Preview

Gun Control

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2896 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Gun Control
Gun Control in America?
“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” (O 'Connor & Sabato, 2008). That is the second amendment found in our U.S Constitution. According to the second ammendment the people have the right to keep and bear arms. Is this a right that everyone is given, and if so can this right be taken away? The question of gun control is one that has been highly debated since the founding of this country. Each year brings along new lawsuits challenging the validity of laws that restrict the rights of individuals to own guns. Each year also brings along another tragedy that involves the use of guns. Thoughts of the shootings at Columbine High School and at Virginia Tech come to mind very quickly when the discussion of guns and gun control is started. There are two passionate sides to this argument. The extreme side for gun control will have you believe that guns are evil, and that the second ammendment is outdated and does not apply to individual gun ownership. The extreme side of pro guns will have you believe that it is every persons right, guranteed by the second ammendment, to own a gun. In this paper we will discuss the extreme sides, but we will really take a more in depth look at the groups in the middle. These groups are just as passionate yet a lot more reasonable. It is important that we look at all sides of this argument reasonably and logically. If we are able to do so we will see that we do need stronger gun control in our country. The gun control system we have in our country is inadequeate and not strong enough for the number of people and the number of guns in the country. By stronger I mean we need to enforce the laws already in place, and punish violent criminals more severly then we do so now. A complete revamping of gun control in America is not required, just better execution of the laws already in place, and stricter punishment



References: Anonymous. (2010, Aug 18). Rules vary wildly between D.C., West . Washington Post . Anonymous. (2001, Jan/Feb). The Brady Law Reviewed. Society , p. 4. Barnes, R. (2008, June 27). Washintonpost.com. Retrieved Dec 05, 2008, from Justices Reject D.C Ban on Handgun Ownership: www.washintonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/26/ar2008062600615.html Downey, M. (2008, June 15). OUR OPINION: Every three hours, more tragedy: Report shows guns, kids an increasingly lethal mix. The Atlanta Journal - Constitution , p. B6. ELIGON, J. (2009, Aug 20). Burress Will Receive 2-Year Prison Sentence . New York Times . Jacobs, J. B. (1995, Fall). Keeping guns out of the "wrong" hands: The Brady law and the limits of regulation. Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology , p. 93. Nyack. (2008, Spring). Gun Violence: Why Are We Shocked? . Fellowship , pp. 38-39. O 'Connor, K., & Sabato, L. J. (2008). American Government: Continuity and change (alternate ed). New York: Pearson Longman. Press, T. A. (2005, March 25). Arm teachers, NRA official suggests. Retrieved August 21, 2010, from MSNBC.com: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7297575/ Simmons, A. (2010, Aug 23). 'Straw ' gun buyers leave a bloody trail: Authorities are cracking down on those who buy guns for criminals who can 't. Experts say "gray market" supplies 90 percent of guns used in crimes. McClatchy - Tribune Business News .

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Persky, Anna Stolley. “An Unsteady Finger on Gun Control Laws.” ABA Journal 96.12 (2010): 14-6. ProQuest Criminal Justice; ProQuest Research Library. Web. 3 Dec 2012. <http://www.justice.gov/usao/ut/psn/documents/guncard.pdf>.…

    • 2163 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Law Library of Congress. (2011, April). United States: Gun Ownership and the Supreme Court. Retrieved from…

    • 590 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Cited: Bella, Tim. “Campuses Debate Gun Control Issues.” Daily Skiff 30 Nov. 2007. Web. 27 Mar. 2009. "Concealed Campus.com." Students for Concealed Carry on Campus. Web. 28 Mar 2009. "Court Rules in Favor of Second Amendment Gun Right." Los Angeles Times 26 June 2008. Web. 3 Apr. 2009. Cruz, Barbara. School Shootings and School Violence. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2002. Currie-McGhee, L.K. Gun Control. Farmington Hills, MI: Lucent, 2004. Feldman, Richard. Ricochet Confessions of a Gun Lobbyist. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley, 2008. Goldman, Russell. “Gunman Planned Campus Shooting for at Least a Week.” ABCnews.com ABC, 2008. Web. 14 Mar. 2008. Haerens, Margaret. Gun Violence. New York: Greenhaven, 2006. “If I only Had a Gun.” 20/20. Narr. Diane Sawyer and David Muir. ABC. 10 Apr. 2009. Television. “Justices Set to Mull Gun Rights.” MSNBC.com. MSNBC, 2008. Web. 18 Mar. 2008. Mahasneh, Nadine. “Issues Raise Questions in Wake of Tragedies.” The Exponent Online 28 Feb. 2008. Web. 14 Mar 2008 Roleff, Tamara L. Gun Control. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven, 2007. Thomas, Murray. Violence in America 's Schools. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2006. "What Are the Gun Laws in Indiana." About.com. Web. 3 Apr. 2009. "What We Want." Protest Easy Guns. Web. 4 April 2009.…

