Gun Control Laws Essay Example
Gun Control Laws Essay Example

Gun Control Laws Essay Example

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  • Published: November 17, 2018
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In America questions of gun control have been evident. Beliefs vary from no infringement on a person's right to own and bear arms shall be brought about, to other's ideas that guns should be eliminated from the population to reduce crime and violence. Recently, with many of the highly publicized atrocities evident in our culture these points have been the two major sides supporting the gun control debate. The simple fact is that the invention of the gun provided a tool of progress, and has been influential in our success as human beings. In the United States this fact was understood and adopted by making right to ownership a law.

Though crime and violence does exist, gun controls in America are not a solution to the problem. Gun control laws are wrong and will have a negative impact on soc

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iety and the successes observed over recent years. Since the inception of gun powder a method, or a tool for, firing a projectile through a barrel with great force soon followed. Early in its evolution this tool was utilized by people to acquire tangibles by force. This was counteracted by people using the same tool to defend their property. Throughout history this pattern has not changed significantly. Whether these actions are right or wrong does not matter, the gun is only a tool applied for these purposes. Just like a hammer is used to build, it is equally beneficial for demolition. Our country, well known as the world leader, was won under these pretences. Though both sides needed, and used guns, our past countrymen applied them in a more successful manner to acquire our freedom. The use

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of the gun was a key for early pioneers in America. Not only did the gun provide for protection from wild animals, but it granted easy access to food through hunting. For people on the move this tool was a necessity for survival, both for protection and promotion of life.

The ability to hunt and protect has evolved into a sport. Just like a bat and ball can showcase abilities of precision and athletics, the use of a gun for sport exemplifies marksmanship and abilities to hunt and survive. Many people in the United States understand this and have embraced it. "The National Shooting Sports Foundation was established in 1961 to represent the shooting sports industry. The Foundation recognizes that the shooting sports industry has been supported by 18 to 20 million Americans who engage in hunting" (Utter 222). Throughout history the gun has proved to be an influential tool. Whether for good or bad it has uses to promote progress. Guns, and their use, in the United States are too widespread and cannot be removed or excessively controlled. Any advance towards this will result in rebellious activities similar to those exhibited during prohibition. Our founding fathers had the forethought to understand the importance of the gun. They realized its necessity for protection from tyranny. This thought was realized through the constitution and ratified by the Second Amendment of to Bill of Rights. "This amendment states in typically laconic fashion, "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"" (Utter 268).

This amendment has been analyzed and interpreted many

times to suit many arguments. In most cases the word "Militia" is the basis for difference in interpretations. Whatever definition has been accepted for "Militia" is circumstantial. The Bill of Rights were not written to guarantee rights for only certain situations, so it can be assumed the term "Militia" was used to cover every basis that the word defines. For use in these writings it would be best to take a literal look at its definition as given by Blacks Law Dictionary: "Militia: The body of citizens in a state, enrolled for a discipline as a military force, but not engaged in actual service except in emergencies, as distinguished from regular troops or a standing army" ("Militia."). This definition can clearly encompass any citizen willing to organize oneself, or as a force, with motivation aside to serve alongside, or in opposition to, a regular standing army. In a simple sense any person can be, or be part of a militia. It does not matter what definition, or interpretation, one decides to believe. The Second Amendment was included in the Bill of Rights to provide security and protections from opposition that may conflict with what our founding fathers believed were inalienable rights. It can be questioned, why put the freedom of gun ownership second after the freedom of religion?

Freedom of religion was a major reason for our revolution. The fact that our past countrymen won the revolution, and utilized the gun as a tool, was a testament to its importance. The use of the gun did not go unnoticed, and it can be seen in its inclusion as the Second Bill to the ratification of the

constitution. The gun is a tool that provides equality for all people. This ideal needs to be understood by the ignorant, as it accepted by opponents of gun control laws. A prominent spokesperson in opposition to gun control laws stated this ideal well. Charlton Heston, a one time actor and now the president of The National Rifle Association voiced his opinion of the Second Amendment to put it best. "Heston refers to the Second Amendment as "America's first freedom" because, he claims, it protects all other freedoms contained in the bill of Rights: It is the first among equals" (qtd. in Utter 137). This idea can be simplified and observed to see how guns are used to promote progress through equality. Unfortunately the gun can be used as a tool to facet crime and violence. Levels of crime vary from country to country throughout the world, and even from city to city in Ohio. It can be assumed that most people would like to see these levels at zero, but the simple fact is that crime and violence does exist, and always will exist, with or without the use of guns. In the United States crime and violence is a major focus of attention. Understandably, it is well conceived to be a major problem.

