Gun Control
Gun control is an action of the government that
is supposed to reduce crime.
Congress has passed many laws on this
subject and there really has not been an
effect. Gun control has been a
controversial issue for years, but the citizens
of the United States have a
right to own guns and the Constitution states that.
On the government's
path to control guns they created the Brady Act. Handgun
Control
Incorporated is the major organization for lobbying, and
introducing
legislation on gun control. It is headed by Sarah Brady, wife of
former White
House Press Secretary James Brady. James Brady was shot
during an attempt on
President Reagan's life in 1981. Sarah is the one
responsible for introducing
this bill. This bill was supposed to stop
criminals from obtaining guns. If an
individual wants a firearm bad enough,
chances are they will get one (Brennen
and Polsby). All it does Is prevent
honest people from being able to purchase
guns. The person purchasing the gun
has to wait for two week while the
government performs a background check.
The problem with this is it stops the
average citizen from purchasing a gun
on the whim, while it protects the common
criminal. What if a burglar enters
a house with full intention to maim or kill?
The innocent victim can not
get a gun to protect his family because he was
arrested seven years ago for
drunk driving (Larson). According to the General
Accounting Office, in
the first seventeen months of the law's existence only
seven criminals were
convicted for attempting to buy a handgun. Banning more and
more guns may
reduce gun violence, but it will not eliminate guns from society
and will
only lead to more and bigger problems. While continuing to take more
freedom
away from the American people. Gun control laws do not prevent little
kids
from using guns and harming people. Violent video games help children
with
their marksmanship and to get over their fear of shooting someone.
Parents of
three slain girls in the Heath School shootings are going after
the
manufacturers. They feel that violent video games are partially
responsible for
their children's death. They claim that the video game taught
the shooter how to
be an excellent marksman. The boy had never used a gun,
but was skilled enough
to hit eight moving targets in only eight shots
(Prichard). Another fact that
backs up the parent's belief is that of
military training. Each year billions of
dollars are spent to train police
and the military how to shoot. Video
simulation is the best way to help
overcome the natural resistance that most
people have about shooting someone.
Studies show that people are extraordinary
susceptible to programming. One
main difference between military training and
video games is that military
instructions are constantly pausing the action and
where the video game is in
constant action (Blakemore). There is no direct
relationship between the
number of guns and the amount of crime in the United
States. Between 1973
and 1992, the rate of gun ownership increased by forty-five
percent while the
homicide rate during that period fell by nearly ten percent.
Even with
the increasing number of guns in society the homicide rate
decreased,
highlighting that guns are not the root of the problem, people
are. Guns do not
kill people, people kill people. Guns do not work as
self-protection against
criminals. Guns are just as valuable to civilians as
they are to police
officers. As many as sixty-five lives are protected by
guns for every life lost
to a gun. Every year potential victims kill between
two thousand and three
thousand criminals, and wound an additional nine
thousand to seventeen thousand.
Private citizens mistakenly kill innocent
people only thirty times a year,
compared to about three hundred and ten
mistaken killings by police. Criminals
succeed in taking a gun away from an
armed victim less than one percent of the
time. Gun control laws are needed
to prevent the purchase of saturday night
specials and assault weapons.
Criminals generally prefer larger caliber and more
expensive handguns
(Brennen and Polsby). President Clinton proposed a
restriction on armor
piercing ammo. However, the FBI reported that sixty-eight
percent of officers
killed were not wearing a vest. Of those killed wearing a
vest ninety-five
percent were shot in unprotected areas. Many people like to use
guns for
recreation use. The NRA, National Rifle Association, even has its own
hunting
magazines. These magazines are the American Hunter and American
Rifleman.
Hunting is a great sport and with these new gun control laws it is
harder and
harder for good citizens to buy guns for recreation. Hunting is not
only a
sport but also a hobby. Target shooting is even part of the
Olympics.
Another thing people use guns for is target practice. This is
mostly for
personal safety. The better marksman you are the easier it is to
protect
yourself. Some people even like to shoot targets for fun. The
government has no
right to take away hobbies from the American people,
especially if its not
hurting anyone. The government keeps chipping away at
our right as American
citizens by imposing gun control legislation. There are
several major anti-gun
control groups. These groups include the National
Rifle Association (NRA) and
the Gun Owners of America (GOA). The National
Rifle Association is a national
group dedicated to the upholding of the
Second Amendment of the Constitution. In
their magazines, American Hunter and
American Rifleman, they say, "The
National Rifleman Association believes
that every law-abiding citizen is
entitled to the ownership and legal use of
firearms." The National Rifleman
Association does many things to help
display their beliefs and persuades others
to their beliefs. This association
also has a strong influence on legislation,
because it has many lobbyists and
supporters in government. This group has many
members in Congress, and former
presidents George Bush and Ronald Reagan are NRA
members. The Gun Owners of
America is another group that is against gun control.
The Gun Owners of
America preserves and defends the rights of gun owners through
legislation.
They publish books, articles, and videos on gun issues and how
those issues
affect people. They also conduct seminars for the press and
Congress
about issues on the Second Amendment, and gun issues. The GOA opposes
bans on
semiautomatic weapons, armor piercing ammunition, and handguns.
The
Second 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." The functions of the militia as stated
in Article
1, Section 8, clause 15 of the Constitution are to execute the
Laws of the
Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions. If we
allow the government
to regulate and ban the only effective method of defense
the people have, then
on that day this country will no longer be one ruled by
the people and for the
people, but instead one that has surrendered all its
power to the government.
With the apparent failure of gun laws one could
agree that more is not the
answer. Banning guns will not solve the crime
problem it will only change the
method. If guns are not available then
another weapon will be used or an older
gun. Simple laws will not stop a
person who is determined to cause someone harm.
This is why people should
be allowed to own and carry guns. This allows them to
protect themselves from
those kinds of people. Proper education in school and
other places to teach
how to use a gun and to respect guns as a dangerous weapon
is what is needed
to reduce gun violence in the future. If we allow the
government to ban guns
the American people will be defenseless and powerless to
stop the government
from taking over or to stop an outside invasion if either
were to occur. This
country was born because the citizens were armed and could
fight for
themselves. How can we remove the very object that helped give our
country
its freedom?