...Gun Control Gun Control in the United States is a topic that many people are discussing on the news or in private. The mass shootings at the Aurora movie theater that claimed the lives of 12 and injured 59-plus the recent mass shooting at the elementary school in Newton, Connecticut that claimed the life’s of 20 children and six adults. These shootings have stirred up the old debate about gun control and what the second amendment is and what it means to people. Politicians, including President Obama have claimed to create new laws that will reduce the gun violence in this country. Laws that include an assault weapons ban, background checks, in an attempt to keep guns out of the hands of people who may hurt someone or themselves. The opposition has claimed that some of these laws will violate their second amendment right to bear arms and are fighting against any new gun control measures. There are good potential outcomes of gun control and outcomes that might have a negative impact on citizens. A form of gun control that was law but failed to pass again is the ban on assault rifles. The ban on assault rifles will take those types of guns out of people who might do others harm. Most of the mass shooting that happened in 2012 didn’t involve assault rifles like the AR-15 but hand-guns. Along with the ban on assault rifles there will be tougher laws that will allow faster tracking of weapons. The new background checks and the electronic data of all sales of weapons and ammunition...
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...Date: 02-23-2013 A Compulsory Review of Quixotic Gun Control Distributed February 23, 2012 Prepared for Ms. Catherine Peck TESC English Comp Mentor Abstract Few events in life demand your immediate attention like gun violence. These events are always shocking and bring about deep emotions that can take us on quixotic crusades, resulting in ineffective and restrictive regulations. Universal evidence and correlations have long been offered as proof of the mantra that more guns mean more violence and fewer guns, therefore, mean less violence (Godwin 281). While the hearts and souls of the regulatory author are well placed, all too often the resulting debate is rooted in erroneous statistics and unrepresentative comparisons. To illustrate Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced Assault Weapons Ban legislation that would ban any weapon with a grip on the premise they are too easy to get and used too often for bad (Feinstein). The NRA states “the average annual number of background checks for the last five years, 2007-2011, is 25 percent higher than for NICS’ first five complete years, 1999-2003” (NRA). The NRA also states “In 2009 alone some 1,868,268 pistols were imported or exported by U.S. manufacturers, according to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) data (NRA). If the old mantra holds true overall crime should be on the rise; however, a 2011 FBI Uniform Crime Report shows violent crime is continuing a decade long downward trend and is down...
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...(Terry) Professor Auli Ek Writing 2 08/24/2015 More or Less: The Debate on Gun Control How can we reduce the crime rate? A good solution might be to have more guns! This is suggested by John Lott, who is an economist as well as political commentator. However, Garen Wintemute, the director of the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California, Davis, emphasized the negative effect of guns. On one hand, Wintemute believed that less guns lead to less violent crimes. On the other hand, Lott denied the direct relationship between crime rate and guns’ number and proposed that more concealed-handguns can actually deter crime. A common criticism of guns is that they stimulate more violent crime and this is what Wintemute (2004) tried to prove in his article, “Gun Control Laws Can Reduce Violent Crime” (p. 75). He (2004) explained that “firearms modify the consequences of crime” (p. 75). In other words, criminals find it easier to commit and complete crimes when they have guns. Wintemute (2004) took the example of robbery which is facilitated by guns and constituted of 44 percent of all violent crimes (p 75). With the guns, robbers will more likely venture “against [the] ‘harder’ targets” (Wintemute, 2004, p. 75). To emphasize how important guns are in crimes, Wintemute (2004) listed the data of Uniform Crime Reports, according to which the possibility that assaults lead to fatality by guns is 4.6 times of the possibility that assaults stimulate death by other weapons...
