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"I say all guns are good guns. There are no bad guns. I say the whole nation should be an armed nation. Period. This rather bold statement was made by Joseph Foss, former Governor, and current President of the NRA, or National Rifle Association (Lacayo 16). I could not disagree more.
The NRA is a special interest group known by many. As a lobbyist organization, the NRA has a current main objective of protecting American citizens' rights, to possess and operate a firearm, form being violated by gun control laws. The same laws that 69 percent of the public support laws pushing for the stronger control of handguns and assault weapons (Gunfree). One of the NRA's main weapons in this crusade is the second amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America. The Amendments translation in the eyes of the NRA clearly protects the individual rights of all citizens to possess and operate firearms. According to the Supreme Court, in the 1939 case of U.
S. vs. Miller, the right to bear arms is only applicable if it has some relationship towards keeping a regulated militia. The Court has also stated that today's militia is the National Guard (Gunfree). The United States Government believes that the amendment guaranteed no right for individual citizens to possess weaponry, but merely allowed the government to form and maintain an armed service. Because of these different translations of our constitution, gun control, and the second amendment can be viewed in different ways.
Of the many gun control bans and laws under constant fire from the NRA are those pertaining to self-defense. The notion that guns are of great value to protect one's family is false. According to studies printed in the New England Journal of Medicine, households in which guns are present are five times more likely to experience a suicide, and three times more likely to experience a homicide, than gun free homes (Gunfree). Gun control is not only an issue that our federal government takes responsibility, but an issue that all forms of government at all levels take very seriously.
The first measure to control firearms at the federal level was in 1927 when congress passed the Mailing of Firearms Act, which made it illegal for normal civilians to send concealable weapons through the mail. Police and legitimate gun dealers were exempt from this law. Also, in 1938 the Federal Firearms Act was passed which made it mandatory for manufacturers to keep records of the names of gun purchasers, and the serial number of the gun that they purchased. This act also prohibited criminals from purchasing a gun or ammunition (Dolan 40). The Gun Control Act of 1968 incorporated many points from previous gun legislation, and added strict limitations on imports, and the sale of weapons most often used by criminals, such as sawed-off shotguns, and machine guns. More recently, in 1990 congress passed the Gun-Free School Zones Act, which makes a federal offence out of carrying a gun near a school building (Dolan 44).
Legal means of deadly force, or justifiable homicide, accounted for a mere fraction of handgun related deaths in the US. In 1995 there were 21, 597 murders and over 12, 000 of those murders were committed by handguns, but the startling fact is that only 179 of those killings were made by civilians in self-defense (Gunfree). Unfortunately, a large majority of shootings in the home, between one and two thousand, could have been prevented with laws that make purchasing a gun harder. A point made by anti-gun control groups is that if guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns. This argument is not valid.
We need stricter laws regulating the sale of guns. Only 27 % of inmates, in a recent survey done by the Criminal Justice Research Center, admitted to obtaining a gun from the black market (Gunfree). It is too easy to get a gun, no matter who you are. The same study reveals that 55 % of juvenile inmates got their last gun from a gun dealer, relatives, or acquaintances. Those guns were also obtained legally. Anti-gun control propaganda will have one believe that by taking guns away from the people, you take away some of the defense that a person has for his or her family, property, and life.
A person may choose from many more options when it comes to their or their families safety. To protect property, one could get a burglar alarm, or a simple watchdog. It should be noted, however, that not all forms of gun control are deemed intolerable by the armed masses. Surveys show that 73 % of the 70 million gun owners in America declared that mandatory gun registration exist. An astonishing 87 % of the voters stated that background checks be required when purchasing a new handgun (Lacayo 17). Another form of gun control, which both sides of this debate agreed, was a good idea was the toys for guns program.
This program allowed for $ 100 in toys, to be given to anyone who turns in a gun to the authorities. It was viewed as a safe way to get guns off the streets. While the saying, guns don't kill people, people kill people, is somewhat true, there would be less fatalities overall if more strict controls were put on handguns. Owning a gun may bring a feeling of security to its holder, but most people are not aware that they are putting themselves and their family at a higher risk for an accident involving a gun. Bibliography: Dolan, Edward F.
and Margaret M. Scariano. Guns In the United States. New York: Franklin Watts, 1994 Lacayo, Richard. "Who is the NRA?" Time Jan. 1990: 16 - 24.
Gunfree Home... as all homes should be. October 1999
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