Thesis Statement For Gun Control

The ongoing debate over whether gun control works or not is a controversial topic in the United States of America. As each year passes, an increasing number of citizens demand more regulation in gun ownership. One side of the argument is that gun control has failed to have a major impact on gun violence and exclaim that these regulations and laws infringe upon their 2nd amendment rights as American citizens. The other side claims that the existing regulations are not enough to stop gun violence and even some people calling for the repealment of the second amendment. The side of the argument that will be supported in this paper will be that the regulations on guns are not effective and in some cases infringe on the 2nd

Gun control is not the solution to prevent shootings at schools. Acquisition of firearms by minors is already illegal and is considered a crime, yet shootings by minors are still happening.

If gun control is regulated, then we will have less crime. Access to firearms makes killing easy, efficient, and impersonal, which increases the lethality of crime. Josh Sugarmann, the Executive Director of the Violence Policy Center has once said, "We recoil in horror and search for explanations, but we never face up to the obvious preventive measure: a ban on the handy killing machines that make crimes so easy.”Allowing untrained people to carry guns puts others at risk and it can result in self-inflicting injuries both by suicide and unintentional incidents. Gun violence in America kills more than 30,000 and injures almost 70,000 each year. Guns can be misused and abused, which is why gun

The study found that “states with the strictest gun control laws had lower rates of gun-related homicides and suicides.” Although this result cannot draw a causal relationship between gun control policies and homicides, it proves that legislative strength and firearm deaths and ownership are negatively correlated.

Research shows that whether attempters live or die depends in large part on the ready availability of firearms. A study by the Harvard School of Public Health of all 50 U.S. states reveals a powerful link between rates of firearm ownership and suicides. Based on a survey of American households conducted in 2002, it was found that in states where guns were prevalent—as in Wyoming, where 63 percent of households reported owning guns—rates of suicide were higher. The inverse was also true: where gun ownership was less common, suicide rates were also lower ( Harvard). Many lives could be saved if firearms weren't so accessible. The American government needs to adopt policies that would keep guns out of the hands of vulnerable adults and

“Interview the survivors of mass shootings and you hear these phrases a lot: Gunfire, they explain, rarely sounds like what it is… Many who have lived through the terror recall thinking it was a joke. A drill. Anything except the awful truth: that they might have only a few seconds to live” (“Stop the Violence” -Brody 220). Some people say guns make us feel safer, but in reality, they cause more harm than good. Arthur Kellermann and his colleagues concluded that, “Sadly, buying a gun does not make you safer. To the contrary, the evidence suggests that bringing a gun into your home increases the chances you will be killed” (“Feeling safe” -Vyse 27). Gun violence poses a very big threat to the U.S. “The U.S. has many more guns--and gun deaths--than any other developed country. In 2014, there were more than 33,000 such deaths in this country” (“Fight Over” 12). Guns are extremely dangerous and many deaths occur due to them, including murder, suicide, and accidental deaths, so stricter gun laws and technology should be used to decrease the number of gun deaths in the U.S.

Researchers at the University of Alabama have conducted studies trying to find links between guns and mass shootings (Michaels). There are hundreds of millions of guns in circulation in America today. In fact, “the total number of guns in circulation is at least 240 million” (Ballaro and Finley). Adam Lankford, an associate professor of criminal justice at the University of Alabama, suggests that “America’s high rate of public mass shootings is connected with the number of guns circulating in the country” (Michaels). Implementing stricter gun laws would cause fewer people to want to purchase guns, resulting in fewer guns in circulation in the coming years. In the United States, “around 30,000 people die from gun fire each year. Around half of these are murders, a little less than half are suicides, and the rest are lethal accidents” (Ballaro and Finley). (2) Currently there are several million guns in circulation, and gun deaths in America are higher than any other developed country. (5) If the trend continues, the number of gun deaths will continue to increase. As stated in the article “10 Pro-Gun Myths, Shot Down.” author Dave Gilson states that “People with access to more guns tend to kill more people- with guns. States with higher gun ownership rates have higher gun murder rates- as much as 114% higher than states with lower gun ownership rates” (Gilson). (7) More

THESIS STATEMENT: Implementing stricter gun control laws will only effect law abiding citizens, stricter punishments will affect those that do not abide by the law.

