Mr. Chadwick
Government Honors28 March 2014
Gun Control
Many people have issues with the federal government deciding if there should be gun control. Some want to completely ban all civilian ownership of firearms and some want to make it harder for people to get guns. Whether they believe guns are good for America or dangerous for America that is still being argued. There are many out there that are against having gun control because they feel their Second Amendment rights are being violated. These people do understand that there needs to be laws in place to control who gets them, but not take them away. “Studies show that the US has about half of the guns in the world, though the population of the US is just 5 percent of the population of the world” (Gun Control). Many people own guns and feel like it is their right given to them by the Second Amendment.
The Second Amendment to the Constitution, which states that “A well-regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed” (Bill of Rights). People feel they should be able to own guns for many reasons. Many people own guns for recreation reasons like hunting and target shooting. But many people just like to collect guns for hobbies and display them without ever using them. Then there are people who like to have guns for protecting their families and property. People have owned guns for many years for thousands of reasons with little violence. There was no such thing as gun control because most people were very responsible with guns. But over the years, guns have gotten into the wrong hands and violence has picked up.
As times goes on, guns will keep falling into the wrong hands. They fall into the hands of criminals, irresponsible adults, and children. “The number of people killed by guns every year in the US is estimated to be about 30,000” (Gun Control). Children are getting their hands on guns because irresponsible adults are leaving them in their reach. Children are fascinated with guns due to all the violent video games of today’s society. Even movies seem to bring children towards wanting to play with guns. If parents are going to have a gun in their home, they are going to have to teach safety to the children and keep them out of reach. The ratio between people and gun ownership is almost one gun per person. As Americans we love our Second Amendment right, but some believe stricter policies on gun control are the only way to protect our children. Although it sounds like a good idea at first, in the long run, it is only going to make things much worse for the American people.
Criminals will always find a way to get guns if they are restricted or if they are not. A study comparing international gun laws shows that getting rid of firearms might not be the solution to reducing overall violence. “Criminals will do anything; even kill, for their guns” (Harvard). In this case the crime rates will become even higher due to the fact that criminals will kill for their guns. If people are going to accept these facts, then gun control debates will end up only as a waste of time. Gun crime statistics should make us sit up and evaluate the gun control pros and cons.
“the burden of proof rests on the proponents of the more guns equal more death and fewer guns equal less death mantra, especially since they argue public policy ought to be based on that mantra. To bear that burden would at the very least require showing that a large number of nations with more guns have more death and that nations that have imposed stringent gun controls have achieved substantial reductions in criminal violence (or suicide). But those correlations are not observed when a large number of nations are compared across the world” (Harvard).
People seem to think that if the United States puts stricter gun control laws in place that it will reduce gun related violence, but this is not the case. Americans need to