Gun Control Thesis Statement

Thesis Statement: Gun control decreases crime. 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 control is needed. Gun control is government regulation of the manufacture, sale, and possession of firearms. Gun control can limit the access of criminals getting their hands on firearms, which will lead to the decrease of violent crime.

10 Key Points * The annual homicide rate in America is now about 22 for every 100,000 Americans. In Canada, the rate is three for every 100,000 Canadians. In Japan, it is less than one. * Keeping loaded guns around children is dangerous, and unloaded guns are not effective for self-defense. (An unloaded gun is not likely to be much help in a situation needing a fast reaction. Yet if it is loaded and handy, it poses a serious threat to children-and others.) * If everyone can have access to guns, then people are being robbed from their freedom of fear. (drug dealers, street gangs, and psychopaths are armed) * The second amendment does not guarantee an individual’s right to carry a concealed weapon. The second amendment states: “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.” (In the case United States vs. Miller, the court referred to the militia as “a body of citizens enrolled for

Cited: * "Taming the Gun Monster: Is It Constitutional?" Los Angeles Times 1 Nov. 1993. Print. * Page, Clarence. “Children are at Risk From Handgun Violence.” Gun Control: Opposing Viewpoints. Ed. Tamara L. Roleff. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1997. 62-65. Print. * Keller, Barbara. “Guns are not An Effective Means of Self-Defense.” Gun Control: Opposing Viewpoints. Ed. Tamara L. Roleff. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1997. 104-107. Print. * Kelly, Raymond W. “Gun Control Will Reduce Violent Crime.” Gun Control: Opposing Viewpoints. Ed. Tamara L. Roleff. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1997. 139-144. Print. * Hemenway, David. "Homicide, Suicide, and Unintentional Firearm Fatality: Comparing the U.S. With Other High-Income Countries, 2003.” Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence: Studies and Reports Search. Brady Center, June 2010. Web. 18 Mar. 2012. * Adams, Jerry. "Gun Control." Awesome Library. Link Building, 28 June 2010. Web. 18 Mar. 2012. * Hemenway, David. “Relative Frequency of Offensive and Defensive Gun Uses: Results From a National Survey.” Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence: Studies and Reports Search. Brady Center, Jan. 2000. Web. 18 Mar. 2012 * Kellermann, Arthur L. “Injuries and Deaths Due to Firearms in the Home” Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence: Studies and Research. Brady Center, August, 1998. Web. 18 Mar. 2012