    • 2923 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Cited: Dolan, Edward, Margaret Scariano. Guns in the United States. New York, New York: Moffa Press, Incorporated, 1994. pp.. 29-30, 55.…

    • 1846 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gun control advocates focus on the serious negative effects on gun availability on safety, while gun ownership advocates emphasize the lawful use of guns and their place in our history and culture. While our history and culture is important we need to address the current national problem in order to live in a safe enough society. In an effort to stabilize and decrease firearm related injuries and deaths in the U.S. a strong federal law to control guns is needed. In the bigger picture, we people will see the United States, as a Nation, as a better safer place to live in and not to die…

    • 804 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Brady Act

    • 878 Words
    • 4 Pages

    “Implementation of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act," Report to the Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate, and the Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives, GAO/GGD-96-22 Gun Control, January 1996, pp. 8, 45…

    • 878 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    America is widely known for having a fascination with violence and is a “gun – happy” country. However, this love for firearms has led to tragedies untold and horrifying truths about the mental state of individuals as revealed in the Columbine School shooting incident. Major and minor causes collectively led up to this event and bring up the question of whether or not this tragedy could have been prevented. The NRA play a key part in the debate over gun control, and parents play a vital role in instilling future generations with respect for handguns and being involved in their lives. Though there is room to consider a grey area guns continue to be the instruments used to sow sorrow resulting…

    • 1509 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Gun Control Research Paper

    • 2026 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Jacobs, James B., and Kimberly A. Potter. "Keeping guns out of the 'wrong ' hands: the Brady law and the limits of regulation." Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Fall 1995: 93-120. Academic OneFile. Web. 2 Dec. 2012.…

    • 2026 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Gun Control Formal

    • 271 Words
    • 2 Pages

    II. Finals remarks: The time is at hand for Americans to stand and defend their Second Amendment rights, and make liberal, anti-gun politicians aware that gun control has no place in…

    • 271 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Gun Control Outline

    • 346 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Thesis Statement – There is no doubt that this world would be a safer place without a license to carry, but we need to consider that guns are needed to hunt.…

    • 346 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Carter, Gregg Lee and Mildred Vasan, Eds. Gun Control in the United States: A Reference Handbook. Danbury: ABC-CLIO, Incorporated, 2006.…

    • 419 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gun Control

    • 560 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Gun Control Since the days of the pioneers of the United States, firearms have been part of the American tradition as protection and a means of hunting or sport. As we near the end of the 20th century the use of guns has changed significantly. Because of fast and steady increase in crime and the fight for the right to own a hand gun, the introduction of legislation for gun control, to try to reduce the crime in the United States, has been a hotly debated issue in recent years. Although many people feel that gun control violates the right of the people, given in the second amendment "the right to bear arms", controlling distribution and sales and the registration of guns and gun owners is necessary because of the homicide rate involving guns and the violence by criminals using guns. Many people feel that gun control violates the right of the people given in the second amendment the right "to bear arms". Opponents of gun control, including the National Rifle Association, better known as the NRA, argue that the "right To bear arms" is guaranteed in the second amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America and licensing restrictions penalize law-abiding citizens while in no way preventing criminal use of handguns. It is also argued that by making it difficult for guns to be bought and registered for the American public there is a threat to the personal safety of American families everywhere. However controlling the sale and distribution of firearms is necessary because of the homicide rate involving guns. In 1988 there were 9000 handgun related murders in America. Metropolitan centers and some suburban communities of America are setting new records for homicides by handguns. Larger Metropolitan centers have ten times the murder rate of all Western Europe. For example in Washington,D.C. there was an estimated 400 homicides including guns. In addition gun control has been seen as necessary because of the violence…

    • 560 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Waldman, Paul. "Ten Arguments Gun Advocates Make, and Why They 're Wrong." The American Prospect. N.p., 15 Dec. 2012. Web. 13 Jan. 2013.…

    • 1123 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Stricter Gun Control

    • 741 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Today’s crimes are becoming more violent than ever because of the widespread use of guns. Guns are involved in many incidents today that people did not even worry about in the past. We see people killed because of gang related incidents, robberies, road rage, and many pointless situations. The main reason is there are just simply too many guns on our streets today. Guns are everywhere and about anyone can get one, including seventeen years old, which is evident from the Chardon High School shooting on February 27,2012 and the Virginia Tech massacre in Blacksburg on April 16, 2007 (Lepore 38-47).…

    • 741 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Each year, a number of people die from guns. The popular saying is “guns do not kill people, people kill people” which is true; however, guns are used to aid in violence and many would argue that eliminating guns through stricter laws would decrease violence. As the number of gun owners in the world increases the government and its citizens would benefit from implementing stricter regulations regarding the safe keeping of guns in the home. The lack of gun safety results in the ability to access these guns with distressing outcomes. While many individuals argue that guns need to be restricted within the United States, the real argument is for allowing the Constitutional right to bear arms while implementing stricter laws to ensure these firearms do not fall within the wrong hands.…

    • 1208 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays