Should the sale of semi-automatic weapons to civilians be banned? This is a huge question in politics at the moment. It is also a topic that most politicians like to avoid or give patented answers to. This is because they are trying to avoid distancing the NRA and 2nd amendment enthusiasts. This paper will argue that civilians should be banned from purchasing and owning assault weapons.
Gun advocates argue that the second amendment and the right of citizens to “keep and bear arms”. This ensures that everyone has the right to own and use a gun. This means that the individual American citizen has the right to determine the amount and type of protection that they need. It is not up to the government to regulate the type of guns one can own or who can own them. In fact, it is a violation of our Constitutional right to be asked to submit to background checks. Many legislators want to ban access to guns for people who are mentally ill, and they want to force gun owners to undergo psychological examinations in order to get or maintain their gun licenses this is a violation of both our privacy and our Constitutional right. Besides guns “do not kill people, people do” and everyone should not be punished or denied their rights because there are a few people who choose to use guns to commit mass shootings, besides if a person wanted to kill a large number of people they would do so with or without a gun. Also the “only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun”.
These are just some of the arguments used by gun advocates to justify why they need to have access to semi-automatic weapons. The fact is most of the reasons that gun enthusiasts like to throw around make any sense. Let’s look at the idea that” guns do not kill people; people do” This is true, but allowing people to have access to guns who have mental illness, have been incarcerated for violent crimes, and have connections with terrorist or other violent groups, is asking for a gun to be used to kill people. The fact is, if you put a gun in the hands of a violent or unstable person, you should expect that there is a very high probability that the gun will be used to commit a violent crime. Of course not all people with mental illness or who have been incarcerated for violent crimes would commit a mass shooting. Nevertheless, there should be laws restricting their access.
There is then the idea that the only way to “stop a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun”. A good guy with a gun has prevented or stopped exactly 0 mass shootings since Columbine. This means that the argument is invalid. Many gun enthusiasts would argue that the restriction that the government has on their ability to carry guns is the reason that no “good guy with a gun” has ever contributed to defending people from a “bad guy with a gun”. This may be true but either way having a shooting turn into a shootout probably is not going to improve anyone’s chances of survival. Finally, the idea that if someone wants to commit a mass killing they will with or with a gun. This is true, a person who wants to kill will find a way to do so. However, a person can do a lot less damage with a handgun, which only holds six shots and releases them one at a time, or a knife. The reason for this is the pause between each motion or pull of the trigger gives the other individuals involved time to react.
As Janet L. Kaminski Leduc, a Senior Legislative Attorney wrote in “Weapons used in Mass Shootings” where she listed all of the weapons used in mass shootings in the United States since the Columbine shooting in 1999. By 2013 there had been 49 mass killings using guns that were used to kill two people or more. The usage of each type of weapon is as follows: semi-automatic pistol 33, semi-automatic rifle 5, AR15 style rifle 1, semi-automatic handgun 8, shotgun 6, pistol 5, handgun 1, revolver pistol 6, pump action shotgun 2, bolt-action rifle, double-barrel sawed-off shotgun (Kaminski Leduc, 2013)
As you can see semi-automatic pistols have been used in 67% of mass murders. Many people will identify semi-automatic weapons as assault weapons, there is a huge difference between them. An assault will expend multiple rounds when a person pulls the trigger. It will continue to expend rounds until the shooter removes the finger from the trigger. With a semi-automatic a person gets one round for each pull of the trigger.
References
Kaminski Leduc, J. (2013, January 18). WEAPONS USED IN MASS SHOOTINGS. Retrieved from https://www.cga.ct.gov/2013/rpt/2013-R-0057.htm
