...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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...Legitimate Gun Restrictions Christopher Glover PHI103 Karen Kart February 25, 2013 Legitimate Gun Restrictions A continuous argument between gun owners and concerned citizens is over gun restrictions. Many gun owners support the second amendment of the constitution and believe that any restriction on guns is an infringement on this amendment and there for there right. Concerned citizens of the United States believe that guns are to readily available and believe restrictions should be put in place to prevent these guns from falling into the wrong hands. In this essay I will discuss this argument and reveal the reasons that there are legitimate restrictions on gun ownership. I will start with how background checks keep guns out of the hands of people with a felony on their record. The gun control act of 1968 following the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, Congress passed this law prohibiting convicted felons from possessing firearms. It also required licenses to trade in guns and created procedures to track serial numbers and control imports (www.keyt.com). Many will say that this helped reduce gun valance in America because after the gun control act of 1968 handgun violence dropped by 37% the next year (http://www.saf.org/LawReviews). The real reason behind the drop was the fact that during that year handgun production dropped, resulting in the drop in violence not the new law. Therefore the...
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...Nina Smith English 101 Essay 6/24/14 America Need Stricter Laws and Gun Control Are guns in our society getting out of control? The main weapon used to engage in violence is the gun. Gun violence has claimed many Americans that we are the leading country in crimes animated by guns. These guns are claiming the lives of people, ranging from babies, to adults, and even to the elderly. I see people killed because of gang related incidents, robberies, road range, mass shootings, and many pointless situation. There are too many guns out on our streets today. Hand guns are just causing too many deaths. We need to have stricter laws for gun control. After all these recent shootings, it is needed. My solution to stop the gun violence is to require a background check every time a firearm is sold, take military grade weapons off the streets and out of criminal’s hand, and have a better data, coordination and enforcement. First, the only way to determine whether an individual is prohibited from purchasing a firearm under state or federal law is to conduct an instant background check. The number of crimes involving guns are increasing more and more, because of how easy it is to have one. Under the current law, gun transfers by people other than licensed federal firearm dealers, are exempted from background checks. These so called “private sellers”, people who maintain that they are not “engaged in business”, are not required to perform checks. I believe that the government needs...
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...drastically throughout the years. Criminal activity has always been a challenging task to evaluate and monitor. What is a crime trend? A crime trend is defined as a significant change in the nature of selected crime types within a defined geographical area and time period (U.S. Legal, 2001). Crime trends tend to increase and decrease for different reason throughout the years. The essay will discuss the crime trend in America and the reason for a decline in 1999. In 1999 there were several reasons that could be the cause for a decrease in crime trends. Unemployment rates were low in 1999, in fact at the time rates had not been seen as low since 1969. There was also an increase in new jobs; under President Clinton administration the economy added 245,000 jobs per month. When President Clinton took office in 1992 the unemployment rate was at 7.5%, by 1999 the rate had dropped to 4.0%. Employment showed a promising reason for a decrease in crime (The Clinton-Gore Economic Record, 2000). Throughout the years researchers have been noticing when the economy is good it seem to reduce the amount of crime that happens. In the article Crime and Unemployment, the author refers to a study conducted in the United States that showed unemployment as a reason behind higher homicide rates and suicides; the study was conducted from 1940-1984. The study included five socio economic variables unemployment rates, gross national product per capita, females in the workforce, the...
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...Formal Essay #1 October 12 2013 Gun Control Debates involving gun control began in the early 1960s, since then many laws and regulations have been created (“Gun Control Time Line”). However, while crimes involving the use of guns start increasing, is changing the laws going to end the violence and make people feel safer? There have been many different media sources and political debates throughout our country questioning if increasing the laws will stop the crime or not. A problem in our society that we may all suffer from is in our amendment system. Our second amendment, established in 1791, states that “everyone is entitled to the right to bear arms.” (“Gun Control Time Line”) Recently, with everyone hearing and seeing gun violence on the rise has pushed the issues of changing our laws. With nearly all states considering all of the available options, many arguments concerning whether or not laws will reduce violence, need to be thought out to determine the best for society. Debates that support changing our laws within our country, feel as if our government is losing control as we all see crime rates rising. People argue that something needs to be done to stop gun violence. Many people have said that, guns do not kill; criminals who use them are the problem (“What the Public Really Thinks about Guns”). Individuals across the nation argue that current laws today are actually allowing criminals to get access to guns that are used for crimes. Those who are in favor of changing...
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...Gun Violence: A Public Threat Question At Issue: Should the prevention of gun violence be considered a public health issue? Argument Sentence: Prevention of gun violence should be considered a public health issue because preventing gun violence will stop thousands of deaths every year. Premise: Any preventative measures that stops thousands of deaths every year should be considered a public health issue. Every year we get reminded of the gun issue whenever we hear about a horrifying new shooting and every year we seem to forget until we hear about the new one. As long as it doesn’t involve people that we know personally it is easy to get desensitized to the reports on the news. The image of a deranged psycho mass murderer makes for...
