Enforcing Gun Laws

According to “Closing Illegal Gun Markets”, “Forty percent of all annual firearm sales are through secondary or informal markets which involves felons, friends, and family and do not go through licensed retailers.” That number is almost half of all gun sales and of the half that go through licensed retailers. It is unknown how many people are purchasing guns for people who could not buy one legally. The problem with illegal gun purchases lies in the national background check system that is used, when someone purchases a gun at a licensed retailer. When these people go into buy a weapon, we have no idea what their intentions are. If they can pass the background check they are able to walk out with any guns they chose, from there these guns can end up in anyone’s hands. Background checks are not sufficient to stop gun violence due to back doors in the system and lack of punishment for offenders.

In “The Gun Debate” Patricia Smith explores the effectiveness of gun control and new possible ways to make this country safer. However in “To Carry, or to not Carry” Thomas Willis explains the ways that guns, if operated and cared for properly, can protect you and others around you. The large controversy of whether new gun laws will effective continue to grow larger and more opinionated. After reading both “The Gun Debate” and “To Carry, or to not Carry” I decided that gun laws will be effective. There are many gun sales that go without record or background check of any sort, “... many small scale gun sellers claim to be “hobbyist,” who aren’t required to conduct background checks”(Smith,1).

According to a report by the Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey, the United States has about 35-50 percent of the world’s civilian-owned guns and has less than 5 percent of the world’s population. With no restriction and so much freedom, firearms can be distributed throughout the United States illegally and obtained as easy as buying it from a person, disregarding all gun laws. Implementing stricter background checks can help reduce the amount of crime relating to gun violence. It can also keep firearms away from those who shouldn’t have possession of them.

In February 2012, Thomas Lane shot three people at the Ohio Chardon High School. Lane had stolen the 22-caliber handgun from his uncle, who purchased it legally. In October 2011, eight people were killed by Scott Evans Dekraai in Seal Beach, California. He used a number of different guns, all legally purchased. He had a restraining order that had banned him from purchasing any guns just a year earlier, but it had expired by the time of the shooting, allowing him to legally purchase his guns. In July 2012, James Holmes killed 12 people in Aurora, Colorado at a movie theater. He had legally purchased several guns, all from licensed dealers, passing background checks for each. Not a single gun, from any of these men, was bought illegally and in each case the killer completely followed the law. The Sandy Hook killing involved children, making it harder to hear, but the fact didn’t change that the mass shootings and private sales have almost nothing to do with each other. (Cooke 1)

For a nation as advanced as the United States the death of thousands of people each year is an issue affecting and concerning every American. With this problem occurring almost every year, the question of whether or not gun licenses can guarantee the safety of citizens throughout the country has been raised. With the number of deaths created by firearms each year, the need for enforcing stricter gun-control laws has grown increasingly. In addition, with the amount of fear throughout the country, and concern for protection, many people are beginning to buy firearms through simple and easy ways. Throughout America there are numerous ways for citizens to find and purchase weapons, whether it is in a gun store or online, the possibilities are endless.

Gun control has been a political and government issue for decades now, and figuring out exactly the right formula on how many laws, regulations we currently need. While some gun control regulation is necessary; increasing the amount and intensity of gun regulation is problematic because it is an infringement on second amendment rights, it does not deter crime, it allows for the government to have too much power and control over weapons, and proper regulations already exist. A middle ground stance on the issue of gun regulation is important, because if citizens are too far right or left on the matter it will be problematic. Either running into over regulation and over use of government power and if there is no regulation you run into chaos and anarchy from no control. To clarify, I draw a conclusion from the summary of gun regulations currently in place, being enforced today by the ATF today. In conclusion the need for some gun regulations and laws is a much needed necessity but the problem we seem to run into as a country is trying to shoot for too much or too little.

“Legal restraints on the lawful purchase of guns will have little effect on the legal use of guns” (pg.125). Author James Q. Wilson, a professor of management and public policy at the University of California in Los Angeles writes the article “Just Take Away Their Guns” to provide the American public with evidence of why taking away their guns will have little effect on crime in the United States. “Just Take Away Their Guns” was published into the New York Times Magazine in March, 1994. Professor Wilson, author of many books such as “Thinking about Crime,” “Bureaucracy,” “The Moral Sense,” and “Moral Judgment” uses statistics to advocate for perspective on gun control. The article not only addresses the use of guns but also provides a lot of textual evidence to support the author’s claims related to legal restraints on lawful purchases of guns. Firearms present in the homes of American citizens, while potentially dangerous, provide these citizens with a sense of security.

