Attention Getter: Between 1993 and 2003 gun ownership increased by 56 percent, and yet gun violence declined by almost 50 percent (Bandler). Criminals know that if people have guns to protect themselves then they might not be successful in a shooting.
In today’s society, one of the most alienating issues in American politics is gun control. More specifically, the issue is whether or not guns should be banned in the United States. Some people would say that guns should be banned because it would reduce crime as a whole and keep citizens safer. These people, enthusiasts of stricter gun laws, fear being safe in their country where there are so many people who have access to guns. Opponents of this argument, however, also fear losing safety.
A decrease in incidence of gun-related violence has also decreased in the US during the time when the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act was in effect. There are two arguments dominating the gun control issue. The anti-gun control people believes that the problem is with the people not with the guns and imposing heavier sanctions, harsher punishments on criminals, and more armed guards should solve the problem of gun violence. On the other hand, the pro-gun control people argues that the easy accessibility of firearms directly correlates gun-related violence and mass shooting (Lemieux, 2014). Both arguments have its merits, but in dealing with the gun control issue, it is important to put ethics and public health implications into consideration (Boylan,
The use of and the owning of guns is a very hot and debated topic in society today. For many, this is a life and death debate due to the recent and numerous school shootings. These school shootings have caused an outcry for more gun control, specifically in relation to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. Despite these calls, increased gun control is not the answer. Most gun owners’ use their guns responsibly and for good purposes.
Everyday in the United States, ninety families are changed forever; guns claim an average of ninety lives every day in the United States, 33,000 lives in a single year. Gun control has been a debate in the United States for many years and is constantly thrusted back into the public’s attention by horrific shootings. These shootings constantly cause individuals to petition the government to place stricter and stricter regulations of guns. However, these policies cannot be the solution to this problem. To determine a solution that will be both effective and constitutional, we must look at statistics and research that has been conducted to determine the best course of action.
This then led to the expansion of gun control laws and has strongly shaped and influenced the public’s opinion. The process of developing gun control remains to be a challenge still, due to its capacity removing individual rights and liberty, which undermine the value of guns and firearms in the promotion of deterrence and self-defense and inability to recognize the commitment of existing reasonable gun control initiatives already in
Everyone wants a safer community to live in, and keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people is the number one goal. The policies that have been proposed to accomplish this have been diverse and debated. Two sides have formed on a specific procedure to lower the gun violence: those who want age restrictions on guns to keep them out of the hands of the younger generation
A stronger focus on gun control in the United States involving restriction or even an outright ban of guns could serve to help the problem greatly. In 2015, 13,286 people were killed by firearms in the United States, with 26,819 suffering from non-lethal injuries (qtd. in “Guns in the US”). Taking away guns, the means that many urban criminals have to commit their crimes, would be very beneficial to cities. Recent studies found that the most effective way of reducing gun crime is to lower the amount of guns available in circulation. In the US specifically, studies show that the stricter gun laws are in a state, the lower the amount of deaths related to guns occur (Graham). While many believe that further restrictions on guns would not be feasible, both Australia and the United Kingdom managed to highly restrict or ban guns from their nations in order to reduce gun-related deaths and crime (Graham). Australia was able to rid the country of around 650,000 guns and their rate of robberies per 100,000 people sank from about 100 to 60 (cite later 1). This program of complete gun confiscation costed Australia $230 million. If a program of the same relative scale were to be done in the States, it would cost the government around $4 billion (Rieck). The alternative to a complete gun ban would be simply to restrict gun laws to make it much more difficult for a dangerous individual to purchase a gun. Background checks for all purchases of guns would become a requirement and
The issue with implanting strict gun control regulations in our society is that people will become vulnerable targets for criminals. Criminals will continue to conduct harmful crimes, despite the laws, and law-abiding citizens won’t have the necessary weapons needed to successfully defend themselves. For instance, “59% of the burglaries in Britain, which has tough gun control laws, are ‘hot burglaries’ which are burglaries committed while the home is occupied by the owner/renter. By contrast, the U.S., with more lenient gun control laws, has a ‘hot burglary’ rate of only 13%” (“Crimes and Guns”). The implementation of gun control laws will thus increase crime rates as people will become vulnerable targets for criminals.
In this world, there are too many people that have died from guns. Some of them have died in large-scale attacks, some of them were in a gun accident. Many want more gun control laws to be passed. In fact, the gun control law must be passed through, because this can be more effective to protect people.
Gun control has been a controversial issue for years and numerous solutions have been proposed and enacted. The debate sparked after tragic civilian attacks, like school shootings. An example, is the tragedy in 1999 at Columbine High School. Two teens attacked the school, killing 13 people and wounding more than 20 others before killing themselves. Following this attack, numerous solutions have been argued and purposed.
Gun control has been a big factor in today’s society, now days it is often to see people getting their lives taken from them due to guns. Having researched one side of the issue, that gun violence had increased over the last year. Having researched the other side of the issue, more gun owners are feeling their rights are being taken little by little. There is no question this is a complicated issue that will require a complicated answer.
Passing gun control legislation that creates a universal background check and gun database system as well as passing mental health legislation that improves the health care system’s protocols and policies for assisting people with mental health disorders and that enacts counseling programs in communities and schools will decrease the likelihood of mass shootings in schools. The United States is bitterly divided. Issues of great concern, such as the rise of mass shootings, are partisanized. Both sides of the debate will not comprise or listen to what their opponents have to say. Groups from both sides can only agree that one innocent life taken from gun violence is one too many. Gun control is a complicated topic with no foolproof solution to
One Gun + One Bullet = Death among Millions Violence in the world can be described as a violent trend that will continue to become more violent with each new passing generation. The argument is that guns are the reason for violence in today’s society and it begins with just the simple purchase of one gun. It begins with hurtful words that turn to taking a shot at the enemies that appear right in front of the daily population. Gun violence is becoming more and more prevalent today. The article titled “New Gun Laws Won’t Save Lives” by Jim Lucas really grabs the readers attention making them want to read it.
Moorhouse, John C, and Brent Wanner. “Does Gun Control Reduce Crime Or Does Crime Increase Gun Control?” Ebscohost, 1 Jan. 2006, web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/ pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=db378b8b-d9e7-4ee7-b26c-460bc1177bd4%40sessionmgr4008. Moorhouse and Wanner, in their article “Does Gun Control Reduce Crime Or Does Crime Increase Gun Control”, studied whether or not gun control reduced gun violence in individual states. The overarching theme throughout the individual states is that gun control doesn’t reduce gun violence and is very ineffective.