Should gun ownership be a right for all citizens? Of the approximate 875 million firearms legally owned in the world, American citizens own one quarter of these. Our second amendment, “the right to bear arms”, establishes this right for us. While this accounts for legally obtained firearms, those obtained illegally far exceed these numbers. There is no way to establish how many firearms are illegally possessed. Banning guns in America would only affect law abiding citizens. Criminals and those who want to acquire guns will go to any extent to get them either by stealing or through the black market. Legally abiding American citizens should have the right to own a gun in order to protect themselves, their loved ones, and their property. Banning gun ownership hurts those who obey laws and have no effect on the criminals. Responsible citizens are willing to take all the necessary steps in order to purchase a firearm. The first step is age requirement: 18 years of age to purchase a rifle or shotgun; 21 years of age for a handgun. All states enforce a criminal background check. This requires a 2 week wait before obtaining the gun. To carry a firearm on your person, you must successfully complete a gun safety course in order to receive a concealed weapons permit. Even with a permit, there are certain areas where guns are prohibited including but not limited to: federal facilities, schools and National Parks (unless otherwise specifically permitted) (United States Gun facts,
We must realize that criminals are criminals, and removing citizens’ rights to firearms will not remove the capacity for them to obtain weapons. Removing gun rights or restricting availability will not only contradict the statement of the 2nd amendment but will kill our US citizens. Criminals will obtain weapons through any source to complete crimes supposed to make them wealthier or have the “toys” of this world. The crimes will continue, the only difference will be that of citizens self protection. Instead the US government and government of the stated should be focused on proper use of the firearms and the revision of current laws.
Will outlawing handguns make the United States a safer home for its citizens? Due to random shootings and gun related massacres that have occurred in public places such as schools, many people believe so (Richman). Although this is a major problem that needs to be dealt with, artilleries are commonly used by law-abiding citizens just as much as felons. In fact, there are about 100,000 defensive gun uses every year (Huemer 47). Many people refer to the Second Amendment when arguing about gun control laws including radio host, Lars Larson, who believes that “this President wants to take away people’s rights to own the appropriate tool to repel an invader or invaders into their houses” (Richman). Banning firearms will not protect Americans because guns can save good people and criminals don’t follow restriction laws.
The banning of firearms in America is an illegal act, and degrades the values this country was founded on. They not only play a vital role in many people's lives, but are useful tools, fun to use, and can protect people from harm. Our founding fathers wanted us to have them to protect ourselves from the government, and would be disgusted at our government's current abuse, and overall disregard of the constitution of the United States. A lot of people argue that guns kill people; this is untrue. Guns in the hands of a negligent person have potential to kill people, just as anything else.
Gun ownership is embedded in the fabric of America. The United States has the highest gun ownership rate in the world with 88 guns per 100 people. This is a staggering amount of firearms in the U.S. which our forefathers would 've never imagined when writing the 2nd Amendment. The 2nd Amendment states that “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.” Not everyone interprets this right the same way. Regulating and restricting the use of these firearms brings up opposing sentiments from those in favor of gun control and those who oppose
After I read about how carrying a gun is in the second amendment in the US,
Gun control would only make it easier for criminals to commit crimes. Gun ownership reduces the amount of crime. States with concealed carry regulations have a higher rate of crime. States with stricter concealed carry have higher rates of crime because criminals can commit crime without worry of being stopped by gun owners. If guns are banned, criminals would be the only ones with guns. Citizens that follow the laws would still follow the laws, whereas criminals would still break the law. Gun Ownership reduces crime, not gun control.
Gun violence kills 33,000 Americans and injures over 80,000 people per year. It is ridiculous how much damage guns have brought to not only us, but the world itself. From Columbine, to Sandy Hook, to the movie theatre to the Oregon Community College shooting, it has just been ridiculous. This is all because we in America believe it is okay for people to carry guns and for them to be used if “needed”. If they were always banned to begin with, we would never have had this problem. The private ownership of handguns should be banned in the United States. Handguns have been proved to be dangerous to society in recent events, they are the deadliest weapon in America, and lastly, guns cost Americans hundreds of extra dollars that could be avoided if they were banned.
