On Memorial Day in 2012, a boy in Ohio, only three years old, comes across a gun his father had hidden between the couch and shoots himself in his eye. In North Carolina, while a mother is cleaning, interrupted by an abrupt sound of a gunshot, she rushes into the living room, and discovers that her three year old son had shot her boyfriend’s three year old daughter. Then, in Houston, a group of friends come across a pistol in a closet while trying to find some money for snacks, the fifteen year old boy carrying the pistol then accidentally shoots another boy, who was only eleven years old. Unfortunately, these cases happen all too often and it does not just affect minors who are young children, but also those in their adolescence. In many incidents like these, parents who fail to properly store their firearms, could have more than likely prevented a death or injury of another minor. According to the Second Amendment, citizens have the right to own a gun, however those who have failed to conceal their guns properly from a minor has caused it to become easily accessible, and in turn that minor can put themselves or those around him/her at risk; therefore, it should be enacted nationwide that adults who neglect to hide firearms in their homes accordingly, should be charged with criminal negligence.
Key Concepts
In order to sense why and how it is possible for minors to gain access to firearms, it needs to be understood that there is an excessive amount of firearms that
On average, there is a shooting throughout the country where the victim was left defenseless each day. even with strict gun control laws set in by the federal government, many Americans still have faith in our second amendment. Gun control is proven ineffective, According to Richard Epstein of the New york University of Law, “We can confidently predict that crime will go up unless and until there is a vast expansion of the public police force.” (Epstein 1). While gun control law are in place there are still too many guns for the federal government to keep track of within the country, Richard Epstein states that “upwards of 200 million firearms of all descriptions are available for general use in the United States.” (Epstein 2). With recent
In 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School was victim of a terrible mass shooting that prompted several states and cities to pass strict gun control measures. This sparked a widely debated and controversial issue for “gun friendly” states in the South and West, who responded with bills that would strengthen Stand Your Ground laws and allow weapons in most public places. The nation continues to be divided on gun control policies, as it is very controversial and continues to be a very hot topic in society today. There has been a rise in gun violence throughout the years, and it has been widely been debated that guns are too easily accessible and there is a continued push for stricter gun laws that can reduce the risk of gun violence.
82% of firearm suicides are committed by gun owned by a family member, usually parents. It’s not the parents or family members fault that these children committed suicide but if the guns were put away somewhere safe where only the parent or family member could access it, there’s a chance that they might still be here. It’s all a ripple effect. If you don’t conceal your firearms right, your child can get ahold of it. If your child gets ahold of the firearm, they could shoot or worse, kill themselves or someone else. Properly hide your firearms and there will be no gun for your child to shoot or kill anyone.
In the use, purchase, and selling of guns, there are consequences for the actions of those who bypass the law. One major issue is in the contrast of people’s state of mind. For example, in the article about the two school shootings, the author includes the following statement from a child: “‘Just because I have access to a gun, that doesn't mean I'm going to go out and kill somebody,’ said Cummings, who took a safety course before receiving a state hunting license. ‘Anyone who does that, they've got to be messed up in the head.’” (Kids). The people, children or adults, who come to have access to a gun and do not use it solely for self-defense or the sport of hunting, will use it for violence and have the reputation for not being in the right
Only this month, 59 were killed and over 500 people were injured during a country music concert in Vegas in what is now known as the deadliest mass shooting in American history. Last year, 49 were killed and 58 were injured in a gay nightclub in Florida. In 2012, a mass shooting in Sandy Hook Elementary School took 27 lives, 20 of them being first graders. The list of these unthinkable and stomach-churning acts is quickly turning endless, forcing us to rethink why we truly have the right to bear arms. Many defend the second amendment by claiming we need this right for self defense, which is the most wretched part.When we look at what we have lost compared to what we have earned in this fight to keep the right to bear arms, this privilege does not seem worth the sacrifice of so many lives. In today’s world, we do not defense through guns but from them. Our policymakers keep trying to reach a compromise by putting in place certain regulations. “Some states require would-be gun owners to fulfill a firearms safety course in order to obtain their license.” “Such training courses, however, even when not required, are very advisable for the would-be gun owner, as they ensure that he or she has all the necessary information on liability issues, on safety, and even on care and maintenance of the gun” ( How to Get a Gun License 1). This lack of attention illustrates that despite the multiple tragedies that have taken place in our nation, some states do not even require a simple safety course that ensures the safety of our people. Furthermore, it is required that one must pass a background check. The questions asked on the test are the following:
"You can 't move past it. You can 't sweep it under the rug," expresses a surviving Sandy Hook School teacher. "We have to honor the horror by paying tribute to what happened, what people went through and what it was like for everyone" (Blickley, 2016). The brutal murder of twenty beautiful children and seven brave adults at Sandy Hook elementary school was a tragic event that shook, not only, Newtown, Connecticut, but the whole nation to its very core. However, this grievous crisis was not the first of its kind; since 1999, there have been over 130 shootings at schools. Moreover, the last thirty years, there have been an additional sixty-two mass shootings (each leaving at least four dead). This leaves no room to question the necessity for gun rights reform (as cited in Stinebrickner, pg. 67 CITE). Therefore, America published an editorial titled "Repeal the Second Amendment." The primary purpose of this article is to call for an examination of the implications, advantages, and (potential) consequences associated with the second amendment. Based off of increased mass shootings, extensive research, and keen observation of how other countries have managed the gun crisis, "Repeal the Second Amendement" determines there ought to be increased gun restrictions.
