Annotated Bibliography On Guns
Ani Mouradian
Ms. Myklebust
Honors English 2
8 January 2013
Don’t be a Son of a Gun
After the carnage in Connecticut, gun control discussion has once again become a relevant topic. On December 14th, 2012, twenty children and six adults were killed in a school shooting in Sandy Hook, Connecticut. Over the year during 2012, there have been many major shootings. (Zornick, George) Clearly, action must take place immediately. President Obama cannot solve this complex issue alone. He needs help from the federal legislative branch and the states to build a safer and a more trustworthy society. Guns are negatively affecting our nation today. Although the people in the USA have the right to keep and bear arms, as documented in the second amendment of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution, the level of violence associated with guns is rising, affecting the safety of …show more content…
children and adults alike. Simply creating more gun laws is not the answer because there are currently numerous laws in effect. The legislative must determine how to enforce these gun control laws. They must look over every system that rules society to help create a more peaceful culture. Enforcing the current gun laws and making it harder to obtain a gun will solve many issues. “The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reports that United States of America ranked the third highest in the world for number of homicides by firearm in 2009.” (Global Study on Homicides) A homicide is when a person murders another person. Listening to the news, you hear numerous killing episodes with the use of a gun. It makes you wonder how so many people easily get guns. There are too many illegal sales of firearms in the USA in addition to the millions legally sold and owned. “The estimated total number of guns held by civilians in the United States is 270,000,000.” (Karp, Aaron) Nowadays, people easily obtain guns through gun shows. Anybody who has a few guns to unload comes to these shows to sell them. Most of the vendors who show up at the gun shows sell guns for a living. They set up booths and tables where they display their guns for whoever is looking to buy them. Gun shows attract a large amount of prohibited buyers. People against guns refer to the easy access to a gun as a loophole in the federal law. In order to create a more trustworthy society, legislatures have to put stricter laws where background analysis, personality analysis and mental health conditions are checked. Once the person receives a gun permit, the individual should be required to put the guns in a locked vault where family members or outside intruders cannot get access to them. An example of a strong gun controlled nation is Switzerland. This neutral country is very strict about people’s rights of carrying guns freely in the open and the rights of purchasing a gun. Because of Switzerland’s strong identity of neutralism and peace, the people are very careful of keeping their guns at home. They believe that having a heavily armed nation can lead to an invitation to others invading them.
On April 20, 1999 Eric Davis Harris (1981-1999) and Dylan Bennet Klebold shot and murdered 12 students and one teacher at the Columbine High school in Littleton Colorado. Afterwards, they committed suicide. This tragedy aroused national controversy about school security, safety, and gun control. The circulation of guns has been hard to stop. “A couple weeks after the Columbine shooting, the sales of assault rifles doubled.” (Jeunesse, William La) The Bill of Rights states that, “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.” As guns become more sophisticated and powerful, then the laws should be updated as well. If the government doesn’t do anything, there will be more chaos on the streets.
The ease of obtaining guns not only affects homicide levels, but suicides as well. There should be more programs to prevent suicides. Mental health issues goes hand in hand with gun issues. One cannot underestimate how suicides can lead to violence. Guns must get out of hands of the mentally ill. “On average, 68% of suicides for youth ages 15-24 are committed with guns.” (Mclntosh, John) Violence occurs when people lose their humanistic values. The people must have respect for law. Children should be nurtured and feel safe in a family, community environment. Hollywood needs to do its share of lowering the amount of violent movies and shows featuring gun-related violence. Young children are introduced to this violence from an early age. Big toy stores like “Toys R Us” encourage violence by selling toy guns. We must teach children family values. Parents, communities, leaders, schools, and teachers have to work together to create a violent free environment for the future generations. In the Connecticut shooting, the mother had all these guns. Emotionally vulnerable children or adults should not be able to have easy access to them. We can have all these security systems in the schools, however if someone wants to come in and attack, they will find a way.
There are also contrasting views regarding stricter gun control laws promoted by many, including citizens concerned about preserving their second amendment rights as well as by the National Rifle Association (NRA). For example, guns can be an effective means of protection against criminals. In order to defend the innocent victims, guns may be the best option for self defense. It was reported that 34% of convicts across the jailhouses in the US said they had been "scared off, shot at, wounded, or captured by an armed victim"; 34% of convicts exclaimed that when thinking about committing a crime, they considered that they "might get shot at by the victim"; and 57% of felons consented with the statement, "Most criminals are more worried about meeting an armed victim than they are about running into the police" (Wright and Rossi). Many people feel safer with firearms and believe that it is the best means of protection. This is evidenced by the increasing sales of firearms in the USA. Other rebuttals to stricter gun control cite that Europe, with strong gun control, has a lot of multiple-victim shootings. “The common feature of all of those shootings in Europe is that they all take place in gun-free zones, in places where guns are supposed to be banned.” (Newtown Killings Spur Gun Debate , p.15)
Gun control is any law, policy, practice, or proposal designed to restrict or limit the possession, production, importation, shipment, sale, and/or use of guns or other firearms by private citizens. Guns can never go away but we can find solutions to massive proliferation and senseless deaths. How many more tragic shootings need to occur before more gun control laws are created? To lower the number of gun-related deaths, gun control laws need to become stricter. Gun Control needs to be stricter to stop individuals from self harm as well as to stop those who can harm others.