In most cases even preventing the crime from taking place in the first place. While the second amendment protected these individuals, it has also harmed others; According to 2014 Crime in the United States, Expanded Homicide, roughly 14,000 murders committed in the United States during that year, of these, about 10,000, were committed with firearms. While repealing the second amendment would have decreased the deaths, the criminals who are doing harm, will still find a way to commit harm with or without a firearm. It would give the criminal the advantage of knowing that the citizens do not carry guns and would lead to the criminal to conduct the crime because the citizen cannot defend himself. The problem with repealing the second amendment is that criminals would still find a way to commit the crime if the second amendment gets repealed. As shown in Criminal Victimization 2014, roughly 5.9 million violent crimes were committed in the United States during 2014 these included assaults, robberies, sexual assaults, rapes, and murders. 10% were perpetrated by offenders visibly armed with a gun. This goes to show that 10% of these cases did the criminals require the use of a firearm to commit these offenses. Meaning that the criminal committing the crimes would have committed the crime with or without the firearm when only 10% of the criminals needed a gun to go through with their crime. Taking away guns would
Everyone has a different opinion about the issue and what should be done to solve the problem, no matter what is done the main question is would restricting the ownership of firearms be a violation of our 2nd Amendment? Our rights are in place to protect our freedoms, but when is it permissible to infringe upon those rights for the protection of the common good? The standard which is in place simply states, that your rights are in place until exercising your rights violates other rights or places others in danger. Meaning that I have the freedom of speech but that does not allow me to yell fire in a movie theater because it would endanger the common good. So now that we understand that one person’s freedoms stop where another’s starts, the question is does owning a gun infringe upon other’s rights?
criminals. In The NRA is Right, Josh Sugarmann states that “One tenet of the National
Gun control has been a long debate to determine if it’s better to have stricter access to firearms. America is one of the few countries that has gun rights embedded in their constitution. But what makes the US exceptional is that it has the right to keep and bear arms, other countries do not provide the right to have access to them, but rather, the government is allowed to regulate its use. The right to bear arms has also been the cause of growing violence and crime, at least according to anti-gun lobbyists. Citizens should be aware the dangers and harm that guns present to society. Controlling the sale of firearms can greatly decrease the number of violent crimes.
The Second Amendment to the Constitution 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” (Agresti, 2009, para. 2). Based on a simple reading of this, it would seem that people do have the right to own and use firearms. So why are so many people trying to ban guns? Maybe it is because they do not understand what the Second Amendment actually means. Maybe it is because the media only reports the crimes committed with guns and not the lives saved with them. What would happen to the crime rate in the United States if guns were banned altogether as other countries have done? While some people think guns should be banned, it has been
Americans are faced with a big issue of violence in the streets, these streets where elderly people are beaten for their money and women are attacked and raped. Sadly, some people believe that the best way to deal with these violent occurrences is to pass gun control laws that take away legally owned guns from everyone. Not only does gun control end up disarming the innocent but it also violates the Second Amendment. By taking away guns from the American citizens, whom the Second Amendment bestowed onto us this act violates our rights. Unfortunately for those who have legally armed themselves for self-defense, gun control would eventually strip away their ability to fend for themselves. Gun control will also end up causing a rise in crime. By taking away arms from good law abiding citizens and leaving them defenseless, it makes things much easier for criminals by knowing that their victims are not armed. Although the gun ban would take away guns from stores, a criminal will find a way to get their hands on one, imagine that. Gun controls are taking away our rights as citizens. If a law abiding citizen happens to enjoy hunting, they will lose that right. Gun controls are also taking away weapons from citizens. Gun control is not having a positive effect on America because it violates the second amendment, takes away rights and it won’t reduce the crime rate.
Gun control is a very controversial issue among society at present. Many feel guns are the cause of a great amount of crime. This has been an especially popular topic recently in lieu of the shooting at Columbine and other high schools across the country. Are these crimes reason to take away our freedom to bear arms? I do not believe so. The average person uses guns mainly as a means of protection. If limitations are placed on guns, they will only stop the average American from obtaining a gun. The real criminals out there will still be able to obtain guns through the black market. Every American should have the right to protect them self.
Gun ownership should be banned to reduce the 100,000 deaths of americans that are shot every year in the United States. Throughout America’s history, we have been known as the extremely gun violent country unfit to protect our citizens from danger. The television news reports continue to display the violent crimes and school shootings that has harmed innocent people especially children. When the government allows guns to be legal in the United States, they are giving people the responsibility to use this weapon for self defense purposes and recreational sport such as hunting. However, gun owners have been unable to handle this responsibility