Gun Control - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages He went past the crowd, straight to the senator’s table and he shot her point blanc in the head before anyone could comprehend the situation. After Giffords was shot, Loghner continued with the violence and opened fire at the people present. In the next 15 seconds, six people were kiled while thirteen lay wounded. The killing spree stopped only when Loughner stopped to re-load his weapon and some brave bystanders overpowered him and kept him pinned to the ground till the police arrived. This is the latest incidence in gun-related violence that has revived the gun control debate in the United States (Huffington Post 2011; Doeden 2012). Gun control has been a debatable issue in the United States of America and has sparked many controversies with many people upholding the significance of stricter gun control laws whereas others advocate the permission to lenient gun laws. Loughner had been in trouble with the law many times in the past. He was a troubled student and many of his friends and neighbours described him as mentally unstable. How is it that despite a criminial backgorund and dubious mental health was he able to legally obtain a firearm? Gun control is a complex issue in the United States. Incidences like this have taken place in the United States either in schools, in homes and on the street. ...
Everyone is of the opinion that when wrong people get hold of guns, tragedies happen. Those in favor of gun control say that more guns mean more gun-related deaths. The best way to stop gun violence is to make it more difficult for people to get guns in the first place. Those in favor of gun rights have a simple counter argument- “guns don’t kill people, people kill people”. They argue that people need to more educated and then allowed to keep and use their guns. The real question here is how to identify those who are dependable enough to use their guns responsibly from those who may end up being dangerous with guns? (Doeden 2012). When President Regan was shot in 1981, the bullet landed in his lung and he recovered from it soon. However, his press secretary Jim Brady was not so lucky and a bullet ended up in his head paralyzing him for life. (Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence: Jim Brady). The shooter was John Hinkley Jr. who had bought the revolver used for shooting at a pawnshop in Dallas, Texas using false information. After the shooting of her husband, Jim Brady’s wife Sarah became an active advocate for gun control saying that if Hinkley had been subjected to a background check, his criminal history would have been detected and this tragedy could have been avoided. Sarah Brady became the Chair of the board of Handgun Control Inc. (HCI) and in 1987 introduced the Brady act in U.S. Congress. Once the Brady law was passed HCI was renamed to the Brady Centre for Gun Control and it is still actively working on getting guns off the streets (Brady and McLoughlin 2002). According to information from the Brady Centre, up to 3042 young children and adolescents lose their lives owing to gunfire in the Unites States. This figure ...Download file to see next pagesRead More