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...Gun Control Guns themselves can’t do anything it’s the one holding the gun that decides where the bullets go. On an average day 13 children under the age of 19 are killed by gunfire and more are injured. Gun Control laws are not effective because they don’t prevent criminals from getting guns and they don’t stop crime (Peters). Gun control doesn’t prevent criminals from getting guns. Outlaws will still find a way to smuggle guns and use them to their advantage. The only thing that gun control will do is make it harder for law obeying citizens to get guns. A violent person doesn’t need a gun to be violent because they can use anything to be violent. It might make them more violent (Peters). Gun control doesn’t stop crime. Guns themselves can’t do anything it’s the person operating the gun that decides where the bullets go. Gun control will not stop violence because a violent person doesn’t need a gun to be violent. Taking away guns from violent people is no more than just taking one out of a thousand more ways to hurt, rob,or kill you. If more people carried guns to protect themselves there would be less violent crimes (Houghton). There are several things that can be done instead of the government passing more gun control laws. Gun stores need to have more background checks and they need more people behind the gun counter to handle the guns. They could have more training and proper use with firearms for kids and adults. These are just a few of the many possible solutions. ...
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...The main purpose of all gun bans is to reduce violent crimes. Violent crime is defined by the law as behaviors by persons against persons, or property that intentionally threatens, attempts or actually inflicts physical harm. The most common violent crimes are aggravated assault, arson, assault and battery, domestic violence, hate crimes, homicide, manslaughter, mayhem, murder, terrorism, and theft/larceny. Many states have created gun bans to try to reduce these violent crimes. Through statistics, reports, and studies, it has been confirmed that gun bans do not work. They are a flawed statute. It is a falsity to think that gun bans make a society more secure, which is what they were created to do. This can be proven by looking at cases,...
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...Gun Control: Who Does it Protect? Gun control is a very controversial topic in the United States. Merriam-Webster (n.d.) defines gun control as the “regulation of the selling, owning, and use of guns.” The regulation is meant to protect citizens from harm by limiting or eliminating the ability to purchase or own a firearm. The one fact that many gun control supporters forget is that criminals commit crimes, and laws do not apply to those who choose to not follow them. It is a problem that they believe that more people owning guns means more crime. Another issue is that they believe Congress should pass stronger gun control laws. The gun control supporters are also misinformed as to whether concealed carry states have better or worse violent crime rates. Gun control is unsatisfactory, even though it is meant to protect against violence. It only disarms law-abiding citizens, therefore putting them at a disadvantage against criminals using illegally obtained weapons. History of Gun Control and Rights The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution states that citizens have “the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed” (U.S. Const. amend. II.). Following the assassinations of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Congress passed the Gun Control Act. This law was meant to strengthen “the firearms licensing process to limit foreign and interstate transport of firearms, prohibits the interstate shipment of pistols and revolvers...
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...[Type the company name] | Violent Crimes | Crime and Criminal Behavior | | [Type the author name] | 5/19/2013 | There is nothing that has done more to tear American families apart than the existence of violent crimes, guns, gangs, drugs, and the fear that walks alongside those terrors. In a violent crime, a victim is harmed by or threatened with violence. Violent crimes include rape and sexual assault, robbery, assault and murder. Violent crime and victim rights are on the rise of major concern for most of the citizens in the United States of America. | “When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw” (Nelson Mandea). There are many Americans have become victims of violent crimes. In these violent acts of crimes guns, gangs, wars, drugs and even mental disorders may be the cause to commit these crimes or even a weapon of choice. Violent crimes have become very common in this day and age. So many of these violent crimes are based on self-defense. Victims are forced to protect themselves against other individuals trying to cause harm against them. Violent crimes are not only brought on with weapons but they also include any situation where a victim has been threatened or is harmed in an aggressive manor. Even though it seems like violent crimes maybe on the rise many statistics have indicated a decline in violent crimes in our country and an increase in our national prison population. As the population...