A large part of the population believes that crime and violence is a result of gun ownership in America. Others see it differently, hence a reason for debate. It is obvious that America has an infatuation with the gun, and can be observed by its exaggerated use in our movies and television shows. Is the gun the cause of crime and violence,

or is it the easiest thing to blame? "The passion guns evoke strongly suggests that the debate is at least as much about the symbolic meanings we attach to them as it is about guns themselves" (Dizard 1). The argument that guns result in crime and violence is weak, and adopted by the population who watch too many movies and are looking for a simple solution to the problem. The idea of gun control to reduce criminal and violent activities can be compared to a proposal for banning cigarettes to cure all cancers. Any deviation from the right to own and bear arms is pointless. Instead the root cause of crime and violence needs to be understood and addressed. The root cause stems from a difference in beliefs between human beings. The difference in beliefs between religious viewpoints, political ideals, governmental dictations, social classifications, or the belief that what is yours should be mine, etc., generates anger within people. In the United States these differences have been observed throughout our history. In fact, its safe to assume that, due to the origins of our population, The United States has endured a greater level of difference than any other population on Earth. The problem arises when that anger is generated into hostile actions. Whether planned or provoked these hostile actions lead to damage of someone else, or their property. The root cause of crime and violence lies within the population that chooses to resort to hostile actions, and often results in crimes of murder, burglary, and rape, etc.

The point that the gun is the favorite tool of choice for perpetrators is irrelevant. Let's step back and

analyze the recent history of crime in the United States. For now only the homicide rate will be observed. "Homicide is of interest not only because of its severity but also because it is a fairly reliable barometer of all violent crime. At a national level, no other crime is measured as accurately and precisely" (U.S Department). The following data gives a trend for the rate of homicide over the past fifty years, and is presented on a per capita basis. The homicide rate doubled from the mid 1960's to the late 1970's. In 1980, itpeaked at 10.2 per 100,000 population and subsequently fell off to 7.9 per 100,000 in 1985. It rose again in the late 1980's and early 1990's to another peak in 1991 of 9.8 per 100,000. Since then, the rate has declined sharply, reaching 5.5 per 100,000 by the year 2000. (U.S Department) Additionally, statistics show this trend of reduction for occurrences of all serious violent crimes. "The definition of serious violent crime includes rape, robbery, aggravated assault, and homicide. Extrapolations from graphical representations show that the total number of serious violent crimes fell from a level of just over four million in 1993 to well under two million by 2000" (U.S Department). It should be noted this data is not per capita and does not take population growth into effect. Even without this, the reduction in serious violent crimes fell by over 50% during that time period.

The increases in homicide rate can be explained by the previously stated root cause determination. It would be tough to blame these trends on the lack of gun control in the United States. In

the 1960's social reform pertaining to ethnicity was prevalent. It peaked in the late 1960's and continued into the 1970's along with escalating protest against the Vietnam War. A large population of protestors emerged and had a voice. With this, an era of drug use was born. The death of anti-war protests did not infringe on the civil rights movement, and the drug culture continued to proceed. A great difference in beliefs was evident. These differences continued to evolve throughout the 1980's and were compounded by gang warfare and the promotion of violence in the late 1980's and early 1990's. Throughout all of this there was a large population of angry oppressors, and their actions often resulted in crime and violence. The declination of homicide rate observed starting in the mid - 1990's can be explained through the following social reforms and changes; Equal rights for all people were realized and provided, the war on drugs was won through education and enforcement, and gang lore died with the "murder rap" which glorified it. These occurrences proceeded, though sometimes through violence, and led to a progression of our society. At no time was the right of gun ownership stripped. Instead, it was used as a tool by both sides to provide a greater outcome. Many supporters of gun control will look at the difference in crime and violence compared to other industrialized countries. "One of the least productive lines of inquiry in the gun control debate has been to make pairwise comparisons of the U.S. with other nations" (Kleck 331).

But to humor the opponents, these writings will venture into that argument. Gun control advocates claim that

crime is low in the UK because the British have fewer guns than Americans. But European countries have always had lower violent crime rates than the U.S., even before strict gun control laws were passed. Moreover, many violent crime rates in Europe and elsewhere are increasing faster than in the U.S. right now. (Otero 54) These observances are well demonstrated through statistics. "Property crimes represent 9 out of 10 serious crimes, the burglary rate in Australia is 40% higher than that in the U.S., in Canada 12% higher and in England and Wales 30% higher. Sweden and the Netherlands, despite their reputations as nearly crime-free, have burglary rates 35% and 84% greater than the U.S." (Morgan A14). Furthermore, lets just compare England to the U.S.. ". . . Most recently, the British Parliament has acted to ban all handguns and may Britons have advocated a complete prohibition on all firearms" (Utter 305). The effects of this can be shown through the following observances: "The English robbery rate was about half the U.S. rate in 1981, but was 40% higher than America's in 1995. The English assault rate was slightly higher than America's in 1981, but more than double by 1995. The English burglary rate was half America's in 1981, but nearly double by 1995" (Morgan A14) It is obvious that gun control laws have minimal effect in England as well as in other countries.

