When most people hear the word gun, they automatically think of crime. The two have always come hand-in-hand since the invention of guns. Many news reports have stories of people being robbed at gunpoint, or there is an armed gunman on the loose. In more recent news, mass shootings have become a major issue for the United States of America. There was the horrific shooting of the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting, the Sandy Hook school shooting, the San Bernardino shooting, and most recently the Uber driver shooting in Michigan. The shocking increase of gun related crimes and murders have made many lawmakers want to have stricter laws when it comes to purchasing and owning a firearm. These stricter laws include a more thorough background check of the person planning to purchase a firearm, a psychological test to see if they are mentally stable to own a firearm, and in extreme cases they want firearms to be completely banned from the country. However, there are people and organizations who are pro-firearm. They believe that making a person jump through so many hoops in order to buy a firearm is going against their constitutional rights. To them, even if guns were taken any crime would still happen. They believe that guns do not commit murder, but it is the person who is holding the gun fault. Both sides provide many facts and statistics on why guns should be allowed and why they should be banned. This essay will examine both sides of the gun control and violence argument.
Two groups that are advocates for pro-gun control are the Handgun Control, Inc. (HGI), also known as the Brady Campaign, and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV) but was formerly known as the National Coalition to Ban Handguns. It is important to note that the founder of the HGI is Sarah Brady whom husband, James Brady, was shot during the assassination attempt of President Regan in 1981. Therefore, the issue of gun control has been around longer than the media has been covering the mass shootings. One accomplishment that the HGI has made was to prohibit the sale of assault weapons as well as to prohibiting interstate sales of handguns. One of their main goals is to make gun-safe zones arounds schools, establish an order of who can sell handguns and create handguns, and to ban the sale of multiple handguns to one customer. According to BradyCampaign.org, an average of forty-eight children and teenagers are shot in police interventions, assaults, and unintentional shootings every day. Out of those numbers, at least seven of those teenagers or children are killed daily because of those gunshot wounds. One a daily average, 297 people get shot and 89 people end up dying from their wounds (BradyCampaign.org). HGI campaigns to change the culture surrounding guns, make stricter gun laws, and change how the gun industry operates. They aim to half the number of people killed or wounded by guns by 2025. One of their ways of doing this is to completely ban criminal offenders from being able to purchase a gun. They want gun shops to run thorough background checks on people to make sure that no felons, domestic abusers, or fugitives are able to purchase a gun. The HGI is aware that criminals may still be able to get their hands on a gun, therefore they are also targeting shops who fail to do a background check on people and sell them a gun. “Research shows that 90% of guns used in crimes were supplied by just 5% of dealers. These unethical businesses enable gun-wielding criminals to victimize our communities every day” (BradyCampaign.org). One accomplishment that the HGI has made was to prohibit the sale of assault weapons as well as to prohibiting interstate sales of handguns. A few more of their main goals is to make gun-safe zones arounds schools, establish an order of who can sell handguns and create handguns, and to ban the sale of multiple handguns to one customer. The CSGV is more critical in their approach to gun control laws. They want to remove all handguns from the hands of citizens with the exception of a few rules. One of the exceptions would be people who have acquired a hunting license, but other than that they aim to ban all sales of guns. The CSGV primarily targets the laws and policies that the NRA, National Rifle Association, creates when it comes to gun ownership and concealed carrying. One of their biggest concerns is how the NRA continues to protect people’s rights to use purchase assault weapons. “Semiautomatic, military-style firearms are designed for one purpose: to kill people en masse, and quickly. They have no place on our streets, and are a threat to law enforcement officers and civilians alike. As a result of America’s weak gun laws, these weapons entered our civilian marketplace decades ago, and criminals quickly learned how to exploit their military features” (Coalition to Stop Gun Violence). In 1994, President Bill Clinton issued a federal ban on assault weapons. However, the law was only temporary and expired after ten years. In 2004, President George W. Bush tried to reenact the ban but it remained expired without him being able to enforce the law again. With the many mass shootings that have been happening within in the United States over the recent months and years, pro-gun law advocates are calling for the banning of assault weapons to be taken into effect again. An article by Scott Martelle, a writer for the Los Angeles Times, outlines the many deaths from mass shootings from assault weapons over the years. An example from the outline includes shooting deaths from 2013, “Jan. 1, four dead in Sacramento; Jan. 5, four dead in Aurora, Colo.; Jan. 7, five dead in Tulsa, Okla.; Jan. 7, three dead in Dinwiddie, Va.; Jan. 10, three dead in New Orleans” (Martelle). In the previous year, the shooting in Aurora, Colo. made the nationals and worldwide headlines because it was the largest number of causalities from a mass shooting in United States history. In the December of 2012, the Sandy Hook shooting took place where twenty children were shot and killed along with six adult faculty members. Cases like these two are what spur pro-gun control advocates to continue to lobby for the ban of guns or stricter gun laws. However, the anti-gun control groups see the situation from a different view.
