Gun Control Essay Examples and Research Papers

In the United States, gun control and laws are often implemented to help contribute to the safety and wellbeing of the public community. Gun control can be defined as any restriction that causes the transfer, access, or purchase of a gun to be more difficult in order to ensure safety for all individuals. To many, these laws are seen as beneficial for they help protect the public from potential outbreaks. However, for some, these laws are a violation of their rights and amendment as American citizens. In recent years, the idea and topic of stricter gun control have only been brought into the limelight and is being highly debated, due to the violent outbreaks and mass shootings occurring throughout the United States. Many individuals in America believe this would be the best resolution for it is only wise to stop a person from purchasing a deadly weapon before attempting the deadly act. People want to change the way guns or any firearm is being handled, distributed, or sold for the current rules now are not protective enough to the recent outbreaks and shootings happening. The availability and obtainment for any firearm allow any citizen to purchase one, except for those who have certain kinds of criminal records, carry any mental illnesses, are drug addicts, have a restraining order, or immigrants without any sort of legal status. However, the process in obtaining these background check on any individual only lasts for three days and allows the person to purchase the gun anywhere after the dates. This means that if any new information shows after the first three days, the individual would have still been able to purchase the firearm and can lead to potential harm. It is also shocking to know normal citizens are able to attain a military grade weapon, a firearm that carries too much power, just for personal use. Weapons as powerful as those used in warfare, should not be handled by just any common citizen for how deadly they can be. Due to many of these flaws with the current gun laws, a new stricter regulation is debated to be implemented in order to protect the safety and the greater good.

Much of today’s controversy lies within the recent outbreaks and mass shootings across the United States. Many of these violent and tragic occurrences has been brought to attention on a national crisis level due to the results in high amounts of deaths from this upsurge. With this growing situation growing out of hand by the day, a resolution must be found and made in order to protect the well-being of the public. As a following effect to the shootings and massacres, many people turn to stricter enforcement of gun control as a solution to this national crisis. With this resolution, the number of guns being sold and distributed to citizens would decrease and help lessen and ease the problem of this deadly devastation. Only those who are considered as safe and responsible are permitted to own a gun; this way no other individual suffers from such a tragedy caused by any person who seeks evil and vengeance. Even though gun control is the ultimate solution to this terror, there is still much debate over its implications for some argue that these gun laws violate their rights and amendments. However, sometimes in life, one should sacrifice a small amount of freedom and convenience in trade for the greater good. With this knowledge in mind, gun control should be implemented in order to help prevent desensitization of guns and violence towards young children, reduce crimes of passion while protecting the public’s safety, and minimizing the problem of gun-related suicide rates. It is crucial to execute these gun laws and regulations in order to put an end to these dangerous and deadly happening across the nation.

Through better gun control and regulation, these laws would help reduce the crime rate immensely by simply making it harder for any individual to obtain a gun. The fewer guns sold throughout the market, the less violence it will bring towards society. Guns give criminals a higher leverage and advantage over normal citizens, making it far dangerous and possible for them to commit these crimes. In order to prevent mass shootings and robberies from happening within society, implementing such laws as, not being able to carry any sort of weapons in public, could help stop these problems at all costs. Without these criminals being able to obtain such weapons with ease, there would then be no weapon of assault that would lead to violent outbreaks and shootings. Preventing this case from happening would contribute to the wellbeing of the community and promote public safety from happening. Gun control has been proven to work in many other cases, such as countries like Australia, and has shown to diminish mass shootings and crime rates. The Fortune Article found that “in the 18 years between 1979 and April 1996, Australia experienced 13 mass shootings in which 104 people died. In the 21 years and five months since the Port Arthur massacre and the passage of the law that followed swiftly afterward, we have seen precisely none” (Australia Found a Solution to Mass Shootings, 2016). Facts and statistics show that the implementation of gun control works for no mass shootings have occurred since the country of Australia began restricting and regulating it. The rate of death by firearm in Australia has down decrease tremendously starting as well displaying “from 1979 to 1996, the average rate of total firearm deaths was 3.6 per 100 000 people, whereas from 1997 to 2013, the mean rate was 1.2 per 100,000” (Australia Found a Solution to Mass Shootings, 2016). With clear proof and evidence that gun control works, there is no denying that this would be the best resolution towards promoting public safety as well as the safety of every individual.

