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... t or a teacher getting shot inside the school property has probably been reduced, which is positive. But the fact remains that outside of the school property the risk of being a victimized is growing every year. In order for these types of events not to occur legislators and other professionals are emphasizing precautionary actions of the gun owners and most of the time a ban on guns isnt mentioned. Why I should be denied the same right my father and grandfather had? (Skelton).
Because times have changed, guns are not solely created and used for hunting anymore, and with todays technology, in the form of automatic guns and high impact ammunition, guns have become deadlier, which leaves a greater responsibility on the owners. Are people ready for that responsibility? A quite common phrase is: Guns dont kill people, it is the people that pull the trigger. Yes, people do the killing, but does that justify the government providing the citizens with the instruments of death.
In theory, if all people were to act totally responsibly this dilemma wouldnt exist. The fact of the matter is that a lot of killings occur when a persons judgment is clouded by means of drugs or emotions. In these conditions not many people act responsibly, which is a condition for allowing people the right to arm themselves. One of the reasons why governments exist is to protect us from ourselves in times of rage, greed, anger and other emotions for the maintaining equality in society. The government is not protecting the rights of the individual when they are allowing people to own firearms in knowing the consequential price of death and injury that is paid by so many year after year. International incidents such as the school massacre in Dunblane, Great Britain or the mass shooting in Tasmania, Australia triggered immediate effects in strengthening further the very strict existing gun control laws in their respective countries (America and Guns 16).
Governments in other western countries usually make adjustments to their gun laws in direct relationship to violent incidents. Massacres like these dont seem to spark the same enthusiasm among politicians to change any gun control laws significantly. The fact is that in 1996 two people in New Zealand, 15 in Japan, 30 in Britain, 106 in Canada, 211 in Germany and 9, 390 in the U. S. A.
were murdered with handguns. There are about 500, 000 incidents, from assault to murder, that involve firearms every year and they results in 35, 000 deaths, including suicides and accidents, in the U. S. every year (America and Guns 16). Compared with other countries the statistics are alarming. It seems as the Americans wants to keep their guns no matter what the price.
The National Rifle Association is the leading pro-gun organization in the United States. On their Internet site they describe many aspects of their organization. An excerpt from the page describing the members of their organizations common interest reads: What members share with every other member is an appreciation of the shooting sports, belief in our constitutional right to keep and bear arms and, most of all, a commitment to safety, responsibility and freedom. (NRA) Whether or not the NRA are one of the contributing factors or not to the incredibly high firearm death statistics in the U. S. , the NRA has very much political power and will do all they can to uphold the second Amendment. The part about the gun organization having a pledge to safety, responsibility and freedom doesnt make sense. In a survey conducted by John Hopkins Center for Gun and Policy Research and the University of Chicago revealed that most American citizens would like to see guns more strictly regulated.
That means that not only do other international governments see a direct relationship between guns and death but even the American people. In 1991, one years misuse of guns claimed as many lives as the Korean War. One and a half years total death toll from guns equaled the number of dead in Vietnam. Nine years of deaths due to misuses of firearms equals the entire death toll for World War II (ODonnel 771). Do people in the U. S.
really understand how many lives that are being wasted every year because of the misuse of firearms? By 1998 legislation in 31 states, 9 since 1995 has passed laws issuing concealed weapons licenses to citizens (America and Guns 18). Some experts claim that letting people obtain licenses for carrying a gun while walking around in the streets is the cheapest way in lowering the horrendous statistics. Other experts claim that arming people is never a good answer to this problem because it adds to the risk of people getting shot in anger. Actually it doesnt really matter what the experts derive out of the situation; the scariest detail is that legislators in these states have come to the conclusion that the most effective way to make America safer is to carry guns in the streets. A study of the murder rate in Washington D.
C. showed that within three years of the passage of a law prohibiting the sale of handguns in the city the murder rate dropped by 25 % (Kruschke 22). The state of South Carolina and the city of Boston experienced similar results when stricter gun control laws were recently enforced. In Boston the homicide rate dropped by 39 % and in South Carolina the murder rate dropped by 28 % (Kruschke 23). These are just some example of cities and states that have realized that strict gun control is one way of decreasing high murder rates. According to a survey conducted by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research revealed that the majority of Americans would like to see guns more tightly regulated (Fire Control).
Lets face it, a shooting is national news in most western countries but in the U. S. it is merely an every day occurrence that often doesnt even get national coverage by the media. The American public is feeling the horrendous effects of violence that the second Amendment brings and many realize that something has to be done to decrease the annual death toll due to guns. The Gun Control Act of 1968 was attempt by the government to restrict the sale of Bibliography:
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Research essay sample on Gun Control Laws Death Toll