One of the main reasons that anti-gun control advocates use in their case is that banning the sale and ownership of gun infringes upon their constitutional rights. The second amendment gives citizens the right to bear arms, therefore many feel it is their right as an American to own a gun. The NRA believes that gun control is not the solution to decreasing violent crime rates. The group feels that there should be harsher punishments for criminals and repeat offenders instead of banning guns to fix the problem. If guns were to be outlawed, then criminals would find a way to still get their hands on guns. Also, it would be harder to track who has a gun and where it was purchased since the selling and purchasing of guns would be off the grid. The only people should not have guns are criminals and felons who have forfeited their rights to own a gun since they chose to use it to harm people. Another statement that anti-gun control advocate use is that guns do not kill people but people kill people. If guns are to be outlawed then people will just find another way to harm someone. The logic they use is, “If people were to start committing mass stabbing sprees, would you then outlaw the use of owning knives”. Gun control laws will only have a negative impact on law-abiding citizens. If criminals really wanted a gun, then they would find a way to own one regardless of what laws are in place to protect them. Taya Kyle, a writer for CNN, believes that gun control law will not protect people from harm. “As Reagan once said, "You won't get gun control by disarming law-abiding citizens. There is only one way to get real gun control: Disarm the thugs and criminals, lock them up and if you don't actually throw away the key, lose it for a long time” (Kyle, 2016). Many anti-gun control advocates are all in agreement that laws need to focus on criminals who perpetrate crimes involving guns instead of just going after guns. If the United States focused more on having harsher punishments for repeat offenders and gun shops who skip over background check procedures, then that will stop the growing number of violent crimes associated with the usage of guns.
Both sides have compelling evidence on why their side is the right choice for ending this debate. The pro-gun controls groups are adamant that guns should be either banned or have stricter laws when it comes to owning a gun. They use statistics from recent mass shootings to get their point across on how important it is today to have these laws in affect. If guns were more heavily monitored, then the public would not have to fear being the next mass shooting victim. The anti-gun control supporters believe that to ban the sale and ownership of firearms would infringe upon their constitutional rights. The blame should not be placed on guns, but the criminals who wield those guns. Punishing the law-abiding citizens for what criminals do would be a highly unfair practice. If lawmakers really want to protect the public, then they should have stricter punishments when it comes to criminals and felons who are repeat offenders. If guns were to be actually banned then criminals would just find illegal means of obtaining them or use another method when it comes to harming people. I believe that America should use the standards that Europe has set for when it comes to gun control. Europe has the lowest crime rate when it comes to violent crimes associated with a gun because they have stricter laws and procedures in place. For example, in Germany a person has to be age 25 to purchase a gun and pass a psychiatric evaluation to own a gun. France requires potential gun owners to pass a mental, criminal, and health evaluation, have a spotless criminal record history, and pass a questionnaire on why they want to own a gun. If United States were to implement those policies, then it would have a positive effect on lowering the number of violent gun crimes. The United States has so many gun shops but little procedure that can stop people who should not be owning one due to criminal history. Arming more citizens with guns will not help the issue, but make the problem grow. There is a possibility that people will abuse their right to carry a gun and shoot at anyone they feels threatens them. The debate is a slippery slope as I agree with both sides of the argument. I believe that gun control laws should be made only to prevent criminals for obtaining one, and that there should be tougher laws on people who use guns in crimes. Both sides have to come together to finally figure out a solution for this growing debate.
Works Cited:
"Issues - Coalition to Stop Gun Violence." Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. Web. 26 Feb. 2016. <http://csgv.org/issues/>.
"Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence." Keep Crime Guns Off Our Streets. Brady Campaign. Web. 26 Feb. 2016. <http://www.bradycampaign.org/our-impact/campaigns/keep-crime-guns-off-our-streets>.
Kyle, Taya. "'American Sniper' Widow: Gun Control Won't Protect Us." CNN. Cable News Network, 8 Jan. 2016. Web. 26 Feb. 2016. <http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/07/opinions/taya-kyle-gun-control/>.
Martelle, Scott. "This Is Why We Need Gun Control." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times. Web. 26 Feb. 2016. <http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-murder-shootings-gun-control-nra-20140527-story.html>.
