Are Stricter Gun Control Laws Needed free essay sample

Gun control laws aim to restrict or regulate the sale, purchase, or possession of firearms through licensing, registration, or identification requirements. With the recent abundance of mass shootings in the U. S. , the subject of gun safety has once again been brought into the spotlight. These tragic events serve as reminders that stricter gun control policies should be enforced to ensure public safety. According to The Center for Responsive Politics, gun activists argue that â€Å"measures intended to curb gun-related violence, such as mandatory child safety locks, background checks on those wishing to purchase a gun, limits on the number of guns a person can buy, and raising the age limit for gun ownership infringe on the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens. † The problem with gun violence is that it needs to be addressed both from a cultural point of view and a political perspective. Guns have always been a part of life, and finding a happy medium for gun control is a daunting task. The thing about crime and guns is that the two seem to go hand in hand with one another. Are the two really associated? Do guns necessarily lead to crime? And if so, do laws that place restrictions on firearm ownership/use, stop the crime or protect the citizens? These are some questions many citizens and lawmakers are asking themselves when trying to create gun control laws. Clearly this debate still goes on today and is the very reason for the formation of gun control laws. There is a tension between gun control laws and the right to bear arms guaranteed under the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. About half the states have loosened their conceal-carry laws. Many local governments have pushed through laws that allow people to carry guns in more public places than had been previously allowed. Overall, its fair to say that its easier to own and operate a gun now in most parts of the country than it had been prior to the Sandy Hook shootings. (Tsembelis, 2012) Guns should not be used in such ways where others could be harmed or killed. They should be used only for self-defense to protect themselves and their  valuables, not as weapons to take others lives. As of 2009, the United States has a population of 307 million people. Based on production data from firearm manufacturers, there are roughly 300 million firearms owned by civilians in the United States as of 2010. Of these, about 100 million are handguns. Based on survey data from the U. S. Department of Justice, roughly 5,340,000 violent crimes were committed in the United States during 2008. These include simple/aggravated assaults, robberies, sexual assaults, rapes, and murders. Of these, about 436,000 or 8% were committed by offenders visibly armed with a gun. The information provided, paints a pretty good picture of the Basis for the need Of Gun Control. The same statistic can work against Gun control. Depending on the way that the information is analyzed the sword could swing both ways. Many of the statistics showed a decrease in gun crimes after Guns were let loose among Common Citizen; yet, at the same time more guns get stolen and used in violent crimes. So the common idea is that the more guns, the more gun crimes committed with them. The second amendment says, â€Å"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. † Which states clearly, that people have the right to own a gun, but does this give them the right to carry it with them everywhere they go? Should a woman be able to carry a gun with her while walking to work? How about a little kid walking to school? As you can see, there has to be some rules and regulations, or kids will start to bring guns to school every day. Just because the government puts regulations on guns, does not necessarily mean that they are going to banish guns all together any time soon like some people fear. The government just needs to set boundaries to help protect the people who need it the most. Gun Owners Foundation is an Internal Revenue organization incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its purposes are to educate the public about the importance of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and to provide legal and other assistance for law-abiding individuals involved in firearms-related cases. GOF’s more than 100,000 contributors are, by self-definition, strongly interested in the right to keep and bear arms and in opposing legislation which burdens or impede that right. The Gun Owners Foundation says that guns save more lives than they take and prevent more injuries than they inflict. However, that is very untrue. The usage of guns for self defense to not self-defense ratio is 1:22. For every time a gun is used in self-defense, there are 22 shootings that are not. Also, gun violence costs the nation about one hundred billion dollars a year. Eighty per cent of the money used to treat firearm injuries comes from taxpayer dollars. The Gun Owners Foundation says that criminals avoid armed citizens. A law in a city in Florida that required at least one gun in every household caused the crime rate in that city to drop 89%. Another law that permitted the carrying of concealed weapons dropped the homicide rate by 36%. But having a gun in a household raises the risk of a homicide or suicide. A household with a gun is three times more likely to have a homicide using a gun and five times more likely to have a suicide using a gun. Suicide is not a crime, but it is still a death and is just as bad. Guns are clearly dangerous, no matter how they are used. Even though a household may have a gun, the head of the household may not be trained in using a gun, and may cause an accidental shooting. The Gun Owners Foundation also says that gun control such as the Brady Bill, is not the answer and it doesnt reduce the number of violent crimes; therefore, its members do not want strict gun control laws. The Brady Bill requires a five-day waiting period and extensive background check on the person wanting to buy a gun before he or she is allowed to have one. This should prevent criminals from having a gun in their hands, but it really doesnt. There are about 192 million privately owned guns in the United States, 65 million of which are handguns. An estimated 1 -3 million guns are illegally sold or traded, meaning that criminals can still get their hands on a deadly firearm. What is really needed is better and stricter gun control, not elimination of it. Guns are very unsafe. Forty-three per cent of households with children have guns. One in ten is loaded and only one in eight have the child safety lock. Not all parents are stressing to keep their kids safe and away from guns where many accidents can happen. Guns also take away many lives of young people. There were 1,409 teen suicides using a gun and 1,671 teen murders. Those startling numbers should make parents aware of how dangerous it is to have a gun where their child can get it. Under federal law: It is illegal and punishable by up to 10 years in prison for the following people to receive, possess, or transport any firearm or ammunition: someone convicted of or under indictment for a felony punishable  by more than one year in prison, someone convicted of a misdemeanor punishable by more than two years in prison, a fugitive from justice, an unlawful user of any controlled substance, someone who has been ruled as mentally defective or has been committed to any mental institution, an illegal alien, someone dishonorably discharged from the military, someone who has renounced his or her U. S. citizenship, someone subject to certain restraining orders, or someone convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor. The Gun Control Act (GCA) makes it unlawful for certain categories of persons to ship, transport, receive, or possess firearms. Transfers of firearms to any such prohibited persons are also unlawful. Also, there have been many arguments about the Second Amendment where it says, A well regulated militia the right of the people to keep and bear arms. People in favor of guns say that it is their right to own and carry a weapon. Although the Second Amendment does state the right to keep and bear arms, it is taken out of context, leaving out the important part about a well-regulated militia. The Second Amendment states that it is the right for a militia to have weapons, not everyone. Guns pose a high danger in the world. Guns are necessary, and the positive values of a gun are not great enough to balance out all the negative values they have. Guns take lives, no doubt about it. There needs to be much stricter gun control laws that prevent criminals from getting deadly weapons. They will certainly prevent much of the gun violence committed. A world without guns except in the hands of law enforcers would be a much safer place. Even though all crimes cannot be prevented, many lives will be saved.