Persuasive Essay On Gun Control

The whole gun control debate may have began after President John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963. Until about 1968, shotguns, rifles, handguns and ammo were sold over-the-counter, but that changed and it goes back further than that. We don't see it being dealt with by the government until 1791, when an amendment is made. The right to bear arms comes from the second amendment of the constitution, which 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." (U.S consititution). Almost two centuries later, the Gun Control Act of 1968 was set in motion. This act "...was enacted for the purpose of keeping firearms out of the hands of those not legally entitled to possess them because of age, criminal background, or incompetence." (Longley)

Gun control has recently brought a massive uproar to the United States after several tragedies combined mass murder with firearms. Some argue that guns are meant to be used for our protection and it takes someone to pull the trigger while others believe that guns are intended to cause serious harm or death to the intended target. The right to own a firearm stems from the second amendment of the constitution and states that a well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to bear arms, shall not be infringed. The first piece of gun control legislature that was passed in the United States was in 1911 when Sullivan’s Law passed to make buying or carrying a handgun without a permit a felony

Gun control should not exist at all in the United States. Mass shootings have almost become seen as normal event in the United States. What people do not understand is that gun control is not the answer; there are countries with little to no control that have fewer shootings. According to The Washington Post,Finland is ranked number 4 in countries with the most guns despite that they only had 24 homicides by firearm (“Gun homicides and ownership by countries” n.pag.) . In the article Did Gun Control Work In Australia “it is shown that gun control has reduced the problems but it still has not completely got rid of all firearm deaths”(Matthews n.pag.). The number of murders, homicides, or suicides do not go up due to people just owning more guns. Clayton Perry, a staff writer at the University of Maine, even points out “Stricter gun laws were in place during the Assault Weapons Ban between 1994 and 2004, but that didn't stop the shooters at Columbine in 1999 ”(Perry n. pag.). In Iceland, thirty out of a hundred people own a gun and they have zero homicides caused by guns a year(“Gun Homicides and ownership by country” n. pag.). In this day and age, everything is unpredictable, guns are a form of protection for everyone and there should not be restrictions on protection. The U.S. Department of Justice released a data brief that states, “ On average in 1987-92 about 83,000 crime victims per year used a firearm to defend themselves or their property”(Rand BJS Statistician n. pag.). The National Sheriffs Association released that the average police response time is at eighteen minutes while the average school shooting only last twelve minutes (“Embracing Technology To Decrease Response Time” n. pag.). Gun control should not exist because other countries do fine without it , high gun ownership has no link with increasing death rates , and guns are not harmful when instructions are followed.

In 1938, Roosevelt furthers gun control laws by, requiring interstate gun dealers to be licensed, as well as to strictly keep sales records of all transactions. Roosevelt’s National Firearms Act of 1938 also prohibited sales to those convicted of violent crimes. (History of Gun Control Legislation)

To help apply restrictions, the Gun Control Act of 1968, which was the first gun law, was passed in the wake of the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Senator Robert F. Kennedy earlier that year (“Restricting” par. 4). The 1968 Gun Control Act established categories of prohibited gun purchasers and possessors, including convicted felons, fugitives from justice, minors, individuals with a history of

The first national gun control law didn’t take place until the 1920’s and 30’s, almost a

The first major attempts in enacting new gun control laws came about in the late 1920’s. While there were a few earlier attempts in the 1800’s, they were not influential in the sense of affecting the entire nation. In 1927, the first piece of federal legislation resulted in a ban on mailing concealable firearms through the United States Postal Service. Stephen Halbrook’s 1989 article, “Guns and Prohibition, in Al Capone’s Day and Now,” which was published in the Wall Street Journal, discusses this very issue. A trend of discontent related to the era of Prohibition by some state

The topic of gun control was ignited by the misuse of firearms by criminals during the early 1900's and in response the federal government felt obligated to control the spread of weapons into the general population. The first federal gun-control legislation was the National Firearms Act (NFA) which encompasses two specific types of guns: machine guns/short-barrel firearms, it is important to note that handguns were included into the original draft, but was removed at the last moment. This statute charged $200 dollars which represented a very large amount of money back in 1934 and directly taxed Americans on their constitutional right. Legislation that has enacted more gun control measures does exactly what it is designed to do: keep guns out of the hands of law abiding citizens (Kehoe). As citizens we should fight to preserve our constitutional right and free ourselves from the notion that inanimate objects dictate human behavior.

The History of Gun Control can be traced back to in history all the way back to April 1755 when the British came to take the colonialists guns at Lexington Concord. Then Multiple times throughout history Firearm Control

In 1934, United States President Franklin Roosevelt, signed the National Firearm Act. The main idea of this law was to increase the taxation on guns to lower the rate of gun ownership. Instead of a decrease in the gun ownership rates, the consequence outcome was an increase rate of gun ownership and also crime rates. Starting in 1938, the Congress established the something similar to the National Firearms Act

However, today there is the military and there is no use for the guns. The Gun Control Act of 1968 was put in place after a mass shooting at the University of Texas. As well after, the murders of John F Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Robert F Kennedy. That law prohibited the transfer of guns between states without a license. Then in 1994, there was a ban on assault weapons, which banned certain semiautomatic weapons and guns with military features. However, that law expired, and was not renewed due to the NRA’s lobbying efforts.

In 1934, United States President Franklin Roosevelt, signed the National Firearm Act. The main idea of this law was to increase the taxation on guns to lower the rate of gun ownership. Instead of a decrease in the gun ownership rates, the consequence outcome was an increase rate of gun ownership and also crime rates. Starting in 1938, the Congress established the something similar to the National Firearms Act known as the Federal Firearms Act. The Federal Firearms Act in which put in place a ban on the national firearms and ammunition commerce and exchange. The Federal Firearms Act made it mandatory, for dealers to file and register themselves and maintain records of their market deals and trade.

In the past gun laws were very primitive. “In the second amendment, the right to bear arms was passed in 1791.” “It is illegal to mail concealable weapons according to the U.S Congress.” “You can’t own or by a gun if you are or have a felony, mentally incompetent, and you are using illegal drugs.” “To buy a handgun you have to wait 5 days period, till you can get the gun, because of background check on purchaser.”(Longley)

After the many assassinations in the mid 1900s, the gun control act of 1968 was created and passed. The main thing this Act did was regulate interstate and foreign commerce in firearms. It also included licensing provisions to see if the person was applicable to maintain a firearm. It also prevents the sale of firearms and ammunition to felons or criminals of any sort.

Since 1837, federal gun control laws have changed to regulate the sale, ownership, and manufacture of firearms (Longley). Today only convicts, fugitives, drug addicts, mentally ill people, an illegal alien under nonimmigrant visa, people who have been dishonorably discharged from the Armed Forces, people who have renounced their United States citizenship, people subject to certain types of restraining orders and people who have been convicted of domestic violence are not allow to own guns in America under the Gun Control Act of 1968. It is also a felony if anyone sells a gun to someone who is not allowed to