Should There be Stricter Controls Placed on Guns in the United States?

Should There be Stricter Controls Placed on Guns in the United States? By: AleXandra Cassis "certain materials are included Under the fair use exemption of the u.s. Copyright law and have beEn Prepared according to the multimedia Fair use guidelines and are restricted rom further use."all images Were accessed from within the options available from adobe slate.

How Many More?

Before I present my case, I would like you to keep a few questions in mind: How many more shootings will it take until something is done to reduce gun violence? How many more innocent people will lose their lives to the pull of a trigger? How many more?

Thesis: In order to save innocent lives and keep mass shootings to a minimum, the United States Government needs to impose tighter regulations on guns.

Inroduction

In our nation today, mass shootings have become the norm. When a shooting occurs we discuss the topic for a matter of weeks, but then it seems to disappear. A couple of months later another shooting happens, and the same cycle repeats itself over and over, until it doesn't really seem like a big deal anymore. At some point in time the cycle needs to end. It will never end for good, but there are certain reforms and regulations that could be put in place to limit gun violence. These include imposing tighter background checks, intstituting laws that prohibit suspected terrorists from purchasing guns, and conducting a national vote on gun laws.

Regulation One

Impose tighter background checks in order to make it MoRe difficult for people to gain access to assault rifleS.

What is an assault rifle? An assault rifle is a gun that can shoot many bullets quickly and that is designed for use by the military.

Keep in mind that the dictionary defines an assault weapon as a weapon designed for use by the military, and not as a weapon designed for use by civilians.

Supporting Statistics

From 2009 to July 2015 assault weapons were used in at least eleven percent of mass shootings, which resulted in an average of 13.3 people being shot per incident.

Mental health is another major factor that plays into mass shootings. At least fifteen mass shootings from 2009 to July 2015 rose concerns about the mental health of the shooter. In only one of these shootings there was proof that the shooter was prohibited from owning a gun.

Tighter background checks would help to get weapons such as assault rifles out of the wrong hands. This could help to substantially reduce mass shootings.

Regulation Two

Institute a law that prohibits people on the terRoist watch list from buying guns.

This is another regulation that could substantially lower mass shootings and terror threats altogether.

The most recent shooting in the United States was carried out by a man who had previously been on the terrorist watch list.

Regulation Three

The COuntRy as a whole needs to vote on gun laws.

More than half of the country supports common sense gun control regulations such as these. However, they will never be put in place without a vote by the majority. We owe it to the victims of these horrible tragedies to at least try and do something.

Summary

In order to make the United States a safer country for all, stricter gun regulations need to be put in place. These include tightening background checks, narrowing down on who is legally allowed to purchase a gun, and conducting a nation-wide vote to determine these reforms. Shouldn't regulations such as these be common sense? They wouldn't harm anyone. If anything they would save lives. Think of all of those who have died at the hands of a shooter. Is our country honestly going to sit around and do nothing about it?

Resources

Pictures

http://abetterminnesota.org/2016/06/americans-are-coming-together-to-disarmhate/

http://www.deviantart.com/tag/assaultrifles

https://everytownresearch.org/reports/mass-shootings-analysis/

http://hollywoodjournal.com/industry-impressions/the-gun-americas-dna/20130722/

http://personalliberty.com/terror-watch-list-and-common-sense-gun-laws-are-code-words-designed-to-get-you-to-surrender-your-rights/

http://store.everytown.org/products/disarm-hate-tee

https://www.nraila.org/issues/background-checksnics/

http://nshsdenebola.com/the-slippery-slope-of-gun-control/

http://vergecampus.com/2015/10/gun-control-control/

Information