Gun Control has been a major debate for many years. Millions of people have been affected by Guns, physically and emotionally. After numerous deaths the citizens of the United States have had enough of the atrocious deaths and now demand for Gun Control. There are some citizens who believes that guns laws should be stricter to prevent future crimes and some believe that stricter guns laws will not stop crime in fact more guns can help prevent crimes. There are 20,000-gun laws in effect in the United States but there are only 300 relevant federal and state laws regarding the manufacture, design, sale, purchase, or possession of guns , with the help of stricter gun laws such as background checks and the brady bill the restriction of possessing a gun has been effective over the years.
However, even though guns are restricted from being sold, there will always be a black market for purchasing guns which does not stop gun violence from commencing. The President of the United States has proffered that arming 20 percent of qualified teaching personnel in any given school with firearms could prove to be a major deterrent for a potential shooter who is cowardly enough to prey on a vulnerable population. The idea that people will become less motivated to harm other by making it difficult to access guns and knowing there is a chance of death can decrease the chances of another Gun crime. Nevertheless, people have multiple ways of finding access to guns and show no regard for breaking the gun laws nor fear the consequences, even if it means death.
Some argue that even Gun-free school zones have proven to be a dangerous delusion that has resulted in people being forced to be victims , a place where no body haves a gun besides a criminal. Ironically, Gun-free school zones are safer for criminals than students. Students are law-abiding citizens that do not carry or possess a gun, leaving students victim to criminals. Criminals show no regard for the laws and intends to break them for their own advantage. Great Britain passed a ban on guns and seized all legal guns in 1997.
However, today England has twice the numbers of guns it had in the past- illegally. No law can prevent a criminal from getting their hands on a gun so stopping a criminal first may be more effective than a Gun Control law. Gun control laws can have consequences for possessing a gun but not carrying or possessing a gun can also have its own consequences. The idea of a responsible person being able to have the opportunity to become first responders when an attack takes place could result in a decrease in crime and risk to other potential victims. Possessing a gun or a concealed carry in a Gun-free school zone can jeopardize a person’s chance to graduate or have a future career if caught, but if killed that would jeopardize the chance to graduate and to have a future career as well. In the past students and staff have been able to get their guns and stop campus killers. But in those cases, the heroes had to run to their cars and get their guns and run back to the scene of the crime to stop the killer, losing valuable time.
In spite of the ideology of guns preventing crime people still argue that guns are not the answer, stricter gun laws that prevents individuals from obtaining a gun is the answer, campuses will not become safer if we give everyone a gun and encourage the crossfire. School needs to be a place where you can come to learn and grow, not to worry about gun violence. The fact that criminals can obtain guns and use them to terrorize campuses should be a good enough reason for the government to make gun laws stricter to prevent criminals from obtaining guns. The Brady bill is an effective way to prevent a criminal from gaining easy access to guns and harming others. Students and teachers carrying guns on campus can increase risk and danger such as student on student or student on faculty violence, and more lethal results such as an increased risk of suicide attempts ending in fatalities, gun thefts, and harm to people on and off campus.
College students ages 18 to 25 are the peak years for drug use and binge drinking, mental health challenges and suicide risks. Studies show that students that are gun owners are more likely to engage in drug use, binge drinking, have been arrested for DUI, or been involved in an alcohol fueled fight and got into trouble with the police, with that being said, College students are already dangerous enough the last thing they need is guns. The Virginia tech shooter was a 23-year-old college student that appeared to be a lawful firearms purchaser however he was the exact opposite. Allowing guns on college campuses would not only have armed him more easily, but other potentially dangerous individuals as well. More guns lead to more gun violence, not less.
The article Gun Violence by Kenneth jost displayed information on the Virginia tech massacre and how it raised new questions about safety on college campuses and renewed the nation’s perennial debate on gun control. The mass murder was an extremely troubled young man whose bizarre and aggressive behavior had disturbed his parents, classmates, and teachers for year. However, this specific gun purchase was not different than any of the other gun transactions in the United States, the gun dealer from Virginia did not have a reason not to sell to him, he presented all the necessary identification to complete the background check and was approved. It then began to pointed out that in order to purchase a firearm you should also have to provide Mental Health Records to make sure the purchasers are mentally capable to possess a gun. Statistical graphs and maps such as the forty states that allow citizens to carry concealed firearms in public and the annual U.S gun deaths from 1981 to 2004.
This article provided important information on gun control laws flaws but with a stronger restriction to possessing and obtaining a gun can help prevent future gun crime. The author is a credible source Kenneth Jost graduated from Harvard College and Georgetown University Law Center where he is an adjunct professor, he is also the author of the Supreme Court Yearbook and editor of the Supreme court from A to Z. The article Guns don’t kill people people kill people discusses about how the government needs policies, laws, and legislation in order to control the increase of gun crimes and school shootings in the U.S, After the Stoneman Douglas school shooting U.S president Donald Trump proposed that arming qualified teachers can help counter shootings in school.
The idea of just restricting guns from being sold will not be enough to stop an individual from illegally obtaining a firearm from a black market and using it in an unlawful way, the ban on bump stocks, universal background checks and the enhanced safety of school grounds can help reduce the increase of gun crimes and school shootings. This article provided important information on how to stop gun crime at the source and at the moment when it strikes, however, it failed to provide statistics or graphs to back up its claims on gun crimes, the author is a credible source Armstrong Williams graduated from South Carolina State University receiving his B.A in Political Science and English, he also served as a confidential assistant to the chairman of the U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas).
The ideology of Gun control has been debated over the years weather if it is to reduce gun crimes and other gun misuse, or does the restriction of gun control laws prevent innocent victims from effectively defending themselves. Keeping everyone safe is the top priority however, at the same time try not to take away any citizens right to bear arms. Be that as it may, Guns should only be possessed by qualified citizens who show no harm to one’s self and others around and complete a background check for criminal records and mental health records. The Media plays an important role in the discussion of gun violence, it identifies what has happened, figure out what caused it to happen, and then proposed a solution to the situation. The effects of the news on a topic can alter a person’s personal perspective on the situation because they might not fully comprehend what and how the situation started, they just understand the news perspective.
Before I did the research on Gun control for this paper my idea of gun control was that the less guns we have, the less gun violence we will have. However, my personal opinion changed to a more reasonable option for everyone after reading credible resources on gun control from people who believe that there should be less guns for less gun violence and from those who believe more guns can prevent future crimes. There is always a problem with gun violence, there needs to be a balance between having no guns and having to much guns. Having no guns can leave citizens as victims to gun violence without a chance to defend themselves. On the other hand too many guns can increase the danger and risk of accidents or planned attacks. The idea of having a gun in the possession of responsible qualified law-abiding citizens can help reduce the chances of future gun violence and deaths.