Salazar 1

Obed Salazar

Ms. Figueroa

Senior English 2

1 November 2018

Gun Control

Due to lack of gun control, around 31,000 deaths occurred to governmental health

agency. Lives could have been saved if we had better gun control laws. Gun control defines as

regulation of the selling, owning, and use of guns. Our nation does not know where to stand for

to have strict gun laws or be loose. The Second Amendment gives the right for Americans to

own a gun. Gun control started way back in the 1920s when laws were passed in the states to

control certain weapons' distribution. Gun control exist everywhere in the world and in the

United States there is a high percentage of guns. Gun control started becoming more of a

problem after the assassination of President John Kennedy, which led to a passage of the gun

Control Act of 1968. According to the article,” One of the biggest issues involving gun control is

directly correlated to its effects on crime and murder” (Malcom 2018). Non-gun owners see it as

an issue and demand for change.

Gun owners do not agree there should be gun control laws because they think it is a

violation of the second amendment. Those that are against gun control believe that gun control

will not fix any of the problems that occurs with guns. Guns are mainly used for home defense

and can stop any crime from happening. Gun owners feel that a gun makes them feel safe at

home. If there is no change then gun violence will still occur. There will still be chances for mass

shootings to happen leaving many Americans dead. I think that there will still be a lot of crimes

happening with a firearm. If I had the power to solve the issue of gun control, banning the
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amount weapons an individual can buy. It would lessen the chances for a mass shooting to occur.

The percentage of murder would go down if guns were to be banned. The government should be

stricter in gun control because the increase in gun violence, high crime rates, and the prevalence

of suicide five times bigger.

Gun violence results in deaths and injuries in our society. Due to a lack of guns control,

murder often happens in the United Stated. Criminals often use a firearm to kill Americans

because it is often easy for them to obtain a gun and deal damage with it. According to the

article, “Homicide makes up about one-third of all firearm-related deaths…Firearms were used

in nearly 72 percent of murders nationwide in 2015” (Gun Laws and Death 2017). Firearms are

a big threat that causes tragedies to happen. For how lose gun control laws are at this current

state murdering will still constantly happen in the United States. Having a lot of guns sets up for

more violence. People get to own an unlimited number of weapons and there is a lot of violence

because it is easy for an individual to obtain one. “The United States has by far the highest

number of privately-owned guns in the world.” (America’s Gun problem explained, Lopez). Gun

violence constantly happens because there is a lot of guns in the United States. There should be a

limit on how many guns can be purchased to stop gun violence to constantly happen. Gun

control will reduce the number of weapons that are being purchased on the daily basis.

According to the website, “Without gun restriction laws, guns are sold to unlicensed residents of

the state. Gun control can help to close these loopholes” (Pros and Cons of Gun Control 2018). It

will be harder for people to buy weapons because they will not be sold anywhere if they were to

be banned. Overall, gun violence results in deaths and injury that ends up being a big debate if

guns should be banned.

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There are higher crimes rates due to a gun. Many of the crimes that happen a gun is

involved. Mass shootings has been an issue in the United States. Many innocent citizens are

dying in these shooting. “Mass shootings account for less than 1% of gun deaths in the USA"

(Amnesty international, Beckett). A firearm is the cause why a lot of people die in shootings. It

leaves many Americans dead, it being looked back upon the shooting and then people just move

on. Assault rifles, handguns, and high capacity guns are often used in a crime. According to the

article, “Semiautomatic weapons and weapons with high-capacity magazines and more

dangerous than other weapons in shootings” (Gebelhoff). Criminals choose these weapons

because they know it will cause serious damage. These firearms are often used in crimes because

seeing a gun in a criminal’s hand can be intimidating. For example, In the Las Vegas shooting

that happened in 2017, the shooter had plenty of high-capacity magazine weapons. Guns are a

serious threat to kids because they expect to be safe at school but constantly there is a school

shooting that occurs, leaving many dead or heavily injured. Gun control is needed because the

statistics of murder rates due to a firearm is at an all-time high. According to some statistics,

“There were 464,033 total gun deaths between 1999 and 2013: 270,237 suicides (58.2% of total

deaths); 174,773 homicides (37.7%); and 9,983 unintentional deaths (2.2%). Guns were the

leading cause of death by homicide (66.6% of all homicides) and by suicide (52.2% of all

suicides)” (Pro Con). Banning firearms would decrease the high rate of homicide and it would

make the society safer. The shooter had an illegal attachment called the bump stock and with that

he killed a lot of people in seconds. Ultimately, crime rates are high due to a firearm being

involved.

Suicide with a firearm makes up for the most gun deaths. Americans are often killing

themselves with a weapon because they have hit a breaking pint, so they decide to kill
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themselves. “Suicide and injury that leaves about 38,00 Americans dead and 16,00 wounded

each year” (Beckett). A gun is not being used how it is supposed to be used, protection and

home defense, instead, adult and teens are killing themselves rather than getting help. Suicide

rates with a firearm is higher than homicide rates because an individual is suffering a mental

illness and going to through a tuff time in their life. “Suicide by firearm makes up two-thirds of

all gun- related deaths in the United States” (Gun laws and Death 2017). A mental illness is the

cause for high suicide rates because Americans struggle to find help and they think there is no

help, so they end up killing themselves. Often adults ae not being responsible and end up leaving

their weapon out in the open of their home and then their children end up killing themselves due

to easy access of a gun. Therefore, suicide rates are at an all-time high because an individual

fined it to be the easy way out.