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...Gun Control Many Americans argue that the more guns there are, the more crimes there will be. However, this is just a theory not a proven fact. Gun Control laws do not work. If guns were banned all together, it would only create a bigger black market. Also, citizens of the United States have the right to keep and bear arms as stated in the Second Amendment of the Constitution. One major debate over gun control is the Second Amendment. It 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.” There are many different arguments over this amendment. One argument is if the second amendment was created to ensure the state militias were a means of defense, or was it created to ensure an individual's right to bear arms? Back then, militia stood for all men who were capable of bearing arms. Today’s militia now refers to the National Guard in every state. The second amendment clearly says “the right of the people to keep and bear arms.” Therefore, the right to bear arms was meant for everyone, not just a militia. Also, many gun owners use their handguns for hunting and target shooting. “Every year millions of handgun owners practice or compete in marksmanship competitions, sight in their guns in advance of hunting season, or perfect personal protection skills. Hundreds of thousands participate in thousands of local, state, regional and national handgun matches annually, using a wide...
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...different rates of violent crime. Why, in your opinion, is the violent crime rate higher in the U.S. than it is in Canada? "Criminologists calculate crime rates (or rates of incarceration, conviction, or recidivism) by dividing the amount of crime by the population size and multiplying by 100, 000. This produces the standard rate per 100,000; occasionally it is useful to calculate a rate per million or some other figure when looking at less frequently occurring offences" (Linden, pg.91). Crime rate is determined ultimately by population, and the question is why is the violent crime rate higher in the U.S. than it is in Canada, is simply because they have a higher population. According to Countryeconomy.com...
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...Tougher gun control will not decrease the US violent crime rate It is true that guns have caused many deaths and a lot of criminal violence in the United States, tougher gun control will not decrease the US violent crime rate, but getting a real solution to crimes caused by guns will be very expensive and hard to do. So the government decides to win future votes by creating more gun control. There is no country in the world that can say that after passing stricter firearms laws that it helped reduce crime. The National Rifle Association claims guns do not kill only the people kill, but the people who want guns controlled do not believe if you carry a gun that reduces the chance of a crime being committed against you. If you think about it the NRA might be correct in this assessment. You see it is not the gun that is doing the killing, it is not the knife that kills,or the the car that kills,or a pair of scissors that kills, or a bomb that kills, what is doing the killing in the human being who is in control of these items. People are what are controlling all of these items some will say. If we do not have control over our own body than we will not have control over any kind of weapon that we have access to. I decided to write on this topic before this week events that happened. You expect to wake up to another shooting in the news but one day this week it was different. We awake to fourteen people stabbed on college campus in Houston. ...
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...Gun Control Essay 1 Gun Control Essay 06/14/2015 The right to bear arms is guaranteed in the constitution by the Second Amendment. Many politicians are looking to amend the constitution any way they can to ban handguns or at least Gun Control Essay 2 restrict sales. The argument between pro and anti gun control has been debated for years, both with valid points. Many studies and factual data shows that strict gun control only removes guns from law-abiding citizens, but does not actually help reduce crime. Studies have shown that gun control cannot stop people from committing the crime because if a handgun ban were issued, there is evidence that citizens would not comply with the law, strict gun control does not reduce homicide rates, and studies have found that high crime rates have stimulated purchasing of guns rather than high gun ownership stimulating crime. While the Founding Fathers of this country were developing the system of government, as set forth in the Constitution, many feared that a standing army controlled by a strong central government would leave them helpless. The Federal Constitution contained no provisions to prohibit a standing army or allow states to create their own militias. The Constitution was signed by thirty-nine men from the twelve states represented at the Constitutional Convention on September 17 1787; three delegates refused to sign because of the absence of a bill of rights. Two years later, the First Congress agreed on...
