By: Alex. O.
Should guns be outlawed for citizens to carry or even
possess in the United States? There are several different viewpoints and
possible solutions to the issue of all the violent crime that has occurred
throughout the last year. From the Aurora shooting in Colorado to the Sandy
Hook school shooting in Connecticut, gun violence is an issue that is truly
plaguing America. Some people believe that a solution would be to not allow
anyone that is not law enforcement or military to carry a gun of any kind.
Others argue that a solution like that would be a violation of our second
amendment rights. Still others argue that the solution lies somewhere in the
middle of these two extremes.
Those that want all guns to be allowed argue that taking
guns away from people will not make them safer; in fact, it will take away a
lot of their safety. A popular quote among this group is that if the government
outlaws guns, then only outlaws will have guns. This is a valid point. It would
work that if the government takes away the 310 million registered firearms
nationwide, all that would be left are police, other law enforcement, and
military guns… along with the estimated 240 million unregistered guns. Along
with that, they argue that if guns were to be outlawed, and one of these
illegal gun owners wanted to use it on someone, the least of their legal
concerns would be the ticket they might get for having an illegal firearm in
their possession. Another statistic made by gun-rights groups is that only four
one-thousands of a percent of guns are used in violent crime. This is next to
nothing.
Supporters of gun control claim that guns are a menace to
society claiming that guns are used in more violent crime today than ever
before. In countries like Australia, New Zealand, or Japan, violent crime is
significantly lower than in countries that allow guns. They also believe that
banning guns is the best thing that we can do to prevent gun violence. Along
with a zero tolerance policy for gun possession, the best way to protect
ourselves and our children is to not allow them to have guns or be around guns
at all.
Still others believe that we should allow guns, but not
allow assault weapons of any kind for the public to be able to own. They
believe that if a person is able to get their hands on an assault weapon and
had reason to use it, they would and the consequences would be another tragedy
like what happened in Aurora or at Sandy hook. Another solution that seems to
be popular is extending the background checks that are performed on potential
gun owners, and having zero tolerance for anything in someone’s background that
seems to be a possible threat if the person were to be in possession of a
firearm. Whatever your opinion is, though, it is ultimately up to the men and
women that we voted into office to make it happen, so make sure that your voice
is heard so that the best possible solution can be found for this issue that is
plaguing the United States.
Alex, I think that extending the background check idea is great especially because people are changing all of the time. One day they may be cleared to own a gun, but they may use that gun for unnecessary violent uses and the background check later on could prevent future violent gun crimes. I think this would be a partial solution to a major issue and could be the start to solving the problem of gun violence all together.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I believe that guns should not be banned for the reasons that you presented. It would take away our rights and the ban wouldn’t work. Bans, in general, do not work. Drugs are illegal but that doesn’t stop many people getting them. Alcohol was made illegal and everyone knows how that ended. If guns were banned bad people are still going to find a way to get guns, but now the people that they would use them against are defenseless which will make the criminals more likely to act.
ReplyDeleteThe issue of gun control continues to grow and a solution is a necessity. I find it important for everyone to remain with guns in their home if they desire. It is everyone's own choice if they decide to own a gun or not. An argument to get rid of guns has been that they cause a threat to our children but there would be no threat if they decided to get rid of a gun. I believe at this point, to try to ban guns will just be like proliferation. It wont work. There are already too many educated people with guns so if a law was passed to stop the selling of weapons to citizens within the United States, they would be able to maintain the weapons they already have. The black market is full of weapons for anyone to get a hold of, that is what the main issue is. What Americans could do is set stronger regulations on the people looking to attain new weapons and require gun safety classes annually.
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