21. Out of those 156 incidents 11 of those the shooter used an assault rifle. Although You have to be 21 to

The topic of gun control seems to be split into two different opinions for the most part. Some people believe there should not be strict government regulations on most guns because it is part of the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution. This 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." @@@ Most people who support the 2nd amendment believe that the government should not be allowed to impinge on the public’s right to own and use guns. On a completely other note, some people believe the government needs to step in and regulate guns. Some areas that people believe need regulating can include how guns are obtained, how many one person can own, and the type of guns that can be sold to the public. In my own opinion, even though some Americans believe access to guns help protect people and is a right, there should be heavy regulations on large capacity weapons and magazines put in place to help decrease the amount of gun-related violence in America.

It only takes minutes to have a semi-automatic gun in your hand, it’s like you walk into the store and walk out with it. The laws in place vary from state to state and are in some cases are poorly enforced. Only in 13 states a background check is mandatory no matter how a gun is sold or what kind of gun it is. Gun buyers have to fill out a form from the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms). The following information is required: name, address, place of birth, race and citizenship. A social security number is only optional, but is recommended. On the other hand, in most states you can buy a gun from private parties like friends or acquaintances, but commonly these background checks free occur are at gun shows. “It seems ridiculous that you can be in one state with your driver’s license and buy a firearm, and then the next state it is totally illegal. There are real problems with that, but as soon as you bring up the subject and say ‘Gun Control’ it sets a red flag. (Joe Perry, Brainy Quotes) At what age can someone buy a gun? Licensed dealers can sell any type of gun if they are 21 and over. People over 18 years of age can buy rifles and shotguns. It is very alarming and disturbing as something so dangerous can be something so easy to

As Americans are proud to be reside in the “land of the free,” our nation is noted to have pride of being able to own and carry a firearm. The right for Americans to bear arms is protected under the second amendment of the United States Constitution. However, this privilege has been taken advantaged of in the recent years. Unfortunately, more than 31,000 Americans die from gunshot wounds(1). Americans wake up to devastating news in relation to gun violence on their tv screen more frequently than before. Even when the United States is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, there is still so many casualties in relation to gun violence(2). These unfortunate deaths raise the question of whether Americans should be restricted from owning firearms. In the United States, the right to own a gun should not be banned and abolished, but be looked into carefully to decrease the mortality rate by guns.

Imagine walking into a Walmart on a normal morning. Little did you know that in the back of the store, someone was being background checked so that they could purchase a gun. Even though they had a criminal record, they were still able to walk out of that Walmart with a gun in their possession. In the twenty first century, this could happen in so many different stores that you probably didn't know this occurred.

A shooter opened fire at a church in Sutherland springs, Texas, reportedly killing and injuring multiple people according to (Vox.com “Gun Violence”). After mass shootings the debate over guns always seems to spark back up. No other developed country has anywhere near the same rate of gun violence as America. The US has about six times the gun homicide rate as Canada and nearly 16 times more than Germany, according to UN data compiled by the guardian,” (Vox.com, “Gun Violence”). These gun deaths are a big reason America has a much higher overall homicide rate. Gun control should be exercised with extreme caution to help prevent devastating events like this happen. I think gun laws should be stricter and should only be carried if you have authority to do so. Police officers and military should be the only ones in need of weapons. Firearms are not toys and should be treated with more caution in today’s society.

Many Republicans are strongly opposed to any kind of gun control and many Democrats are pushing for gun ban laws. I believe America needs to find a middle ground and a gun reform plan should be put into action. Maybe we could take lessons from other areas around the world that have had success with gun reform.

In today's society, it is a norm to see people with guns, no matter who they or what their background is. The Second Amendment to our constitution allows American citizens the right to bear arms. In today's society, anyone can get a gun even if they are mentally ill or have a criminal background simply because our laws are too weak and are not being enforced. Today, I am here to talk to you about how and why we should add stricter and or new laws regarding gun control, such as (hold up fingers) having universal background checks and changing the laws regarding who can buy guns.

Well in order to purchase a gun legally you must undergo a background check ran by the F.B.I. Any ex-felon, non American Citizen, or mentally unstable person are not approved by the agency. However only 1.7% people were rejected of those who applied, this raised a lot of questions. The 2018 Florida school shooter purchased his gun legally! Should the F.B.I. run stricter and more extensive background checks, it appears so. Also anyone who buys the firearm the sellers are required to have a proper Federal Firearm License to sell guns. This is a great requirement but private sellers are not required to have this permit and normally don’t run background checks. Criminals or someone trying to harm others are most likely not going to take a background check they know they will fail so they go to a private seller and avoid it. “Which is the most disturbing conclusion as it leads us to question whether gun control is worthwhile if you can obtain a gun illegally with ease.”(Street

Many people stand behind the old statement, “Guns don't kill people, people kill people” , arguing that strong guns laws won't keep people from killing. However, they fail to realise the strong effect guns have on a killer. Guns make it so easy to take the life of another and death should never be that easy. In many cases guns simply just being present increase the chances of violence, a gun “turns a killer into a killing machine” says David H. Chipman, Senior Vice President of Public Safety for ShotSpotter. This statement is incredibly true. As humans we face hardships and get