Refuting
Ban violates the rights provided by the Second Amendment
Handguns are more threatening than assault weapons
Aggressive ban will produce the creation of black market
Defending
Violates the rights provided by the Second Amendment
The recently mass shooting necessitates ban of the assault weapons
The potential destruction caused by assault weapons illustrates the need for the ban
Assault weapons should be banned
The prevailing deadliest mass shooting in the United States necessitates the control and regulation of the military-style and other assault weapons. Some of the recent mass shooting include San Bernardino shooting that occurred December 2015 living 14 people dead and other 21 injured. According to the Los Angeles Time Staff, the attackers were allegedly heavily armed with assault weapons (Sec. 1). The majority of the gun shooting uses large capacity ammunition magazines and military-style assault rifles that can cause maximum damage for a short period without reloading. Therefore, given this devastating trend of a mass shooting, this paper argue to support that gun policy should be reviewed to ban the harmful and unnecessary assault weapons in the community.
An argument to refute the ban on the assault weapons is that banning guns violate the rights granted under the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution that allows Americans to bear guns. The amendment was intended for the American population to possess weapon so that they can defend themselves from invaders. In 1789, when the constitution was established, the only firearms available were flintlock pistol and musket. Therefore, it is reasonable to argue that there is no distinction between the military assaults and civilian weapon. In this case, the banning of the assault rifles would deny the regulated Militia to own guns to protect themselves and other citizens against tyrannical government and invaders. Denying people opportunity to protect themselves from invasion and the ability to resist tyranny is infringing their rights granted by the Second Amendment.
According to the FBI statistics, the number of the murder crimes committed by the handguns is higher than any other firearm. Therefore, banning the assault weapons would not help to reduce the gun violence with a significant number. For instance, the number of death occurred due to shooting using the handguns was significantly higher compared to the rifles and other guns in 2014. Out of 812 total death by firms, handguns constituted of 5567 deaths, which is more than a half of all deaths by firearms (FBI Sec. 1). Therefore, this indicates that the best way to regulate and mitigate the gun violence in the United States is through banning the handguns rather than the assault rifles.
The aggressive ban on the Assault weapons would result in the creation of the black market. Buying guns through the black market would mean that the ban has insignificant impact on the gun violence. In addition, this would kill the local industries and reduce the government revenue from the legal sales of the guns.
However, the arguments refuting the ban of the assault guns are weak and does not have substantial weight. For instance, the Second Amendment, "A well regulate militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed" (Crane 285). During the time this law was established, the fundamental aim of owning a gun was to provide the collective defense of the state, especially through militia. However, many things have changed since the constitution was made. For instance, the defense of the Free States is no longer an obligation of the traditional militia. The state-based militia groups were ultimately integrated into the federal military. The modern military structure has become more powerful compared to the traditional military. Therefore, banning the assault weapon is necessary and does not infringe the Second Amendment.
Recently, the mass shooting in various places within the American soil indicates that massive damage of the assault weapons outweighs the danger of the black market. Mass shooting such as shooting in Washington, D.C. in 2013, Ft. Hood in 2014, Isla Vista in 2014, Charleston in 2015, Chattanooga in 2015, Roseburg in 2015, Colorado in 2015, and San Bernardino indicates the danger of public owning assault weapons. Therefore, it is important for the government to impose a ban on this type of weapon to reduce their potential destruction.
In addition, arguing that assault weapons should not be banned because the deaths caused by the handguns are significantly higher than other firearms is a weak and illogical argument. Few deaths caused by shooting using the assault weapons indicates that these weapons have the potential to cause a massive destruction compared to the handguns. According to the report by the FBI, firearms such as AR-15 has the power to fire automatically simply by removing the disconnector or the selector's manipulations (Matthews, Par.7). This illustrates that in future when the majority will possess this weapon, the deaths caused by the assault rifles will exceed the deaths caused by the handguns.
In conclusion, the argument elucidated above indicates that the argument supporting the banning of the assault rifle outweighs the argument against the ban. The paper illustrates that the ban does not violate the second amendment because of the variation of time between when the constitution was ratified and now. Organization such as state-based militia is currently replaced by the federal military. In addition, the destruction caused by using the assault rifles suggests that possession of these weapons will be a great threat to the security of the nation.
Works Cited
Crane, Michael. The Political Junkie Handbook. SP Books, 2004. Print.
FBI. "Crime in the US." FBI — Homepage. N.p., 2014. Web. 8 Mar. 2016. <https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2014/crime-in-the-u.s.-2014/tables/expanded-homicide-data/expanded_homicide_data_table_8_murder_victims_by_weapon_2010-2014.xls/output.xls>.
Los Angeles Times Staff. "Deadliest U.S. Mass Shootings | 1984-2015 - Timelines - Los Angeles Times." Latimes.com. N.p., 2 Dec. 2015. Web. 8 Mar. 2016. <http://timelines.latimes.com/deadliest-shooting-rampages/>.
Matthews, Jake. "For Lives and Liberty: Banning Assault Weapons in America." The Institute of Politics at Harvard University. N.p., 2016. Web. 8 Mar. 2016. <http://www.iop.harvard.edu/lives-and-liberty-banning-assault-weapons-america>.