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...Compare and Contrast Essay In today’s society the majority of the crimes are still being committed by people who have possessed a firearm that has been obtained illegally or without proper permits. That being said there has been a strong push for gun control because of the rise of shootings involving a large group of people such as the Columbine massacre, Virginia Tech shooting and latest Aurora movie theater shooting involving people who have purchased firearms legally. Gun control laws in the United States have been established for many years but to maintain a civilized society with limited crime stronger control laws need to be enforced in which will help reduce crime in our country. Establishing stronger gun control laws will educate society, reduce the amount of accidental deaths, and decrease the number of violent crimes committed in our communities. An upright definition of gun control is necessary to understand the sides and issues relating to firearms. Educating Society The first step that should be taken by state legislators is to provide classes for young adults on the dangers of firearms. “An American citizen's right to own guns is upheld by the Second Amendment to the Constitution; However, many people feel that the amendment is outdated, and that gun control is of utmost importance in an increasingly violent society” (Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, 2012 p 6). The organizations such as The National Rifle Association "Believe that every law-abiding citizen...
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...people believes in gun control into questioning. Sandy Hook Massacre that took place in 2012, was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Adam Lanza decided to not only kill his own mother but drive to an elementary school and kill 20 kids and 6 adults. Even to this day, people are still wondering what the motives behind his vicious attacks were. The Aurora shooting that took place in 2012 as well, shifted the debate over gun control. This time it was over the ease of getting guns. I have not paid attention too much to the shootings because of my age or a lack of knowledge towards the shooting. Now that I am old enough to understand the world, I am starting to see how the current gun control laws are of need of revamping or complete removal. It’s sad to see the lives lost because of how easy it is to get guns, the pain and suffering that families have to go through because of gun violence. Most people are affected by it indirectly or directly. On the flip side, however, we as a society needs guns. I believe guns are helpful if use correctly. I understand people like to hunt, I also understand how important hunting is to people and I wouldn’t want them to lose out because a few bad people are misusing guns. The inadequacy of USA gun...
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...The Great Gun Debate Introduction Among the more diverse issues in an already polarized society is a national perspective of guns (Hargrove & Perdue, 2015). The gun debate in the U.S. dates back to the 18th century, when the nation’s founders were crafting the Bill of Rights—the first ten amendments to the Constitution, adopted in 1791 (Smith & Ross, 2013). All gun control debates turn on interpretations of the Second Amendment, the worst written and most bizarre part of the constitution (Eichenwald, 2015). The Second Amendment gave Americans the right to “bear arms;” however, for more than 200 years, people have disagreed over how to interpret the amendment (Smith & Ross, 2013). Heated debates over guns have created division among “we the people.” On one end of the divide are pro-gun extremists. On the opposite end of the divide are anti-gun extremists. Then, there is the rational middle—the group that is often left out of the debate. This group typically consists of average law-abiding citizens who do not believe that Americans should be stripped of their rights to bear arms, but, rather, that some laws should be tightened up to ensure that guns and deadly accessories, such as high-capacity magazines, stay out of the wrong hands. Over the years, numerous mass shootings in schools have forced lawmakers to assess and tighten gun-control laws, which has also reignited the fiery gun debate. This assessment will attempt to uncover a proper course of action via a rigorous...
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...Gun Control Darrell Welch ENG/102 March 30, 2014 Michele Barth Gun Control Research Essay Rough Draft It is Friday afternoon on January 4, 2013, when Donnie Herman received a disturbing call from his wife Melinda stating a man was ringing their door bell and trying to get in the front door of their home. “Get the kids and hide” Donnie told his wife; Melinda gathered the 9 year old twins quickly and headed to the attic crawl space. Armed with her cell phone and the .38 caliber revolver Donnie had recently taught her how to use. Melinda hears the man break through the front door and rummage downstairs. Donnie meanwhile is calling 911 as his family cowers in the attic crawl space fearing for their lives as they attempt to hide from the intruder. The 32 year old male finds Melinda, the twins and at the same time looking down the barrel of the .38 caliber revolver, Melinda fires! Donnie says to the 911 Operator, “She’s shooting him, she’s shooting him, shoot him again” (Reese, 2014). 5 bullets hit their intended target, striking the would-be intruder in the face and neck, Paul Slater is heard screaming by the 911 Operator as he is hit by the .38 caliber rounds. Paul Slater makes his way out of the house to his SUV, trying to escape. When the police arrived they found the intruder in the neighbor’s yard after wrecking his SUV. The people of Walton County, Georgia have hailed this mother and wife a hero, a well prepared woman that was able to defend her children, herself and their...
