Gun Control After many firearm related attacks, gun control still remains a large issue that needs to be solved in the United States. Attacks such as the Sandy Hooks and Columbine High school shootings, gun control was brought back into being a serious issue being discussed. With a long history in the United States, and having many different pros and cons, groups such as the NRA and ATF continually try to provide solutions to cutting back gun related violence. Gun control is a controversial topic in the United States that needs to be solved based on the history, pros and cons, effects and solutions. By viewing the history of gun control, the problem can be better understood. Gun control is defined as the the laws related to the production, sale, and possession of firearms by civilians. Gun control first arises in 1791, when the the United States became a country. The Bill of Rights states that every person has a right to bare arms, and this did not change until the 1900’s. During the 1900’s, there was a large problem concerning the Mafia. Due to the ease of obtaining firearms, the Mafia was heavily armed and could give the law a very hard time to stop their selling of alcohol. To counteract the Mafia, the National Firearms Act was passed in 1934. This was the very first federal gun law, and this act required machine guns and short-barreled shotguns to be registered. These laws however, did not put a dent in crime, as crime was still rampant and the Mafia was not stopped.
Gun control is defined as the “regulation of the selling, owning, and use of guns” (“Gun Control” Merriam-Webster 1). Gun control is a heated topic that many Americans concern themselves with today after recent mass shootings. Suggested solutions are posed and debated between different viewpoints. The laws in existence today should be carried out and tightened before excess laws are passed. Many Americans have turned to face the issue of gun control after recent mass shootings like the one in Las Vegas or in some Churches. Some Americans with a more liberal view believe that tighter gun control laws should be enacted. More conservative Americans believe that the gun control laws already passed should be followed through. The gun laws that have already been passed should be followed through opposed to enacting new laws because many laws are already in place, gun control laws do not stop illegally obtaining a gun, and strict gun control laws have failed to prevent mass killings in countries.
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.
The issue at hand has been the focus of news, social and political debate in the recent years. Gun control refers to the attempt by government to regulate the right to keep and bear arms based on a preconceived criterion. This debate has been due to prominent cases of mass gun violence, especially against civilians and children. Gun violence affects every American citizen. About 40% of all Americans carry or own licensed guns. This gives value to the issue and its implication on society. There has been an equal uproar on both sides of the debate. The issue at hand is the addition of measures to
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.
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.
This country has a mental health issue. We don't want to talk about it because it makes us look vulnerable. There is no law that can fix this, you could literally go door to door and take every single firearm in this country and we would still see tragedies like this occurring. We have a shit ton of people in this country and people like to kill each other, it's just the way this works for some reason. The reality of it is this; these public shooters are more or less a statistical anomaly. They're comparatively rare in a country where people constantly use illegally-acquired firearms to commit murders every day.
Have you at any point felt terrified and unprotected? You know, that feeling you get when you 're strolling through a terrible piece of town alone and you understand that your telephone just kicked the bucket and there 's nobody around to hear you scream if something happened? Presently envision feeling that way wherever you go, constantly. This is the truth that we Joined States nationals would be living in if our legislature were to execute add up to firearm control. Completely there should be some control, and no uncertainty more stringent directions to possess and convey a firearm than we have now, yet removing weapons from all of us together would be a disaster!
Imagine somebody breaking into your home with the intentions of hurting you and your family and trying to take all your valuables that you own in your house, and not having anything to protect your loved ones. Without the protection of a firearm, the intruder could injure or kill all members within the household easily. In the United States, according to the Bill of Rights, a citizen has the right to bear arms, however, recently people have started to believe that guns only incite violence and therefore gun laws need to be more strict. Although, If you own the firearm for the right reasons and go through the process of having a carrying license, then that is within your rights to protect yourself and be able to own the gun. Therefore,
Gun control in the United States was first introduced in 1934 when legislation was drafted and passed in 1934 to impose new criminal penalties, along with regulations and taxes, on the machine guns and sawed-off shotguns preferred by the era's most notorious gangsters, largely in response to the bloody gun violence carried out by the likes of Al Capone and Bugs Moran. Congress added to the National Firearms Act with another round of new laws four years later. The Federal Firearms Act of 1938 put restrictions on the interstate guns and ammunition trade. It required, in many cases for the first time, for dealers to register themselves and keep records of their transactions (Kreig 6). Those laws were the first to cause debate and arguments about limiting guns and gun use for Americans. Gun control is the regulation of the selling, owning, and use of guns. This issue is so important because it could affect the use of firearms in this country and have an impact on the safety of our citizens and others around the world. It’s been a prevalent debate in American politics with many differing opinions. The debate even stretched past
“A series of terror attacks that killed more than 120 people, ISIS claimed responsibility for the horrific Paris attacks,” (Castillo and et. al.). Even though more guns will give more chances of murders, will more gun control laws stop people by getting them, will we be safer without legal guns, and why should we give up our right to bear arms.
On April 16, 2007, Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people and leaving 17 injured at Virginia Tech. On December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza went on a shooting spree in Newtown, Connecticut, killing his mother before shooting 20 1st graders and 6 adults at Sandy Hook Elementary. On June 12, 2016, in Orlando, Omar Mateen killed 49 people and injured 58 others. Most recently on October 1, 2017, 58 people were killed and another 489 injured when Stephen Paddock fired onto the crowd at the Route 91 Harvest music festival. Many more mass shootings have happened where more innocent people have lost their lives. Gun control has been in debate for some period, some people advocate for it while others dissuade it. Now more than ever, changes must be made to better protect people from losing their lives to a shooter. To prevent future tragedies in the United States, there should be stricter gun laws enforcing a more advance psychological test, imposing a federal gun license, and have a 1 month waiting period to receive the gun.
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.”
Raise your hand if you have ever been victimized by a gun or know someone who has lost their life due to a firearm. Realize that if gun control laws in the united states were more strictly enforced a lot less of us will be raising our hands right now. The United States has a problem with gun violence. Great mass shootings and also school shootings have occurred in the past few years, bringing a great grief to America. Parents are scared to send their children to school or even attend any type of event due to these horrific events that have happened. Some Americans even want to ban the right to bear arms.
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.
Gun control has a history dating back to 1791, when the Second Amendment of the Constitution was ratified. However, more recently, the debate over gun control has escalated into a much more public issue to which many citizens can relate. After all, stories about incidents involving guns appear frequently today in newspapers and on television or the radio. One could say that the debate started with the passage of the Gun Control Act of 1968, which banned ownership of guns by certain groups of people and regulated the sale of guns. Since then, two main groups have gradually appeared: people who oppose strict federal