Essay Preview: Guns
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Gun Control Not the Answer
A man carrying two revolvers and two 9mm semi-automatic handguns calmly strode into the Dunblane Primary School. Two people quickly spotted the firearms and tried to tackle the man; he shot them and left them wounded as he continued his journey down the hall of the school. Finally, the man reached his destination: the gym, where a class a kindergartners were having P.E. In the gym, he pulled out the guns and started picking off the five-year-olds one by one. The room was splattered with blood as young children broke like porcelain dolls under the power of the gun. The blood continued to flow, but the intruder did not stop; he took careful aim to make sure he didnt miss. The final insult came when he shot the teacher who was shielding kids with her body. Once he killed her, he killed the kids she was protecting. When he finished in the gym , he turned around walked out, shot at a class as he walked down the hall and walked out into the courtyard. In the courtyard, the killer ended the ordeal by taking his own life (Pederson).
In the final count, sixteen kids lay dead along with their teacher, another twelve kids were wounded plus the two adults who met the shooter at the door. Only one boy in the gym made it through physically unharmed his name was Robbie Hurst, and he survived by hiding under the dead bodies of his best friend and another classmate (Pederson).
Gun control is a very delicate issue with many different sides and viewpoints. On one side you have those that feel gun control is a necessary item for safety. Others feel it is unjust to take away a persons right to have firearms. Those people also feel that gun control wont help stop crime either. Anyway you look at it, guns have become one of the main causes of death in the United States. Firearms are first among young black men. This makes gun control an issue that must be taken care of. Gun control will not help, for it is the people that should be punished not everyone else.
The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states “a well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” For over a hundred years this has been interpreted to mean that everyone has the right to own a gun, but lately many people have come to believe that it means the right of the militia or military to bear arms. The Amendment is really saying two things at once. In the first part it talks about maintaining a militia to protect the freedom of the country, but that has nothing to do with the second part. The second part specifically states ” the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” This says the people, not the militia, so it is unconstitutional to take away a persons right to own a firearm.
Another point often made by those for gun control is the safety of kids who find guns. The kids end up accidentally shooting themselves or others. This is true, but it has been proven that it is kids that are around guns are actually safer than those who arent. This way the kids know how to handle a gun safely, if they find one. They are less curious and are less likely to play with it then, because they have been around guns, and they know what to do when they come in contact with one. In a study done by an ABC News Station, the kids who shot the guns were the ones who were never around firearms. The kids who were around guns knew what to do and how to handle the gun (ABC).
Along with kids safety, there is also peoples safety with guns because accidents do happen. Those for gun control say the safest gun is no gun. They feel it is better not to come in contact with guns at all. How can something be safe if you are not around it and dont understand it? If a person isnt around guns theyll have no knowledge of how to handle the firearm. No matter how much people dont like guns, they will never be able to get rid of all of the guns in the United States. There are over two hundred million firearms in the U.S. alone (Gun Control). No matter how much gun control there is, there will always be guns in society. That it is why it is better to teach people to use firearms properly; this will prevent accidents from happening, not gun control.
It has also been stated that gun control reduces crime. Is that true? It has been found that on average, countries with the most gun control have the higher crime rates (Kleck). If looks at it objectively it can easily be seen. Those people who want guns can still get them illegally. This leaves the honest people defenseless against attack (Tomlinson). Who is going to break into a house if the owner has a gun too? The answer: not many. It has been seen throughout different states. California has some of the strictest gun laws in the United States, and California also has one of the highest crime rates too (Kleck). The Midwest has a lower crime rate than the Midwest