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...Guns or No Guns Three hundred and twenty-three students have died in documented school shootings over the past 15 years, making it the by far the largest cause of violent deaths in school. A very highly debated topic corresponding with this issue is how to stop it, any many people believe that arming teachers is the way to do it. Many also believe that arming teachers will only make things worse, and that’s what Allen Rostron tries to get across, to parents of teens, in his article Arming Teachers Will Not Reduce School Violence, published in 2012. In this article, Rostron uses many appeals, along with his reputation to provide the reader with statistics to back up his reasoning and to show his knowledge on the topic to persuade readers that arming teachers is a bad idea in the fight against school violence. Though Rostron uses many appeals throughout his writing to persuade us to his side of view, his reputation precedes him. He is a Professor of Law at the University of Missouri Kansas City and has published multiple articles on gun policy and whether or not guns should be used and how they should be used. To name a few, "Cease Fire: A 'Win-Win' Strategy on Gun Policy for the Obama Administration," Harvard Law & Policy Review, Oct. 28, 2009, "Dodging the Bullet: Tort Immunity for Gun Makers," Jurist, Nov. 3, 2005, and "The Supreme Court, the Gun Industry, and the Misguided Revival of Strict Territorial Limits on the Reach of State Law," Michigan State Law Review, Spring...
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...Summary: The National Rifle Association (NRA) recently released an article titled “A Ban on Assault Weapons Would Not Reduce Crime” in an attempt to inform people of the many reasons they (the NRA) believe voters should reject any kind of ban or restriction on assault weapons. The article is laid out not as an essay but as an itemized list of points against gun legislation, in it is written ten points of reason why voters should a ban on assault weapons. The author’s overall objections is that by banning assault weapons it would be much easier to pass restrictions on other weapons, weapons that are mainly used for self-defense. The first two points mainly inform the reader of what a semi-automatic firearm is and how it is different from other...
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...Gun Control is when you keep firearms plus guns away from people. Many people think that gun control is right because they think keeping people away from guns will reduce the amount of deaths each year. They also think that guns cause many of the deaths that had been committed each year. Also when ever people hear the word gun, the thoughts are of violence and negativity. Many people, myself included think gun control is wrong because we know that it is not necessary, since we know that guns were not involved in many of the deaths caused each year. While many other people disagree and think it is good because of the safety for people. In this essay I will tell you why gun control is unnecessary and why there shouldn?t be any gun control at all. There have been many gun control laws established throughout the U.S., but they vary from state to state. For example, in Colorado you can purchase any type of gun: handgun, machine gun, shotgun, rifle, automatic rifle, etc. at the age of 18, while in other places you would need a hunting license.1 I think this is unfair because when I?m at the age of 18 I would want to buy a gun, but I can?t because I?m living in California and another 18 year old could in Colorado. Also, another example is that in some states, they allow citizens to carry concealed weapons, while in other states citizens can?t. I don?t think this is fair at all because I think they should make laws that suits the whole U.S., and not make different laws in different...
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...The Gun Debacle, How to Reduce Gun Violence Without Losing Your Rights Gregory Guyer ITT Technical Institute. "Laws that forbid the carrying of arms ... only disarm those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed one." Are Thomas JeffersonThomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson thoughts about gun control during his era who he quoted from an article written by Cesare Bonesana, Marchese Beccaria “essay on crimes and punishments”. (1764) Such remarks from a prominent member of our founding fathers suggest that not only has this debate been going on for a long time but also how important to Americans it is. The second amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America says, “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.” This must have been thought important by our forefathers to have listed this one second, yet we are on the verge of losing yet another one of our rights as Americans in the name of safety. Will we really be safer, or is it simply a play of political control? According to the National Institute of Justice (2013), there are fewer gun related incidents nationwide than there were in the early 1990’s. Not only do we see fewer actual gun related...
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...CONFLICTING VIEWPOINTS ESSAY PART ONE ANTHONY ORTIZ DR. BYRON P WESS CRITICAL THINKING APRIL 16, 2015 For my assignment I chose “Should adults have the right to carry a concealed handgun.” My position on this issue is such that we have the right to defend ourselves and the right to bear arms. Which it does state in the second amendment the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. In today’s world we have too many victims who were preyed upon by criminals who felt superior because they believed themselves stronger. A premise that opposes my position is “Permitting concealed handguns increases crime.” What’s interesting about this view is that studies have shown that in the past few year’s crimes in rape, aggravated assault, robbery, auto theft, burglary, and larceny involving a concealed handgun have risen dramatically. What’s helpful about this view is it point out the fact that we avoid talking about concealed handguns laws when debating what to do about the roughly thousands of Americans that are murdered by gunfire each year. What I noticed if I were to believe this view is the number of the criminals able to walk the streets with a concealed handguns because of such state laws grant them permission. More guns create more opportunies for injury and death, not fewer. The sense that this condition might make this idea true is the research shows that it is more likely to reduce a person’s chance of being injured during a crime than various other forms...
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