Essay/Term paper: The need for gun control

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Political Science

The Need For Gun Control

Shortly after dusk, a sixteen-year-old boy stands on the street corner talking
with a friend about what happened at school today between himself and another
student. He nonchalantly stands there sipping his Pepsi when all of a sudden a
black Honda with tinted windows drives up to the corner. The window rolls down,
a voice calls out, and the boy walks up to the car. He bends down to peer into
the car to see who it is when three rounds from a .38 caliber pistol rip through
his chest and neck. The other boy frantically runs off into the distance. He
stumbles backwards and trips on the curb behind him and falls to the sidewalk
the car speeds off into the dark alleyway across the street. The young boy
struggles to breathe as he coughs up blood. He chokes to death with every
effort to breathe. He dies a minute or two later. These kinds of events are
all too familiar to us and perturb us as we see an increasing number of handguns
fall into the hands of the young. I am shocked at the sight of these events
where innocent children are being gunned down on the street because of petty
little arguments over something so minuscule as a pair of shoes, a particular
type of jacket, or simply just a misinterpreted look. I believe that more
strict handgun regulations are a must in today's society. I'm not saying that
we have to ban handguns, but we have to take legislative measures in order to
limit the possibility of handguns falling into the hands or youths. Peter Annin
and Tom Morganthau state that according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's
Uniform Crime Report, murders committed by persons under the age of eighteen who
were arrested jumped from 1,193 in 1985 to 2982 in 1994. [1] This report shows
a substantial increase in the number of killings by people who are under the age
of eighteen. Most of these people are often participants in gangs and involved
with drugs. Many of these people find that guns are a much easier method to
defeat his or her opponent in a quarrel. This problem is made worse by the
increasing availability of guns. Residents of gang-ridden areas are afraid to
leave their homes for fear that their children or themselves might fall victim
to a gunshot. I believe that many people feel we need tighter control over the
sale of handguns while many others believe that we shouldn't. Many people say
that it is a right to own firearms and handguns in this country because it is
guaranteed by the second amendment of the United States Constitution. The
second amendment 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." First of all, very few states today in the U. S. have
militias because we have the five branches of the U.S. Military, the Army, Navy,
Marines, Airforce, and Coast Guard. The military provides this country with
enough support to fend off any war levying or belligerent nations. That is the
military's obligatory purpose today. There is no necessity for a state run
military. The U.S. Military's purpose is to keep this land free. Second, the
Bill of Rights was designed to protect the people from our government should it
transcend to tyranny. These laws and rights were established in the period of
colonial times when monarchies and dictatorships were common place in society.
Today, they're just about non existent except for subtle hints of them in
communist governments which exist in areas such as the People's Republic of
China. We have no need to protect ourselves from the possibility of a
dictatorial government materializing from our democracy because it is highly
unlikely that this would occur. The United Nations, which the United States is
a member of, would not allow this because their main function is to stop the
spread of communism. We are not living in that era anymore and that is why I
believe that guns aren't really needed that much by civilians. As I mentioned
before, I'm not suggesting that we, the people, totally ban guns. Firearms and
handguns still have their recreational purpose in society. For a lot of people,
the sport of hunting wild game is an enjoyable pastime and tradition that has
been passed down through the ages. People have always hunted. From Paleolithic
man to the Middle Ages and to the present, hunting has and provides us with food
even though that same food can be purchased at the local supermarket. Other
activities such as target shooting and enrollment in gun clubs are also
enjoyable. They are sports, just like any other sports, that give men and women
a sense of pride and satisfaction that fulfills the primitive instinct of
competition in our minds. Another important argument among civilians of
the country is that if more restrictions on firearms and handguns are passed,
this would gradually lead to a total ban on all guns sometime in the future. In
an article written by Robert J. Blendon, John T. Young, and David Hemenway, they
include a Gallup/CNN/USA Today poll which show how gun owners, non owners, and
the nation as a whole were surveyed. Sixty-five percent of all people,
including owners of guns and non owners, believe that stricter legislation would
gradually lead to a total ban of all guns. In addition, a majority of gun
owners, approximately fifty-five percent, believe that these laws would violate
the second amendment of the U. S. Constitution while non owners don not believe
this. The survey was asking about how stricter laws would reduce certain
aspects related to guns. The national figure is sixty-nine percent for those
who believe that stricter laws would reduce the number of people killed by guns
in arguments. Sixty-eight percent of the nation believe that laws would reduce
the number of accidental deaths and suicides attributed to guns. Fifty-eight
percent of the nation agrees that more laws would reduce violent crime. However,
in both cases of owners and non owners, the difference of agreement is over
twenty percentage points in favor of non gun owners. [2] I certainly agree that
stricter legislation would definitely reduce the number of gun related deaths
and that if handguns were restricted from the hands of minors and criminals, the
rate and recidivism rate, the rate of repeat offenders, of violent crime would
be reduced. I believe that we need more strict laws to curb some of the violent
crime that is being committed by America's youth. I also believe that the
National Rifle Association of America (NRA) will not let the government ban all
fire arms since the NRA is the biggest lobbyist in the gun control debate today
because it has so many active members. Finally, most people feel that they
need handguns for protection of their property and themselves. I believe that
protection of your own property, such as you home, is perfectly fine, but if you
carry a gun around for protection, that can become dangerous. For example, gang
members who carry guns are an enormous threat to others. If someone should
irritate or annoy them, they might possibly resort to using his or her gun on
that person. Innocent children and bystanders could fall victim to a stray
bullet. Minor arguments could erupt into bloodshed on the street corner or in a
dark alleyway. Other people are also a possible threat, especially to police
officers. If for some reason, a gun toting civilian was pulled over for a
traffic violation, that person could decide to shoot that police officer in an
attempt to get away. This would cause major problems in society. Another thing
is that people under the influence of drugs or alcohol might use their guns on
somebody with out reason because of impaired reasoning and judgment associated
with inebriation. Now I'm not saying every person would be and is like that,
but there are some people that are. I believe that this presents a danger to
society and why handgun access and sales should be restricted. I believe that
we need tougher legislation on handguns. Citizens should be registered for each
and every gun he or she owns and that they should be obligated to pay a high fee
for that registration. Also, juveniles and convicted felons that have already
served time should not be permitted to purchase or possess and handgun. I
believe that if someone who has purchased a handgun, should be required by
federal law to take a safety and training course in order to lawfully possess a
handgun. This course would be directed by the federal government and would
ensure that a handgun purchaser's record would be checked out. This country
should have tougher laws in order to restrict handgun access and sale. I'm not
saying this will work, but it will be a step forward in the direction of
effective gun control. If we and the government can work together on it, we can
slowly minimize the problem and keep guns out of the wrong hands.

Bibliography

[1] Annin, Peter; Morganthau, Tom. "The lull before the storm?" Newsweek 4
December 1995: <
http://sbweb2.med.iacnet.com/infotrac/session/993/36/2172572/62?xrn_14 >
03/24/97 19:29:23

[2] Blendon, Robert J.; Hemenway, David; Young, John T. "The American public
and the gun control debate" The Journal of the American Medical Association
12 June 1996: < http://sbweb2.med.iacnet.com
/infotrac/session/993/36/2172572/16?xrn_1 > 03/24/97 18:54:01