In order to protect young children from desensitization against violence, certain gun laws should be placed so that these children are not exposed to seeing such dangerous weapons around them at such a young age. Children who are exposed to guns, or have witnessed gun violence throughout social media and their community, often lose their sense of fear and caution for they begin to accept guns and other deadly firearms as normality in society. This desensitization can lead these children to violent behaviors which may result in a threat to society. Childs Trends Databank Indicator states, “Children exposed to gun violence are more likely than those not experiencing violence, to become victims or perpetrators of further violence,” (Children’s Exposure to Violence, 2016). With the exposure of gun violence towards the youth, not only does it make them become more likely to insinuate crimes, research has shown that gun violence can traumatize children physically and emotionally. Dr. Rima Himelstein, MD in Adolescent Medicine Specialist at Crozer-Keystone Health System found that children who have been exposed can result in “psychological problems including intrusive thoughts, sleep disturbances, anger, withdrawal, and aggression; in some cases, post-traumatic stress disorder” (How Does Exposure to Gun Violence Affect Kids and Teens, 2016). With this in mind, gun laws need to be further implemented and out of sight in all households containing guns in order stop children from being exposed to a gun and any sort of violence that occurs throughout social media. With more gun laws, comes more gun control that needs to be implemented in order to provide for the wellbeing of the youth in America.

Furthermore, gun control would prevent those who are mentally ill from retrieving a weapon intended to harm themselves. Through restriction on those who are mentally unstable, they would not be able to purchase a gun and would minimize the problem of suicide rates through the trigger of a gun. In the United States, it is found that there are over 30,000 a year, which of many could have been prevented. Controlling the access to purchasing a gun can be one of the main factors that could have been prevented in the number of suicide rates found per year. A study at Harvard revealed a powerful link between firearm ownership and suicides. Research found that, “Based on a survey of American households conducted in 2002, HSPH Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management Matthew Miller, Research Associate Deborah Azrael, and colleagues at the School’s Injury Control Research Center (ICRC), found that in states where guns were prevalent—as in Wyoming, where 63 percent of households reported owning guns—rates of suicide were higher. The inverse was also true: where gun ownership was less common, suicide rates were also lower” (Guns and Suicide: A Fatal Link, 2008). Aware that guns do have a link with suicide rates, gun control is a must in order to prevent further suicide rates from increasing. Through more intense background checking and careful observation of the individual, only then should one be able to purchase a gun in the right condition and health.

Despite the benefits that gun control provides for the wellbeing of public safety, many people oppose gun control for it violates the rights and amendment of the individual. Gun owners today feel that they are entitled to their guns without rigorous processes. They feel as if owning a gun is a God-forsaken right and to question that right is to question their loyalty to America. However, gun control simply does not ban a person’s right and entitlement to a gun but is more detailed in order to ensure that the gun is being sold to a person that is responsible, carries no criminal record, and is in full stable health. Furthermore, other individuals also feel that gun shooting or hunting is used to create a family bond or experience as a leisure activity. With the implementation of gun control, people would not be able to enjoy their fun activities anymore. Gun control would simply have the family go through certain paperwork to get approved and restrict to certain areas where they would not be able to harm others. Gun control would only help regulate safety for the gun owner and other individuals in society as well, but not fully take away the right of anyone to own a gun or enjoy some fun leisure activity.

The life of another individual lies within the hands of those who choose to carry guns, which can pose as a form of protection and as a weapon of destruction. While many lives have been taken to gun violence, many others are able to protect themselves by owning a gun. By pushing stricter gun-control laws not only will those who want a gun for the right reasons be able to, but those who are looking for guns to use for their passion crimes also will not be able to purchase one.