Why Do We Need Gun Control Laws

Guns have been used throughout history for war, hunting, and protection. Since then, the killing capacity and speed of guns has improved dramatically. Guns have been a part of American culture from its roots. However, as times have changed and guns are no longer a necessity, gun control has become increasingly urgent to prevent unnecessary crime and killings. Guns should be banned for everyone but the law enforcement and military. Guns should be banned to prevent mass shootings and lower crime rates, while being supported by history and the constitution.

With the popular culture providing positive images of guns, the United States has a gun prevalence that is very rare in the modern world. While many people appreciate the “gun culture”, guns are heavily involved in violence in the United States. According to U.S. Department of Justice, since 1960, more than 750,000 Americans have died under firearms, including homicides, suicides, and unintentional injuries. The figure 1 provides a comprehensive survey of U.S. violent crimes for the period from 1993 to 2011.This figure illustrates that from 1993 to 2011, about 60% to 70% of homicides were associated with a firearm. Over the same period, between 6% and 9% of all nonfatal violence, with about 20% to 30% of robberies and 22% to 32% of aggravated assaults involving a firearm.

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

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

The United States is one of the few countries were the right to bear arms is protected by the constitution. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most violent with incidents involving guns this year reaching an estimated 36,212 and an approximate 9,050 deaths (“Gun Violence Archive”). There are an estimated 310 million firearms in households across American, these are only estimates because current gun laws do not require them to be registered or tracked. A more staggering estimate is that most of the guns owned by private citizens are semi-automatic guns, the same type of gun used in almost all mass shootings. While these privately owned guns are legally purchased, many times, they land in the hands of criminals, and owners never report them stolen. Mass shootings and gun crimes are not the only issues with gun violence the one never talked about is suicide, more guns available equals more suicides. The United States is one of the easiest countries to own a gun legally or illegally, stricter gun control laws are necessary.

Gun control will reduce police deaths, lower the number of murders, and reduce the number of accidental deaths due to firearms. In many situations, police officers have died at the hands of civilians with firearms. If the civilians did not have firearms fewer officers would have been killed. Gun control would lower the murder rate because it would be more difficult for someone to get a gun and then stand 100 yards away and shoot. If guns aren't readily available, people would have more time to think about what they are doing so they might stop. Accidental deaths occur each year due to firearms. If access to firearms was more controlled, then those deaths would not happen therefore cutting the accidental death rate.

Lives can be saved if guns are restricted from the wrong hands. The Supreme Court has ruled one of many gun law reformations, cited by Supreme Court decision District of Columbia v. Heller, which reiterated the right to bear arms is far from unlimited. (ThinkProcess) In the year since Newton shootings, 39 state laws have tightened restrictions on guns, but 79 states have loosened them. (Associated Press) Many lives can be saved if tragedies are prevented because of the reformation of gun laws. However, guns are also necessary to save lives and to protect others. It was commonly stated throughout the public that guns don’t kill people but people do. Although this may be true, it is also true that guns have the power to take lives. If people restrict gun laws to the dangerous and mentally ill, and to those who have the proper background check, many lives can be saved.

Anyone who believes strengthening the gun control laws would reduce gun violence is correct. However, if someone wants to kill someone, not having a gun is unfortunately not going to stop him or her. If a gun is not accessible, a person who wishes to kill someone will use another weapon that is accessible, such as a knife or bludgeon of sorts. Banning guns will lessen gun violence, but will bring up a rise in violence with other weapons.

Banning handguns will not decrease the crime rate in America. There are so many illegal handguns on

Taking guns away is not going to solve any problems with gun violence. If criminals want a gun they will find a way around the ban and buy a firearm illegally. Taking firearms away would violate our second amendment rights taking away the ability to defend your home and your family.

It is impossible not to open a newspaper, watch the television, or listen to the radio with out hearing about some type of gun violence. Perhaps the main reason for such high gun violence is that guns are so plentiful in the Unites States. In fact, there are sixty five million handguns in America ("The `facts' about Guns"). These guns contribute to an annual medical cost of fourteen billion dollars, which is spent solely on treating gun victims ("Handguns in America"). Not surprisingly, handguns are the cause of eighty percent of homicides, seventy percent of suicides, and almost every accidental shooting ("Youth and Violence"). Handgun violence is a problem that is easy for everyone to see. How to solve this predicament is another

If we get rid of the source of the problem, it will be much harder for the criminals to acquire the guns and hurt people with them. The more guns that are circulating around the US, the higher the risk is for homicides. Another reason is that it will get rid of mass shootings. In 2012, there were

In my beliefs it will reduce violent crime by keeping guns out of the hands of people who are likely to use it to kill people with i.e. bikies, criminals and those on criminal watch lists will reduce crime.

Some people believe that extremely tight gun control laws will eliminate crime, but gun control laws only prevent the 'good guys' from obtaining firearms. Criminals will always have ways of getting weapons, whether it be from the black market, cross borders, or illegal street sales. New gun control laws will not stop them. Since the shootings of Columbine High School, Virginia Tech, and Sandy Hook, the frequency of mass shootings has increased greatly. Gun control is not effective as it has not been shown to actually reduce the number of gun-related crimes. Instead of considering a ban of private firearm possession, and violating individual ownership rights, it may be more practical to consider the option of partially restricting firearm

Next to piping hot apple pie, and cold beer, guns are about as American as it gets. If a person has watched the news at any point within the last decade they have certainly seen many scathing news segments on gun control in America. Each one saying we should either hide our kids or hold our firearms close. Add on to that both sides of the debate constantly blaming each other for being the big bad wolf, it is no wonder that it has turned into such a hot button issue. Each year I see an increase in posts on social media about how gun control is being added to the “do not talk about it during the holidays” list for fear of starting a fight among relatives. This hostility towards voicing an opinion on gun control, is keeping us from talking about one of the most important aspects of gun control. The high rate of suicides by firearm. My objective for this essay is to bring to light why America needs more gun control by talking about how a lack of strong mental healthcare/gun control leads to suicide by gun, how guns are a main factor in suicides in America, and how enacting more gun control would help lower suicide rates.