It is sickening to know that a child was able to sneak past his parents, teachers, and students with two firearms on his body. His parents were lucky they arrived when they did because many of people could have been hurt or even worse murdered. Obviously, the child that brought the two firearms to school should be the one punished, but what about the parents. The parents that did not have a weapon that could easily end someone’s life, properly locked up or hidden away. If parents are going to carelessly leave firearms unlocked with ammo nearby, what is stopping a child from doing wrong with that firearm? Leaving firearms unlocked with any aged child around, hoping they don’t touch it is a dangerous and irresponsible act.
Guns have been is society for centuries. They have been used for hunting, war, and even safety. However, in the past several years they have begun to take the lives of many innocent victims, often young children. In response to the killings in Newtown, Conn., it has been noted, “If this were a country, the number of children killed by gun violence would violate international law.” (Browne-Marshall) F.B.I. data shows in 2011, 1,668 African American children were killed due to guns. Day by day gun violence is rising and it is not only in ghetto neighborhoods.
There are terrifying stories in the news about children, who have found their parent’s gun. And accidents happen. One of the latest stories in the news was the 12th October, a 2-year-old accidentally shot his grandmother in the back. (According to CBS news). They were in a car, with the child in the back seat. The grandson found his mother’s gun in the pouch in the back of the seat. He fired it and hit his grandmother, who was in the seat in front of him. The grandmother luckily survived, but incidents like this happen more often than you would expect. According to a fact sheet published by New Yorkers Against Gun Violence. Guns in homes are 22 times more likely to be used in accidents or suicide attempts, than in actual defense. Home shootings are a terrible cause of American deaths each year. 1533 people have already died in accidental shootings in 2015, (by October 26). When children accidently shoot their parents or siblings, they are often shocked for life. Therefore, to protect both the family from shootings, but also the children involved. I believe an amendment should be made to the 2nd Amendment, securing more safe storage of the guns and keeping guns away from family
By concealing the weapon, citizens can go about their day normally without being distracted by a handgun on someone’s person. Many Americans are beginning to grasp the concept that gun control laws are rapidly becoming useless. John C. Moorhouse and Brent Wanner, authors of “Gun Control Law Do Not Reduce Violent Crimes” State that the reason gun control is ineffective, is because it does next to nothing to stop criminals from getting their hands on firearms (Gun Control Laws Do Not Reduce). To reduce gun crime, more needs to be done to stop criminals, instead of focusing efforts on law abiding citizens, they are not the ones to worry about.
Guns are one of the most controversial and debated-upon topics in America today. In the Constitution, Americans are given “the right to bear arms,” and many Americans are proud of and believe strongly in that right. Though, that right has been constantly misused. Homicides by gun are at a higher rate in the United States than any other country in the world, mass shootings are at an all time high (many of which have occurred in the past two years alone), and terrorism has been at an all-time high. So, naturally, it is a topic that needs to be discussed. In the articles Change Your Gun Laws, America (1), author Fareed Zakaria provides the readers with some harrowing statistics on guns and insight over how the U.S. laws on guns need to be managed.
Charles W. Collier’s article, “Gun Control in America: An Autopsy Report”, dives into the controversial topic of gun ownership and gun control in the United States. He uses recent shootings, including the George Zimmerman case and the Connecticut elementary
In 2015, 13,367 people lost their lives due to gun violence according to Gun Violence Archive. The Archive also states that out of that number, 693 were children from ages 0-11. We can all agree that there is indeed a problem that we have to address. The solution to that problem, however, has been debated by many. I believe the solution to this problem exists in three parts: Mandatory training and licensing along with more heavily secure gun storage, stricter regulations on the purchasing of a firearm—disabilities and criminal records should be more deeply looked into before transaction—and finally, equipping teachers at highs schools with the right kind of weaponry to prevent mass shootings.
The United States is home to approximately 5% of the world’s population and 31% of all mass shootings. Through these mass shootings and various other methods of gun violence, tens of thousands of people die every year. These gun-related deaths primarily originate from murder and children accidentally shooting themselves. Although those in favor of gun control tend to believe that guns should be terminated completely, the second amendment prevents lawmakers from being able to do so. Therefore, in order to combat these causes, alternative gun control solutions must be made for each one. Gun-related murders can be decreased through the use of universal background checks. Additionally, accidental shootings can be minimized through the
Gun control is severely weakened by the few loopholes that exist in the system. These loopholes make it possible for minors and felons to obtain outlawed and high-powered weapons. They also serve to weaken the strength of the Brady- Bill and Gun registration. Adults are prohibited from transferring firearms to juveniles, but are not required to store guns in securely locked cabinets. This allows kids to get access to them. This Child Access Prevention (CAP) proposal would require parents to keep loaded firearms out of the reach of children and would hold gun owners criminally responsible if a child gains access to an unsecured firearm and uses it to injure himself or