Guns Should Be Banned - Essay Example

Due: “Guns should be banned” Introduction Gun control is perhaps the most controversial and trending issue in the United States of America. The USA is mostly affected by this issue, because it is the largest manufacturer and distributor of arms and ammunitions. The country exports arms and ammunitions to other countries too, and has stores selling arms and ammunitions in every State and country of the county. However, the question whether guns should be banned or not, remains a controversial debate. The supporters of gun use raise the argument that the use of guns is not related to the increase in crime in the United States (Brown). Moreover, they also offer the argument that every civilian has the right to defend themselves and protect their lives, according to the Second Amendment; this gives them the right ownership of guns. The supporters of the use of guns say that guns are used for defending the life of people; they also emphasize on the point that if guns are banned, then criminals would find another method to take people’s life. A gun is a source through which people can protect their own life and the life of their loved ones, and if guns are banned, then what would the civilians have to protect themselves? Supporters of gun control state that not every person who is killed by a gun is innocent; many people have used guns to kill those or injure those, who have tried to hurt them. However, there are more incidents in which the life of people, who are innocent, have been taken, then the life of someone has been saved. To prove this point, the statistics released by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention should be taken into account, which states that 70% of the homicides, which happen in America and are 11,101 in number, are committed using guns. Moreover, a survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice revealed the fact that America witnesses a total of 5,340,000 violent crimes in the year 2008, out of which 436,000 were committed, using a gun. Moreover, the most common method used by teens and adults, for committing suicide is with the use of a gun. The legal issue of gun ownership arises, when a person buys a gun with the intention of defending themselves, and if they do kill someone, they can claim that they defended themselves, and they might not even face a jail sentence. Supporters of gun use state that it is up to the parents to look after their children and to see if they don’t have access to guns, however, this doesn’t mean that the parents shouldn’t have access to guns themselves. For example, if there is a robbery taking place in a home, and the robbers are harming a child, then shouldn’t parents have the right to shoot that person? The reason why civilians have been given the right to own a gun is because they need to protect themselves from those people, who own guns illegally and have the ability to harm others. The most alarming situation here is that small children have access to guns, because their parents keep guns in their house, for their own protection. However, what they don’t know is that their child knows where the gun is kept, and in their naïve and impulsive state, they can actually take the gun and shoot someone. Moreover, guns are everywhere; they are present in the most attractive and violent video games for children, they can be seen in the most glamorous movies, where the characters are famous actors of Hollywood, and the audience which sees them are young. These young men or even women get so inspired by their favorite characters, that they feel the need to imitate them. They don’t feel that there is anything wrong with taking a gun or shooting someone, because that is exactly how it has been portrayed in these movies. An argument is raised by the supporters of gun use, that if guns are banned, then the government would have to re-call every gun that is present in the country, and this would cost them a lot. There is a gun for every person in America, and if every gun is called back in case of being banned, then it would cost the economy a lot. The government would have a large amount of guns in their hand and they would be in loss, because they would have to compensate the people, they have taken guns back from. Moreover, those who support gun would also protest all over the country, which is most likely to cause riots. There is no debate over whether it would cost them or not cost them, but the most important point here is that if we are considering this factor, then do we consider money more important than human lives? Many people have lost their lives due to guns in the USA and many have lost their loved ones. The most terrible incident is perhaps the death of elementary school children, who were innocent and didn’t harm the shooter in any way. Firearms were manufactured for the purpose of protecting people, however, their purpose have changed. There has been an increase in crime rate, as there has been an increase in the number of firearms, which are manufactured and distributed in the USA. The most thought provoking question for the supporters of gun use should be that, if guns are manufactured for the purpose of making people feel safe, then why isn’t American the safest place on earth? This is because the firearms which are manufactured, usually get in the hands of the people are who are criminals, drug lords or are related to some mafia. These criminals then abuse their ownership of guns, and kill people, who come in their way or discover their illegal activities. Studies have proved that if guns are present in schools, colleges and universities, then the chances of gun related violence also increase. For example, the incidents mentioned earlier showed the involvement of young students, who murdered their class fellows and teachers, with the use of guns and were in a rage. Some of these guns were stolen from their own homes or close relatives. Supporters of gun use state that American Parliament should make laws which would restrict gun selling to students of universities and schools. This way, guns couldn’t be used for illegal purposes; instead of banning guns because they are easily accessible, laws should be made to make the access of guns difficult for every other citizen. The issue here is not whether guns are accessible for these students because as America is the biggest manufacturer and distributor of guns, everyone has access to guns. Perhaps the most prominent problems here is that guns are available easily on the black market, but the legal sellers of these guns, don’t run background checks on people, before providing them with a gun. Background checks are important because it tells a little about the person; if the buyer is an ex-criminal, then he is not allowed to possess a gun because of his past record and this is as per the law. Moreover, if the person is mentally ill, then he is also not allowed to own a gun. However, not every mentally