Should Handgun License Be Required For Gun Owners?

Gun violence kills 33,000 Americans and injures over 80,000 people per year. It is ridiculous how much damage guns have brought to not only us, but the world itself. From Columbine, to Sandy Hook, to the movie theatre to the Oregon Community College shooting, it has just been ridiculous. This is all because we in America believe it is okay for people to carry guns and for them to be used if “needed”. If they were always banned to begin with, we would never have had this problem. The private ownership of handguns should be banned in the United States. Handguns have been proved to be dangerous to society in recent events, they are the deadliest weapon in America, and lastly, guns cost Americans hundreds of extra dollars that could be avoided if they were banned.

Purpose Statement: To persuade my audience that people who own firearms should have to register their firearms with law enforcement.

Only this month, 59 were killed and over 500 people were injured during a country music concert in Vegas in what is now known as the deadliest mass shooting in American history. Last year, 49 were killed and 58 were injured in a gay nightclub in Florida. In 2012, a mass shooting in Sandy Hook Elementary School took 27 lives, 20 of them being first graders. The list of these unthinkable and stomach-churning acts is quickly turning endless, forcing us to rethink why we truly have the right to bear arms. Many defend the second amendment by claiming we need this right for self defense, which is the most wretched part.When we look at what we have lost compared to what we have earned in this fight to keep the right to bear arms, this privilege does not seem worth the sacrifice of so many lives. In today’s world, we do not defense through guns but from them. Our policymakers keep trying to reach a compromise by putting in place certain regulations. “Some states require would-be gun owners to fulfill a firearms safety course in order to obtain their license.” “Such training courses, however, even when not required, are very advisable for the would-be gun owner, as they ensure that he or she has all the necessary information on liability issues, on safety, and even on care and maintenance of the gun” ( How to Get a Gun License 1). This lack of attention illustrates that despite the multiple tragedies that have taken place in our nation, some states do not even require a simple safety course that ensures the safety of our people. Furthermore, it is required that one must pass a background check. The questions asked on the test are the following:

First off guns have many uses that do not involve killing. Guns are generally used for sport, hunting and self-defense while cars are mainly used for transportation. Deaths caused by guns seem senseless and avoidable while deaths caused by vehicles are mostly accidental in nature and unavoidable. The data does show that cars kill more people than guns do, but many more people drive and own cars than people use and own guns. The data shows that from 1999-2014 the trend for vehicle deaths has fallen due to improved safety features in cars and the trend for gun deaths has steadily risen greatly closing the gap between vehicle and gun deaths (Gun Deaths Compared to Motor Vehicle Deaths). To compare deaths by vehicle and deaths by guns just doesn’t make sense to me, but to compare the way vehicles are tracked and monitored and then implementing those same regulations to the control of guns does make sense. There are too many innocent lives that are lost by the use and ownership of

The role guns play in our society has long been debated on whether or not citizens have the right to own guns. There are those who believe that guns have no role in the hands of private citizens. Whereas there are those who believe that guns are the very foundation that protects our rights and liberties expressed in the Constitution. The debate is over whether or not there should be stricter laws preventing people to own guns. Though gun control and gun rights advocates share similar views on background checks and requirements, each have different views on the safety of guns and the Second Amendment meaning.

If every person was required to take a safety class every time they bought a gun, less accidents would happen. Hunter safety has to be taken in order to hunt, and you have to take a class in order to get your concealed carry, so why not make a class that strictly teaches gun safety and handling? Guns dont have the ability to kill someone, it is the untrained person behind the gun who does. Improper gun handling really does have a negative effect in the end, you might not think it does, but you would be surprised. The thing that we should look at is the fact that knives, shovels, fire, rocks and water have been used to kill people purposely for years, why are they not being banned? I took hunter saftey and it basically covers the safe part of hunting but they do not get into detail about proper safety with concealed carry or just everyday use. In my opinion if they started making classes on proper handling a priority America’s death by gun rate would go down enormously. Guns can be very safe if they are used correctly. Lets just stop the problem by teaching people to use them

There should be guidelines set to insure the safety of our society before the gun is purchased. There should be a safety test given before the gun could be purchased. A test to show that the owners know how to properly use the gun. It is a requirement to take a test to show your ability before you get your drivers license, why not a before you buy a gun? There should also be a class taught teaching the proper storage of a gun. Teaching to keep the gun in a locked cabinet with the key in separate area. And the three to five day waiting period should remain.