In the year 2016 alone, there have been 145 mass shootings around the United States, while there have been only 173 days in the years so far. In order to prevent these atrocities from occurring so frequently gun ownership should be regulated by both the federal and state governments through a background check for all sales of firearms. The National Instant Criminal Background Check System has prevented more than two million convicted felons and other prohibited purchasers from buying guns. The law also has a deterrent effect since the prohibited purchasers are less likely to try to buy guns when they know comprehensive background check requirements are in place. However, currently the federal law requires criminal background checks only for guns sold through licensed firearm dealers, which counts for only sixty percent of the total gun sales. The U.S. Congress needs to regulate the obtainment of guns with a background check for all sales of firearms in order to protect the lives of citizens in this country while not violating the Second Amendment and the rights of the state.

Guns versus crime is the hot topic in America. Government officials are looking at how much crime has happened with firearms instead of also looking at how the American people will be able to defend themselves when need be if guns are fully taken away. Government officials are trying to find a solution to eliminate the percentage of deaths per year. Guns are dangerous when used inappropriately, especially when they get into the wrong hands. There just isn't a problem with adults handling guns the wrong way, there is also children getting their hands on them and injuring and killing others as well. More gun control will not reduce crime because people will find other dangerous ways to injure and kill others, and also taking

When the state of Virginia enacted its one-gun-a-month law, specifically targeted at reducing the amount of gun trafficking, there was a significant drop in the number of out of state crime guns traced back to Virginia dealers. In twelve states where child access prevention laws were put in place and in effect for over a year, unintentional firearm deaths fell by 23 percent among children under the age of 15. Following Maryland’s adoption of a ban on “gun junk” firearm homicides dropped by 8.6 percent, a total of 40 lives saved. Finally, after the passage of the Brady Law in 1994, which required background checks to be issued prior to purchasing a firearm, aggravated assaults with a weapon dropped by 35 percent and a total of five hundred thousand people with a criminal record were legally prevented from obtaining a gun (Gun Control, 2013). According to gun control proponents, these few examples are more than enough evidence to show that sensible gun laws can and do work and that if more laws like them were put in place the results would be astonishing. In addition to sensible gun laws being put in place, gun control proponents strongly believe that closing loopholes is a key component that can reduce crime and make society safer. Gun control proponents like to point out that although some gun regulations are

The United States is one of the few countries were the right to bear arms is protected by the constitution. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most violent with incidents involving guns this year reaching an estimated 36,212 and an approximate 9,050 deaths (“Gun Violence Archive”). There are an estimated 310 million firearms in households across American, these are only estimates because current gun laws do not require them to be registered or tracked. A more staggering estimate is that most of the guns owned by private citizens are semi-automatic guns, the same type of gun used in almost all mass shootings. While these privately owned guns are legally purchased, many times, they land in the hands of criminals, and owners never report them stolen. Mass shootings and gun crimes are not the only issues with gun violence the one never talked about is suicide, more guns available equals more suicides. The United States is one of the easiest countries to own a gun legally or illegally, stricter gun control laws are necessary.

Gun Control is a very controversial topic of today, many people believe that you stricter laws should be put in place to completely abolish the second amendment. Whereas the other side of the table thinks that if you want to exercise your rights you should be completely free to do so. I fall in towards the middle more towards the anti gun control. Guns should be able to be freely obtained within reason, convicted felons should have no right to own weapon. Though today there are loopholes helping criminals have the ability to get them. The “gun show loophole” is the first, it is a theory that is controversial because of its thought that it affects crime rates, usually this notion is brought up by gun control advocates. Gun shows are thought to be the reason that criminals can purchase a weapon without having to have a background check. Another loophole is called the “straw purchaser” this is also a thought that helps criminals or people who should not own a weapon purchase a weapon. This paper will help to determine what these loopholes are and how it could be

Gun control laws have been surrounded by controversy since The Bill of Rights, including the Second amendment was passed in the congress. "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," the founders wrote. Until recently there was considerable argument over just what the founders intended by their words. Did they mean to provide only for armed units to protect us from invasion, or did they mean that each individual has a right to a gun? However, in the District of Columbia v. Heller case, the Supreme Court made a landmark ruling upholding the right of individuals to bear arms for hunting

On Thursday, May 9th, a two-year old boy was found dead after shooting himself in the head. The boy had found his father’s handgun while the father himself was occupied with other things; his son was just a few feet away. This little boy is not the first kid to shoot himself. Accidents like this are just one of the reasons to why guns should be restricted in the United States. Gun access has become very easy for people and that has caused many problems.

Gun Control has been an issue that has been brought to the public’s eyes in recent years. This main issue has been going on for many years, for example when John F. Kennedy was assassinated; it raised public awareness to the lack of control on sales and also possession of guns in America. Until 1968 guns were available over the counter in stores and through mail catalogs to just about any adult in America. This was an example of how loosely guns were regulated which bring us back to the issue of guns. The constitution tells us in the second amendment that we, as American Citizens, have the right to bear arms. But the government is trying to change that by regulating everything to do with owning a gun. My stance: Gun