There is still the question of why serious crimes in the United States dramatically declined beginning in the mid 1990's, besides the social occurrences that have already been mentioned. Another reason may be that legislation during that time period set forth to

add police officers to the population. "Title I of the 1994 Crime Bill intends to add 100,000 police officers nationally by the year 2000. . . . 100,000 more would be an increase of 18.4 percent" (Dizard 291). Additionally, with this idea, a more strict set of punishments were set forth for crimes committed with a gun. Still, no significant amount of guns was taken off the streets. Sticking with the argument that England has less crime due to stricter gun control laws, the following observances show that our decreased level of crime is a result of increased rates of detection and more severe punishment. "English conviction rates for rape, burglary, assault and auto theft plunged by half or more since 1981, while the likelihood of serving prison time for committing a serious violent crime or burglary has increased substantially in the U.S." (Morgan A14). The following statistics can be used to quantify this observance in the United States. Murder has dropped 30% as the probability of going to prison has risen 53%. Rape has decreased 14% as the probability of imprisonment has increased 12%. Robbery has decreased 29% as the probability of imprisonment has increased 28%. Burglary has decreased 18% as the probability of imprisonment has increased 14%. (Morgan A14) Should we in the United States adopt the philosophy of gun control so widely accepted in other countries? Or should our population continue to understand and enforce punishments on the population that converts their anger into hostile actions. The removal of gun ownership would put a hindrance on the population that uses it as a tool for protection.

Some people rely on their possession of

a gun for deterrence of crime and violence. This population has great numbers, and as previously described can be defined as a militia. If controls were taken to limit gun ownership this population would be put at risk and stripped of their liberty. They believe that possession of a gun gives empowerment against the potential for crimes committed against them. This population is often well trained and educated on proper gun use, and thus do not often find themselves in situations were misuse could cause harm. "More than 90 percent of all uses of guns in self defense do not involve actually firing the weapon . . ." (Sowell 69). There are others that keep weapons in their home strictly for use against invaders. The idea behind this is, once again, for protection. A victim of burglary can be anyone, but the knowledge of a perpetrator that their potential victim is armed is a major deterrent to that criminal. "Most burglars report that they avoid late night burglaries because "that is the way to get shot". . .Gun ownership for home protection is considerably more beneficial to the entire community than many other anti- burglary measures" (Roleff 15). This idea is well understood by a huge part of our population, and is the point why many Americans choose to exercise their right to own and bear arms.

The majority of time gun ownership is probably not given a second thought, and most do not see it as a problem. "The tremendous degree to which widespread gun ownership makes American homes safer from invaders is one of the great unreported stories of the American gun control debate"

(Kim 78). Just with this information it is time to state "let well enough alone" or "don't screw up a good thing". No population supporting gun control laws can take away, or limit, ownership of another person's well stated right to keep and bear arms. Besides all of this, any infringement on a person's right to keep and bear arms will have further negative impacts on our structure of today's successful society. A removal of our right guaranteed under the Second Amendment will give rise to greater control of the U.S. government over its population. This is a major reason why our founding fathers found this amendment to be so important and supported its inclusion second only to freedom of religion. Without the use of a gun for our protection against a tyrannical government, who is to say that further control progressions would not lead to communism or martial law?

Additionally, what will happen to the market for gun production and every other industry that provide resources to it? Eliminating gun ownership eliminates a large number of new purchases; in fact it can be assumed that this would be a huge blow to a large part of the manufacturing sector. This, in turn, would reduce incoming taxes to governments thus a raise in taxes would be necessary, and job losses would increase significantly and have no source of replacement. These are some of the most severe problems evident in our society today, and the point that some people think gun control would be beneficial fail to see how that thought could impact their life. With the use of the gun as a tool, our society is

moving more towards a vision of equality and people are learning to settle their differences in a non-violent manner. As a result crime and violence in the United States is in decline, and gun controls have nothing to do with this. America needs to continue to educate and punish perpetrators that channel anger into hostility, and steer away from the idea of that our "right to keep and bear arms" should be removed.

Works Cited

  1. Dizard, Jan E., Robert Merrill Muth, and Stephen P. Andrews, Jr.. Guns in America: A Reader. New York: New York University Press, 1999. 1, 291.
  2. Kim, Henny H., ed. Guns and Violence: San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. 78.
  3. Kleck, Gary. "International Comparisons and the Killias Research." The Gun Control Debate: You Decide. Ed. Lee Nisbet. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2001. 331.
  4. "Militia." Blacks Law Dictionary with Pronunciations, 1979 ed Otero, Glen. "Gun Ownership Does Not Contribute to Violent Crime." Gun
  5. Violence: Opposing Viewpoints. Ed. James D. Torr. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2002. 54.
  6. Reynolds, Morgan O. "Europe Surpasses America in Crime." The Wall Street Journal New York 16 Oct 98 Eastern: A14.
  7. Roleff, Tamara L., ed. Guns and Crime: San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2000. 15.
  8. Sowell, Thomas. "Gun Ownership Increases Personal Safety." Gun Violence: Opposing Viewpoints. Ed. James D. Torr. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2002. 69.
  9. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs. Bureau of Justice Statistics. 30 Jan 04
  10. Utter, Glenn H. Encyclopedia of Gun Control and Gun Rights: Phoenix: The Oryx Press, 2000. 137, 222, 268, 305.
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