While Americans were contemplating gun control proposals in the wake of mass shootings at a Colorado School, another gunman massacred 50 people in a club in Orlando. This incident brought heated political exchanges between President Obama and Trump, the Republican presidential candidate. It is estimated that in 2015 alone, there were more than 351 mass shootings in the United States. This is a worrying trend that should be reversed as soon as possible. Surprisingly, the trend has divided Americans into two groups. On one extreme end, there are those Americans who believe that the government should enforce gun control. On the other end, some Americans insist that stricter gun controls will not help in the fight against killings. In this light, this paper will try to provide a detailed analysis of the gun control debate while highlighting the various points made by the proponents and opponents of the gun control. The essay posits that gun control is counterproductive.

After the United States endures any firearm’s related tragedy an increase in gun control is always a very heated debate. Violent crimes committed with firearms have kept gun control in the spotlight for last several decades. Mass shootings at several educational institutions have led the way for an increase in gun control, most recently the shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut that left 20 children and six adults dead. Certain individuals see an increase of laws and regulations on guns as a “quick fix” to the situation; however, its apparent that these solutions have failed to get their job done. In the United States today violent crimes committed with firearm are increasing at an alarming rate; the increase

Some say that more gun control laws would reduce gun deaths. The website, procon.org, Should More Gun Control Laws Be Enacted, February 26, 2016, says, “There were 464,033 total gun deaths between 1999 and 2013” (p 6). Of these deaths, 58.2% were suicide, 37.7% were homicides, and 2.2% were unintentional. Guns are the leading cause of death by homicide with 66.6% and by suicide with 52.2%, and are the 12th leading cause of all deaths. The study published by American Journal of Public Health found that "legal purchase of a handgun appears to be associated with a long-lasting increased risk of violent death" (p 6). Guns are related to a lot of deaths, and are among the top weapons associated with all deaths. Also, just legally owning one increases a person’s risk of dying

This view is true for the 26 developed nations analyzed as well as state-to-state level. Opponents of this view argue that this does not imply that someone cannot get shot in a state like Massachusetts. Despite the strict gun laws in this state, injuries and crimes related to firearms has been on the rise (Swanson 1). Opponents feel that gun control does not do much to regulate firearm related deaths and injuries. They argue that anyone can get shot anywhere; hence, this claim does not hold true. However, statistically speaking, this supporters’ trend holds true. When access to guns is controlled, the rate of homicides is likely to go down.

Stricter gun control laws would reduce the number of handgun deaths and injuries in the United States per year. There were 464,033 total gun deaths between 1999 and 2013: 58% were suicides, 38% were homicides, 2% were unintentional deaths. 67% of all homicides were committed with guns, and 52% of all suicides were committed with guns. According to a March 10, 2016 Lancet study, implementing federal universal background checks could reduce firearm deaths by a predicted 60%, background checks for ammunition purchases could reduce deaths by a predicted 81%, and gun ID requirements could reduce deaths by a predicted 83%. All these statistics could be lowered if the United States had more gun control.

Of all the developed countries, the United States has overall the highest per capita rate of gun homicides. In the year 2015, Americans witnessed 372 mass shootings, and somehow it has become “normal”. The topic of gun control has been a huge debate for some time. Earlier this year, President Obama implemented executive actions on gun control, ultimately aiming to lower the gun violence and deaths occurring every day. However, this topic of debate will not be over anytime soon, that would mostly be due to the strong lobbying group the NRA having influence on Congress, and gun right activists.

The writers of the article argue that gun violence is a serious health problem that affects America and needs to be addressed. They believe that proponents and opponents of background checks during gun purchase should try and reach a consensus (McGinty et al., 2016).