In the past six months, there have been a total of 19,635 gun incidents. Out of those 19,635 incidents, 107 were mass shootings, 829 were home invasions, and 604 were for defensive use, according to Gunviolencearchive.org. It is unbelievable to see the number of gun related incidents that have happened in just the past six months. What is even more unbelievable to imagine is that so many of those incidents could have been avoided if people were allowed to carry concealed guns in certain places. Concealed carry, or concealed weapons, is the practice of carrying weapons, such as a handgun, in public in a concealed manner. All fifty states in the United States allow concealed carry in public places to some degree. But, some places, for example, schools, restaurants, and stores, prohibit concealed weapons. The controversy about whether concealed weapons should be prohibited in certain locations has been debated for years, and more often in the past decade. On one side of the debate, supporters of the “gun-free zones” claim that prohibiting concealed weapons in certain locations will reduce crime and ensure that the location is free of gun violence, allowing concealed weapons can result to more guns landing in the hands of criminals, and some even insist that public safety should be left to professional, qualified police officers, not ignorant citizens with little to no expert training. However, it is absolutely necessary to know that prohibiting weapons in certain locations

In the United States alone, over thirty-one thousand people die annually as a root to firearms. The American Medical Journal concluded, “there is a positive correlation between guns per capita and firearm relate deaths” (AMJ 2). This means that when more guns are in circulation, more deaths will occur:

Every year in the united states more than 30,000 people die from gun violence. Researchers say that gun violence is getting out of

Gun control and the safety of the United States is crucial to our society as many incidents keep reoccurring. There are many issues with Guns as they are the third leading cause of death in children here in America. Many altercations between people of whether guns should be banned or not is always talked about when this concern is brought up. I feel that a proper education system of teaching children awareness of guns can potentially help many Americans save countless of lives. Guns do not have to be confiscated, but more redirected into the safer side, by setting stones into prevention of the violence in America.

In order to reduce the number of gun-related massacres, I believe that Americans seeking ownership of a firearm should be required to take a class on guns. This class would be an hour long, and held twice a week for three weeks. The background checks that are currently in place wouldn’t be removed, but necessary to enroll in this class. These lessons would teach students how to use a gun properly, take them to shooting ranges for practice, and pass a test at the end of the course with at least a 75% to gain the right to wield a gun in their hands. By requiring Americans to attend a class on firearms before purchasing one, they’ll be much less likely to use it to take the live of innocent bystanders. This will also eliminate the chances of anyone from buying a gun on a whim, and make sure

It is up to the government and the Unites States citizens in insert these changes into the system. Since it is very easy to get through the process of buying a gun, the laws should be tightened to fully check and educate the individual making the purchase. Driving a car can be dangerous, however classes and testing for the act of driving is in place, owning and using a gun should have these same requirements as far as educating civilians on proper use and storage of the guns. Many lives could be saved and fear could subside in the eyes of students and faculty if the proposed laws are put into place. A gun is not dangerous unless it is used by the wrong individual and we have let these wrong mentally ill individuals destroy what is suppose to be a safe and secure place for learning. It is time for America to further prevent school shootings by applying stricter gun and safety control laws for our schools. Even if the stricter laws only saves a one school shooting from happening then that is many families saved from horrific

To start with, training and licensing should be mandatory for any individual looking to purchase and shoot a firearm. Accidental deaths due to guns is a very prominent thing in America and the main cause behind this is because of untrained gun owners and untaught children. Here is a devastating story that show how untrained gun owners and arrogant children are a deadly combination: “Cassie Culpepper, 11, was riding in the back of a pickup with her 12-year-old brother and two other children. Her brother started playing with a pistol his father had lent him to scare coyotes. Believing he had removed all the bullets, he pointed the pistol at his sister and squeezed the trigger. It fired, and blood poured from Cassie’s mouth” (Luo & McIntire, 2013). The father in this story should never

In the same way that a hunter’s safety course must be taken in order to receive a hunting license, a general gun safety course should be required in the event of a purchase of any gun. Nicole Hockley stated, "Do something before facing fatalities." This is showing how involving a general gun safety course to our society would be decreasing the amount of deaths we would have, making us feel more heroic. In reality, it is better to do something than just sitting with your hands, cross behind your back, and seeing how innocent lives are disappearing. The safety course must be strictly taken in person, as an online course could potentially become a scam. This will ensure that a person is fully qualified to own a gun. The safety course could include topics such as proper handling of the weapon, the immorality of killing a fellow human, and how to properly secure a gun against theft, among other things. The idea behind taking this course is that it would weed out those who wish to purchase a gun for foolish or violent reasons. By lengthening the process of the purchase with a gun safety course, guns will be less likely to fall into the wrong hands. For example, as George O’Malley mention, “Many people can just walk into a gun store and, after signing what they need, walk out with a weapon with the ability to kill. The people at the store who sell guns do not even notice if they are legible to carry a weapon.” It will also ensure that gun owners have