The Pros And Cons Of Gun Violence

On January 5th, 2016, an emotional President Obama broke down in tears as he introduced new gun control executive orders. He was clearly upset at the amount of innocent people whose lives had ended by being shot. The image of his emotions made many Americans realize: are our current laws not enough? Although gun violence has been on a steady decline for the last few decades, the U.S. is still the global leader in gun violence and ownership, according to U.S. News(McPhillips). Some people do not like that title associated with their country, so they push for gun control laws. Ideally, the best way to end gun violence is to abolish the 2nd Amendment, and illegalize guns. However, that would be an unheralded task. Banning guns would be impossible.

Gun control is one of the most controversial topics in modern society. After the recent increase of shootings, threats, and events involving guns, as well as the upcoming elections, the public has been in uproar over the laws involved with guns. President Obama has recently made many speeches regarding this current issue. Many controversial questions still remain unanswered. Should the purchase of guns be more controlled? Should guns be allowed in certain areas? Should gun laws and amendments to the Constitution be tampered with? These events and questions have sparked many individuals to create photos, articles, speeches, and other forms of rhetoric to try and let their voice be heard.

One of the most divisive topics in the United States is gun control. Gun control debates are fought with much concern and personal feelings. Most people get the wrong idea of guns due to the many different sources of media in today's society. On one side of the spectrum there are people in support of placing more restrictions on guns, whereas the other side, there are people fighting against the stricter regulation of guns. Gun control is a bad idea because the person behind the gun is responsible for the gun's actions, the less guns in the public hands, the more crime there is, and banning guns prevents people and cops from having their own means of self-defense.

I choose to talk on a topic that most people is clearly not comfortable talking about until something major happens. I chose to talk on gun control, not that this is an easy subject to focus on but one that is seeking the attention all around the world. The one thing I do not like when it comes to any law is that religion and politics is always brought into anything when someone wants to make and prove a point. “The second amendment protects an individual’s right to own guns; that guns are needed for self-defense from threats ranging from local criminals to foreign invaders; and that gun ownership deters crime rather than causes more crime” (Procon.org., 2017). One thing I find interesting for the argument is that guns are rarely used in self-defense. This is true most of the crimes that is being committed are most of the victims are not allowed to defend oneself making the crime seem very senseless. Another pro is guns that are owned legally will likely get stolen and used by someone with a criminal background. More gun controls lead to fewer suicides. Most adults, including gun owners, support common sense gun control such as background checks, bans on assault weapons, and bans on high-capacity magazine. Enacting gun control laws such as mandatory safety features would reduce the number of accidental gun deaths.

The war with gun violence worldwide had paved its controversy that struggled between sovereignty and public safety. Experts claim that the individual’s ideology, self-defense, and survival can cause the person to arm themselves. Although, gun related homicide cannot be stopped by banning guns alone, but by finding clues of a psychopath effected by emotional trauma before the purchase of weapons.

Gun control is perhaps one of the utmost controversial issues in this country, but seemingly not so strong in others. The debate has been present since before the bloody birth of the United States. It was, however, not as pressed then as it is now. There are several factors that contribute to this growing debate. Among such arguments include: the use of guns in self defense, civilian possession of machine guns and assault rifles, and the 2nd amendment's inclusion of the militia’s right to own guns to protect people and country if need be. An individual is entitled to their right to own guns, however, there should be strict regulations on guns and gun ownership.

The argument of firearm regulation has been a heated discussion for many years especially with rise of deadly massacres brought to light in our nation. On one side of the debate, we have people in favor placing restrictions on guns, while, on the opposite end of the spectrum, we have people fighting the regulation and prohibitions of guns. People in favor of gun restrictions believe gun control can or may reduce crime, while the people against gun control believe having the right to bear arms is an effective crime deterrent. The implementation of gun control in the United states is a large problem as it will take away the 2nd Amendment rights and would also stop the ability of law abiding citizens to protect themselves from criminals who obtain guns illegally. The right to bear arms is promised to citizens of the United States, and to put gun control into effect is to take away their Constitutional rights. Crime is very high in cities that have few gun control laws. However, the problem will not be solved by taking guns away from people who are registered and licensed to carry them.