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...Why Gun Free Zones Are Not Safe Since the year 2007, there has been over three major public shootings in the United States. On April 16, 2007 Cho-Seung-Hui shot and killed over thirty two students and faculty members at Virginia Tech College. On December 14, 2012 Adam Lanza shot and killed twenty students and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary school. On January 18, 2013 James Holmes shot and killed twelve people an injured fifty at the Century 16 Movie Theatre in Colorado. (Center for American Progress Action Fund, 2013). These public shootings all have one thing in common with one another. Each shooting was conducted in a ‘gun free zone.’ With the exception of one, the attack on Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford in 2011, every public mass shooting since the year 1950 occurred in a ‘gun free zone.’ When an area is rendered ‘gun free’ a false sense of safety for the surrounding citizens is provided. Many people assume that ‘gun free zones’ are safe places but in reality they create an optimal environment for a mass shooter looking for a place where they would not be faced with and resistance from their defenseless victims. In most criminals’ and mass shooters’ minds, there is no better place to open fire than one where their victims cannot fight back. There was an enormous issue recently and that is still ongoing today about rather to add to the gun control laws in the United States or not. In many states there are laws in place that prevent citizens carrying...
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...Gun Control Debate Paper Today in the United States gun control is a topic of immense debate, because of the shooting that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary located in Newtown, Connecticut. This most recent tragic event ended the lives of 20 students and six adults. Similar events have occurred across the United States at a movie theater in Colorado, on college campuses in Texas and Virginia, or at the grocery store in Arizona each destroying families in many communities. The questions deserving consideration is have the American people had enough lives destroyed by these horrible events and are Americans ready for the federal government to impose stricter gun control laws. Learning Team C is for stricter gun control laws and will outline their thoughts in this debate paper. Current Gun Laws For numerous Americans, bearing arms is one of the important inalienable rights that each individual possess. This association originated during the period of American frontier history, where guns were vital in the expansion of the society moving westward. These settlers relied on guns to guard themselves from others that would cause them harm, vicious animal attacks as well as hunting for food. In rural states, developing shooting and survival skills is a ‘rite of passage’ before entering manhood. Currently, in metropolitan cities young men still use firearms as a means to gain acceptance, respect, and to prove their manhood. During the past few decades several gun control...
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...Gun Law Study JASON GUTIERREZ CJA/ 334 Lee Wagner 1/16/13 Gun Laws Study Today we are face with a growing numbers of horrific mass shootings. Many Americans want something done to prevent incidents like the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting from ever happening again. The question is what is to be done to prevent it from happening in the future. In the past all that has been done was to strengthen the gun laws. Even though gun laws in the past have been implemented to protect us from these types of events mass shootings still happen. Today after sandy Hook it seems that we are going to take the same route as we did in the past, add more gun laws. The only problem is that there is no proof that past gun laws has had some or any effects on gun crimes. A two year study by a Task Force on Community Preventive Services was conducted to find out just that. The following paragraphs will cover the main problem and question as well as the research methods, results and conclusion of the finding found in this study. The Purpose of the Research Study, Problem, and Questions The (Task Force) conducted a study review of other independent nonfederal task force’s scientific evidence found in their studies regarding the effectiveness of firearms laws (Thacker, 2003). Each of these studies was focused on a particular firearms law (Thacker, 2003). The task force was faced with the problem of if the firearms laws where at all effective in preventing violence, including violent crimes...
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...audience that an increase in gun control legislation will not provide an increase in safety of the populace. I would like my audience to become better informed and active in defending our constitutionally protected rights. The central theme is that further restriction on the availability of fire-arms will not improve our safety, and in fact will have a detriment to that safety. Intended Audience: The ideal audience for this speech is a group of voting-age individuals who are concerned about the apparent increase of shootings nation-wide, and would like to help deter that seeming trend. This would also be appropriate for any person who is concerned that the government seems to be encroaching on individual rights in this country. Significance: As the public debate continues on whether guns are too readily available, we see those who are pushing not only for the limitation of fire-arms but for the out-right ban and confiscation of all non-shooting sport weapons. This becomes extremely significant, because history teaches that the loss of personal protection weaponry is always followed by the loss of other human rights. Presentation Plan I. Introduction a. Audience hook: From Columbine to Sandy Hook and the Aurora, Colorado theater shootings we have seen mass shootings in the last fifteen years that have many calling for increased gun-control legislation, but what is the truth? b. Thesis statement: Research suggests that an increase in gun-control legislation will not result...
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