ill patient has a past record or has ever been in a mental institution, which makes it difficult for the seller to assess, whether he should or should sell a gun to that person (Vernick 84). The availability of guns on the premises of a school or a universe is dangerous, because in such places, students are more likely to get into heated arguments and these arguments can get serious. In case a student has a gun hidden in his locker or back pocket, he is most likely to shoot the student he is fighting with. Schools and universities are not the only places which have become unsafe due to gun use, in fact, entertainment areas like parks and movie theatres, have also become an unsafe place for people to go (Younge). Supporters of gun use say that if guns should be banned, then why shouldn’t abortions, smoking cigarettes and consuming alcohol be banned too? In fact, alcohol consumption has caused numerous deaths over the past decades; drivers, who are drunk, indulge in reckless driving, which risk the lives of innocent bystanders. Moreover, people who under the influence of drugs, are a danger to others too because they are not in their senses and don’t have ability to think what they are doing. Their state leads to serious consequences like rape and murder. Abortion is a controversial topic, under which most people hold the opinion that it is killing of an innocent child, who is dependent on the mother. If the mother has an abortion, then the right to live has been taken away from the child. However, the counter argument here is that the way guns take lives of innocent people, the above three things don’t. Supporters of gun use don’t want to discuss the issue at hand, which has serious consequences if no legislation or strict laws are made. People are dying every year, because the American government has been unable to control the use of guns and to restrict its distribution. Moreover, those who support gun use, should consider the statistics, which have been issued by the Center of Disease and Control, that less than 1% of homicides involve the murder of children, using firearms, thus, if the victim of a gun shooting incident was the child of a supporter of gun use, would he still feel the same way? (Dimatteo). When a family keeps gun in their house, anything can happen. Parents work from day till evening and most of the time, children are alone in the house. Children fight, but sometimes, when they lose control or get extremely angry and they know where their parents keep the gun, then the situation is most likely to get ugly. A home is considered to be the safest place for a child, where he is loved by his parents, however, if a gun is kept in the house and the child is aware of it were about, and then would it still be a safe place? A counter argument in favor of guns here would be that, if students know that their children are carrying guns, then why are they not reported to the school authorities? This is their moral and ethical responsibility; banning guns wouldn’t make a difference because if the students are not carrying guns, they are carrying some other weapon and are not reported by their peers, then they are harmful to the community. The gun free zones need to be abolished because most shooters open fire in such areas, where they know that nobody would fire back. A gun free zone is an area in which the possession and use of guns are considered to be a crime, like a school. Also, banning weapons means that it shouldn’t be turned into a sport. There are people who are totally against the use of guns, but they would treat it as a sport and fire bullets on pieces of cardboards. Firing guns give a person a sense of adventure and thrill, and they are more likely to try those shots on a real person because that’s what is on the cardboard pieces, the shape of a person. On the other hand, supporters stated that banning guns wouldn’t be useful because Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit and Washington D.C. have the strictest laws when it comes to gun control, but they have the worst gun crime statistics. It is better to acknowledge the root cause of gun crimes, instead of banning them completely. There are many reasons of gun crimes like mentally ill patients having access to guns, or ex-cons in possession of guns. If these factors are taken into consideration, then it would be apparent, that guns should not be banned. Conclusion It is revealed from the above discussed that there are supporters of gun use and there are those who are totally against gun use. Both sides have compelling arguments and in light of those arguments, the conclusion here should be that, banning guns completely is not the solution and allowing every citizen to own a gun is not a solution either. There needs to be strict laws and regulations for gun control, which makes it compulsory for gun suppliers to run background checks on gun buyers and to make sure that they are not ex-cons or mentally ill. There need to be authorities above gun manufacturers and suppliers, who should make sure that the suppliers are not illegally selling guns and are complying with the laws and regulations set by the respective state of the country. Thus, it is concluded that particular attention should be given to schools and universities, because the number of incidents, related to gun crime have been rising since the year 2000 and many innocent children have lost their lives. Parents should make sure that their children don’t have access to guns in the house. School authorities should make sure that no student own a gun or has made a threat to other students. Thus, banning guns completely is not the solution to the problem, but making strict laws is the solution. Works Cited Agresti, James. Gun Control. N. p., 2010. Web. 7 May. 2014. Brown, Randy. Columbine Parent: Theres A Solution To Gun Control | The Denver Post. N. p., 2013. Web. 7 May. 2014. DOJ Gun Control Solution. N. p., 2014. Web. 7 May. 2014. Dimatteo, Enzo. 10 Reasons We Need A National Handgun Ban. N. p., 2014. Web. 9 May. 2014. Former Student Guns Down 5 In Attack At Northern Illinois University; Kills Self. N. p., 2008. Web. 7 May. 2014. Gold, Bruce. Ten Good Reasons To Ban Guns. N. p., 2002. Web. 9 May. 2014. Nesbit, Jeff. Studying Gun Violence...Or Just Arguing About It. N. p., 2013. Web. 7 May. 2014. Norwood, Beverly. Gun Control. London: Xlibris Corporation, 2013. Print. Peterson, Eric. The Consequences Of Gun Control | The Keating Center. N. p., 2013. Web. 7 May. 2014. Porter, Henry. "American gun use is out of control. Shouldnt the world intervene?” The Guardian, 2013. Web. 14 March, 2014. . Vernick, Jon S. "Carrying Guns in Public: Legal and Public Health Implications." The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, (2013), p84-87. Print. Younge, Gary. Tighter Gun Control Wont Stop The Violence On Its Own. N. p., 2014. Web. 7 May. 2014. Zakaria, Fareed. A Solution That’S Clear. N. p., 2012. Web. 7 May. 2014. Read More