Should Stricter Gun Laws be Enacted? By Madeline Broderick
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Thesis
I strongly believe that stricter gun laws should not be enacted. I believe we should focus mainly on protecting the second amendment, finding out the real problem (guns or people), and enforcing the gun laws that are already in effect today.
Introduction
Guns have been apart of America history since the beginning of its foundation. Threw the history of America guns have been involved. Major events in history, from building railroads to ending wars, has had guns involved. In America it is a citizens right to keep and bear arms, but with a lot of gun related traditions happening more and more people are beginning to question that right. Guns have many different purposes in the United States. Guns are used for sports, military, buisness, protection to name a few. There have been good things to come out with the use of guns, such as protecting oneself and bad things to happen with guns, like mass shootings. Gun control is s tough situation and there is no easy way to go about handling it.
What Guns are Used for here in the United States.
Now, when most people think about guns in America they think about shootings, death and crime. What people don't understand is there is a whole other side to guns in America than what the mainstream media broadcasts. One example is that guns are used in sports such as bench setting, trapshooting and action shooting. Guns are also used for hunting game, which actually contributes greatly to the over population and conservation of a species of animal. More than 19 million American citizens safely participate in target shooting. Sports are not the only thing guns are used for here in the United States, Guns are used in the Navy, Airforce, Marines, Army, Coast Gaurd as well as all other Armed Forces. All types of Law Enforcement use guns to help keep crime at bay and bad people off the streets of our cities. There are even whole companies built around the manufacturing and selling of guns in the United States. Out of all,the ways that America uses guns, the most important one is that guns are used for protection.
The Second Ammendment of the Constitution
The Second Amendment of the Constitution states "...the right of people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed upon." This is the one of the principles that America was built on. The right for citizens to keep and bear arms, a right that should not be infringed upon. If our forefathers added this to the constitution century's ago, shouldn't that tell you just how important the right to protect oneself and ones family is?
The Real Problem
(Guns or People?)
With horrific mass shooting in places like San Bernadino, Orlando, and Charleston making headlines around the world, it's not hard to point your finger at the weapons used and place blame. After a while you begin to ask yourself what the real problem is. Is the problem really Guns? Or is it people? If you put a gun down on a table and tell it to kill someone, it won't because it not alive. Guns don't kill people, people kill people. So are stricter laws on guns really the answer to this question? If someone is truly intent on killing or committing another type of crime, do you really think the weapon would matter? If it's not a gun, what's to stop someone from using other weapons of equal or greater force to carry out those crimes? In most of these mass shootings you see on the news, most of the shooters are mentally sick, which brings me to my next point.
Enforcing Current Gun Laws
The gun control laws we have in effect today are actually extrmely strict, the problem, however is that a lot of gun laws are not being enforced properly. Although gun laws a different from state to state, each state should be strongly enforcing thier gun laws. Gun laws that are already in effect should be enforced Instead of making gun laws stricter so it is harder for a law abiding citizen to purchase a gun. The gun laws we have a good and should be enforced so the right people can still purchase and be able to carry a gun.
Gun-Free Zones
What is a gun-free zone? A gun-free zone is a area or place that doesn't allow guns, or people that have guns into it. Many people think that these zones are extrmely safe, because of the no guns rule. What I do not understand is why they would. If a bad person wanted to cause harm, where do you think the person would go to would be? Certainliy not a place where someone else could be armed, In a gun-free zone everyone except for the assailant is unarmed making them susceptible to danger and unable to protect themselves or the ones around them.
Conclusion
In conclusion there is a lot of debate on whether the gun laws should be stricter or not. Guns are used for a variety of things in the United States including buisness, sport, and the Armed Forces. I strongly believe that gun laws should not be stricter, but instead we should focus on trying to enforce the gun laws that a re already in play right now.