1, 2, 3, 4, Gun Massacres could be knocking at ones school doors. Since 2011 school shootings and other related crimes have been increasing. The two articles goals are to show that the NRA (National Rifle Association) has been selling high leveled guns to anybody without needing a permit. The two articles are both saying how easy it is to access guns without needing a background check. The article “We Call BS” is written by Emma Gonzalez and the article “Guns In America” is written by Bloomberg. Furthermore, the goals of the two articles is to show how easy it is to access guns in America.

On December 15, 1791, the Second Amendment was adopted as part of the first ten amendments contained in the Bill of Rights. It gives American citizens the right to bear arms. As an effect, the United States is the country that owns the most guns worldwide at an outstanding proportion of 88.8 guns per 100 people in the United States (Shaw n.p.). However, the ease of access to firearms in America comes at a great cost. This cost has been manifested through the millions of deaths caused by guns. In the light of recent mass shootings, one comes to think of ways they could have been prevented and ways that guns can be controlled efficiently. To ensure that guns are in the right hands and as an initiative to prevent mass shootings stricter gun control laws need to be implemented in the form of a more rigorous background check.

In the article, Dear Mona: How many Americans have never shot a gun?, Mona Chalabi provides information to answer her reader’s, Curtis, question. In October 2007, Gallup did a survey on “Have you, personally, fired a gun?”, in which 31 percent answered “no”. However, not much has changed since then and there hasn’t been enough data to draw any conclusion. Thus, Mona decided to look at surveys about gun ownership instead. Most surveys that Mona found did not get similar results. The General Social Survey gave a steadily decreasing data, on the other hand, Gallup showed more of a consistent result with only the “personally owning a gun” section increasing. It’s still hard to say whether looking at gun ownership survey is a good way to estimate how many Americans have never shot a gun. A Pew survey that Mona provided did say that 61 percent of U.S. adults who own a gun are white men.

One of the most debated topics in America right now is gun control. It seems like you cannot scroll through a news feed online, or even read through a newspaper or magazine without coming across an article or post about gun control problems. Some people argue that we don’t need any gun control, and others argue that we need even more gun control than we already have. More gun control would be bad for America because it will not lower gun violence, guns are useful for protection, and history shows that gun control is ineffective, therefore, America should not have stricter gun control.

October 1, 2017 marked the deadliest mass shooting in 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, the 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 carry out 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 of finding a real solution. The Las Vegas shooter acquired 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 cannot increase. Instead, 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

In the wake of the recent Las Vegas shootings, the debate over gun control policy has been re-stoked to a higher degree than ever before. Both liberals and conservatives face the same looming question: Is there an actual solution to gun violence or is this just part of the unpredictable human condition? While many on the left believe that increased regulation is a step in the right directions, many on the right oppose this view. In an op-ed piece titled “Why gun control won’t end mass murder,” the author Tammy Bruce, a Tea Party conservative, argues that liberals are missing the big picture by focusing on gun control. Tammy contends that unpredictable behavior driven by our human condition is to blame for the mass violence. The point she makes is well received. However, we cannot deny that gun control laws may have prevented more acts of gun violence than we can begin to imagine.

Massacres like Sandy Hook, mass shootings in high schools, public shootings, muggings, wars, etc. are very tragic events that plague humanity. Guns play a significant role in these events that spark a huge controversial debate about gun control. The tremendous issues with firearms have grown in the last few decades. Discussing gun control is like talking about sports, it is people are either for or against a team. In the article, What Is Gun Control? Direct Burdens, Incidental Burdens, and the Boundaries of the Second Amendment written by two experienced professors of law Joseph Blocher and Darrell A.H. Miller, the professors defined gun control as stated “some gun control laws - like some regulations of other rights impose direct burdens on the keeping and bearing of arms by targeting those activities as such. These laws are what people typically have in mind when they refer to gun control: regulations that specifically govern the use, possession, sale, and manufacture of firearms.” What this means is that gun control is to regulate any selling or owning a firearm.

Another policy that could be put in place to help prevent spree killings are gun violence restraining orders. These would help with public offenses, but mainly private offenses and since private offenses are more common, it would hopefully lower a number of offenses. Gun violence restraining orders prohibit a person from buying or possessing a gun for a specified amount of time. This is an emergency legal step for potential victims and concerned family members. If they believe that someone who is close to them is dangerous and could hurt them or others, then they can petition the court for the restraining order. Family members and close friends are most likely to know if a person has violent behavior and could potentially harm others (Crockett, E., 2017). There is not much the law can do behind closed doors unless someone speaks out to them and this is a great way for them to do so.