Debate: Gun Control Policies

         In the past few years, we have seen a dramatic increase in violence, specifically with guns. Shootings and larger demonstrations of terrorism have been occurring in America. Within this past year alone there has been the Dark Knight Shooting in Aurora, Colorado, and the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting in Newtown,  Connecticut. Aside from these, there have been smaller but more frequent occurrences. Events like these, both minor and major, break the hearts of thousands of people, and now they are much more aware of how serious this situation is. In response to these events, many surveys have been conducted to get an idea of how the public is thinking. There are masses of people supporting the rights to own firearms and another mass of opposition that hopes to limit or even stop the usage of guns.

      As we get more and more advanced with technology, the way we think changes. The number of firearm-ownership supporters continues to increase, and this concerns the public. Although guns have been shown to be involved in many homicides, the public isn’t completely against it. In fact a survey shows that about 90 out of 100 people believe the existence of guns is necessary. Increased background checks and weapon registration have become a desire by the public as well (Ezra).

      A popular quote is “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people”. A lot of people believe that the human mind is responsible for these kinds of catastrophes and that eliminating guns won’t help to prevent them. However, others think that removing guns will remove the tools that are necessary for mass murders such as the movie theater shooting in Colorado and the elementary school shooting in Connecticut only a few months ago. Guns themselves are not the problem, but gun violence and the mentality of some people is. Many of the major shootings in the United States have occurred within the last 10 years. Some may argue that criminals don’t abide by the law and that banning guns will stop people in hopes of self-defense from purchasing them. In reality, a majority of mass shooters have purchased their weapons legally. The Constitution of the United States guarantees us the right to bear arms in the second amendment: “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.”(Zimring)

      Another argument in the growing debate belongs to those against the ownership of firearms. The Brady Bill, passed in 1993, was an attempt to perform background checks on buyers but was repealed after it was declared a violation of certain individual state’s rights. There have been initiatives to limit gun ownership through background checks, delaying the purchase by days at a time and banning automatic weapons (Zimring). A survey conducted shows that about 90 out of 100 people are against the idea of mentally ill or felons owning guns (Ezra).

      This growing conflict between the two sides sacrifices more and more lives as time is wasted and few compromises are made. Controversy and arguments over this topic have been around since the mid-1900s. Progress will be needed into today’s world as technology gets more and more advanced. It’s time to acknowledge the tragedies what have occurred. A time of indifference was yesterday, a time of awareness is today and a time for change will be tomorrow.

Works Cited

“”Twelve Facts about Guns and Mass Shootings in the United States”” Www.washingtonpost.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2013

Zimring, Franklin E. “Gun control.” World Book Advanced. World Book, 2013. Web.  13 Apr. 2013.

“Gun Control.” Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. Grolier Online, 2013. Web. 12 Apr. 2013.