Some will argue that gun control will not workout in today’s society, stricter gun control

laws will not solve any of the violence that occur on the daily basis. It is impossible to take away

guns from our community. According to the article, “Gun owners… do not believe that stricter

gun control laws would reduce the number of accidental or intentional gun deaths or keep guns

out of the hand of criminals” (Further gun control measures will do little to combat violence

2018). There will still be ways for criminals to obtain a gun, stricter gun control laws will not

affect them. There will still be gun deaths and injuries occurring even with a stricter gun control

law. Taking away firearms from gun owners will leave them defenseless, Americans buy guns to

have home defense to protect their family. “Gun owners believe that stricter gun control laws

would give the government too much power over citizens and that said laws would make I more

difficult for people to protect their homes and families” (Point,2018). Citizens will feel that they

will no longer be safe from violence. A gun in a home is used for to stop burglars from breaking
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into the house, losing that privilege it will be difficult to protect the house. Gun control in

America will not simply work because people have the right to own a firearm at this point will be

a violation of the Second Amendment. According to the article, “although many who want the

government to impose harsh gun laws have their hearts in the right place, the evidence clearly

shows gun-control laws don’t work, and even if they did, they could never realistically be

enforced nationwide” (Newsday 2017). It is just impossible to take away weapons from people if

it is their own right to own a weapon. Citizens will not have that protection; they would have to

learn self-defense without a weapon and not everyone will be able to defend themselves without

a weapon. Gun control legislation would probably create a black market. According to the text,

“Gun control legislation would likely create a separate black market for ownership for those who

simply want a self-defense option”. People will find a way of buying weapons and their solution

is to go to black markets, even if there is a ban in weapons people will still be buying weapons

for self-defense. Self-dense is important because it stop any situation from happening for

example, if someone is getting mugged and they have a weapon they can easily defend

themselves because the gun will help out with that situation .Overall, taking away the ability to

own a gun will be a disaster, stricter gun control laws will not work out there will still be deaths

due to a firearm.

They also believe that there should not be a stricter gun laws because guns are used for

self-defense. People are allowed to buy an unlimited number of weapons, it helps to deter a

crime from happening. According to the Bill of Right, second amendment citizens have the right

to bear arms. Banning weapons and taking weapons away from citizens is a violation of the

second amendment, Americans have the right to own any weapon of some kind as long as they

go through a background check. Gun owners that obey gun laws are never really involved in a
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crime, the criminals are the ones that don’t obey guns laws and cause a lot of issues. “It is

important to note that relative to other problems in our society of 320 million people, gun-related

crime caused by Americans who own a firearm involved in the crime is virtually nonexistent”

(Haskins). Gun owners know the risks of owning a firearm, they never end up making bad

choices, criminals are often committing crimes with a firearm, it would not be fair if guns were

taken away from people that are smart handling weapons, background checks should be forced

upon before buying a weapon. Stricter Gun control is not needed because there are certain states

where weapons are limited to being purchased. According to the article, “There are federally

required background checks on purchasing weapons; many states limit gun purchases to once a

month and juveniles may not buy them at all” (Los Angeles Times 2007). Weapons are already

hard to own due background checks, it is already fair enough to be background checked before

purchasing a weapon, there should not be aa discipline for owning weapons and gun control will

not solve any of the problems .Ultimately, stricter gun control laws will not end up working, it

would be a violation of the second amendment.

However, that point is unimportant because guns are the reason people die and get

injured. The lack of gun control makes it easy for anyone to obtain a weapon, even a criminal

can get one and cause damage. Stricter gun laws would decrease gun violence, high crime rates,

and the prevalence of suicide with a firearm rates will decrease. Gun violence results in death

and injury, having stricter gun laws can prevent any tragedies from happening. Many of the

crime that happen a gun is involved. Suicide with a firearm makes the most of the gun deaths.

Banning weapons will prevent the chances of a mass shooting to happen. Therefore, it will help

the society be safe if guns were to be banned.

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Work Cited

Ayres, Crystal. “10 Advantages and Disadvantages of Gun Control.” Vittana.org, vittana.org/10-

advantages-and-disadvantages-of-gun-control.

Beckett, Lois. “'A Human Rights Crisis': US Accused of Failing to Protect Citizens from Gun

Violence.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 12 Sept. 2018,

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/12/us-gun-control-human-rights-amnesty-

international.

Gebelhoff, Robert. “Opinion | Opponents of Gun Reforms Say Nothing Can Be Done. Science

Says They're Wrong.” The Washington Post, WP Company,

www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/opinions/gun-control-that-

works/?utm_term=.302391892d0a.

“Gun Control Isn't the Answer.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, www.latimes.com/la-

oe-wilson20apr20-story.html.

“Gun Laws and Deaths.” SafeHome.org, 13 May 2017, www.safehome.org/resources/gun-laws-

and-deaths/.

Haskins, Justin. “Opinion: Why Strict Gun Control Will Never Work in U.S.” Newsday,

Newsday, 13 Oct. 2017, www.newsday.com/opinion/commentary/strict-gun-control-will-

never-work-in-america-1.14453352.
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Lopez. “America's Unique Gun Violence Problem, Explained in 17 Maps and Charts.” Vox, Vox,

29 June 2018, www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/10/2/16399418/us-gun-violence-

statistics-maps-charts.

“Point: Further Gun Control Measures Will Do Little to Combat Gun Violence.” Points of View:

Gun Control, Mar. 2018, p. 4. EBSCOhost,

“Should More Gun Control Laws Be Enacted?” Should More Gun Control Laws Be Enacted in

the United States?, gun-control.procon.org/.