Gun Control
Gun control is undoubtedly an issue that most Americans have been exposed to. In 1989, guns killed 11,832 Americans. The National Rifle Association (NRA) members believe that it is their constitutional right to own guns, stating that guns are not the root of the crime problem in the United States. Gun control activists like the members of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV) argue that guns are responsible for the majority of violent crimes that take place. They wish to instill many types of bans and waiting periods on firearms, making it nearly impossible to obtain a handgun. In fact, in 1993 the Brady Bill, which mandates a waiting period on buying firearms, was passed. Their arguments range from protecting children to saying that guns are diseases, but when one looks at the facts, though, the arguments of gun control advocates seem irrelevant and it becomes clear that guns should not be controlled. Gun ownership by private citizens is protected under the 2nd Amendment. It 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 forefathers of our country meant for the people to own and use
"Assault weapons", if banned, will not help to reduce gun violence. A police officer has a better chance of encountering an escaped tiger from the local zoo than confronting an "assault weapon". The gun control activists are right- there is too much crime in the United States. Giving the name "assault weapon" is similar to giving red vehicles with speedometers that go beyond one hundred miles per hour the name "death cars" because these are said to be the favored vehicles of drunk and reckless drivers. This bill, which was most definitely oversold by its supporters, has become the prime distinction in most American's minds with gun control. Ironically, the passage of this bill in 1993 has done nothing to reduce crime; in fact violence has risen still since the passage of the bill. Newton shows, " between the years of 1937 and 1963, gun ownership in the United States increased by 250 percent. The fact is that more Americans die yearly from pneumonia and influenza than in all homicides and suicides, even non-gun related, combined. The second amendment should end the argument to the whole gun control debate, and maybe in a few years another analysis of it will. Gun control should not take place. Or maybe gun control activists, instead of trying to prevent the ownership of guns, which deter crime, should focus their energy and effort into a direction to the root of the crime problem- the criminals. Kopel is Director of the Second Amendment Project at the Independence Institute. Toughening up gun control laws is not going to reduce crime.
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Acceptance Essays