Bibliography
Gardner, Joshua.
"Do Video Games Make Kids Violent?" ABC News. ABC News Network, 17 Dec. 2012. Web. 06 Feb. 2013.
"Global Study On Homicide." Www.unodc.org. Ed. Johnothan Gibbons. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Jan. 2013.
James D. Wright and Peter H. Rossi, Armed and Considered Dangerous: A Survey of Felons and Their Firearms , 1986.
Jeunesse, William La. "Gun Sales Surge after Connecticut Massacre." Fox News. FOX News Network, 18 Dec. 2012. Web. 31 Jan. 2013. Karp, Aaron. "Guns in the United States: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law." Guns in the United States: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law. Cambridge University Press, 27 Aug. 2007. Web. 08 Jan. 2013.
Mclntosh, John. "Facts about Suicides and Gun Violence." Ichv.org. American Association Of Suicidology, July 2012. Web. 8 Jan. 2013.
Patten, David. "Newtown Killings Spur Gun Debate." Newsmax [West Palm Beach] Feb. 2013: 15. Print.
Ruderman, Alyssa. "11 Facts About Guns." Do Something. New York Times, Aug. 2010. Web. 31 Jan. 2013. Zornick, George. "Sixteen US Mass Shootings." Sixteen US Mass Shootings. N.p., 14 Dec. 2012. Web. 31 Jan.
2013.
Ms. Myklebust
Honors English 2
8 January 2013
Don’t be a Son of a Gun
After the carnage in Connecticut, gun control discussion has once again become a relevant topic. On December 14th, 2012, twenty children and six adults were killed in a school shooting in Sandy Hook, Connecticut. Over the year during 2012, there have been many major shootings. (Zornick, George) Clearly, action must take place immediately. President Obama cannot solve this complex issue alone. He needs help from the federal legislative branch and the states to build a safer and a more trustworthy society. Guns are negatively affecting our nation today. Although the people in the USA have the right to keep and bear arms, as documented in the second amendment of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution, the level of violence associated with guns is rising, affecting the safety of …show more content…
children and adults alike. Simply creating more gun laws is not the answer because there are currently numerous laws in effect. The legislative must determine how to enforce these gun control laws. They must look over every system that rules society to help create a more peaceful culture. Enforcing the current gun laws and making it harder to obtain a gun will solve many issues. “The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reports that United States of America ranked the third highest in the world for number of homicides by firearm in 2009.” (Global Study on Homicides) A homicide is when a person murders another person. Listening to the news, you hear numerous killing episodes with the use of a gun. It makes you wonder how so many people easily get guns. There are too many illegal sales of firearms in the USA in addition to the millions legally sold and owned. “The estimated total number of guns held by civilians in the United States is 270,000,000.” (Karp, Aaron) Nowadays, people easily obtain guns through gun shows. Anybody who has a few guns to unload comes to these shows to sell them. Most of the vendors who show up at the gun shows sell guns for a living. They set up booths and tables where they display their guns for whoever is looking to buy them. Gun shows attract a large amount of prohibited buyers. People against guns refer to the easy access to a gun as a loophole in the federal law. In order to create a more trustworthy society, legislatures have to put stricter laws where background analysis, personality analysis and mental health conditions are checked. Once the person receives a gun permit, the individual should be required to put the guns in a locked vault where family members or outside intruders cannot get access to them. An example of a strong gun controlled nation is Switzerland. This neutral country is very strict about people’s rights of carrying guns freely in the open and the rights of purchasing a gun. Because of Switzerland’s strong identity of neutralism and peace, the people are very careful of keeping their guns at home. They believe that having a heavily armed nation can lead to an invitation to others invading them.
On April 20, 1999 Eric Davis Harris (1981-1999) and Dylan Bennet Klebold shot and murdered 12 students and one teacher at the Columbine High school in Littleton Colorado. Afterwards, they committed suicide. This tragedy aroused national controversy about school security, safety, and gun control. The circulation of guns has been hard to stop. “A couple weeks after the Columbine shooting, the sales of assault rifles doubled.” (Jeunesse, William La) The Bill of Rights states that, “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.” As guns become more sophisticated and powerful, then the laws should be updated as well. If the government doesn’t do anything, there will be more chaos on the streets.
The ease of obtaining guns not only affects homicide levels, but suicides as well. There should be more programs to prevent suicides. Mental health issues goes hand in hand with gun issues. One cannot underestimate how suicides can lead to violence. Guns must get out of hands of the mentally ill. “On average, 68% of suicides for youth ages 15-24 are committed with guns.” (Mclntosh, John) Violence occurs when people lose their humanistic values. The people must have respect for law. Children should be nurtured and feel safe in a family, community environment. Hollywood needs to do its share of lowering the amount of violent movies and shows featuring gun-related violence. Young children are introduced to this violence from an early age. Big toy stores like “Toys R Us” encourage violence by selling toy guns. We must teach children family values. Parents, communities, leaders, schools, and teachers have to work together to create a violent free environment for the future generations. In the Connecticut shooting, the mother had all these guns. Emotionally vulnerable children or adults should not be able to have easy access to them. We can have all these security systems in the schools, however if someone wants to come in and attack, they will find a way.
There are also contrasting views regarding stricter gun control laws promoted by many, including citizens concerned about preserving their second amendment rights as well as by the National Rifle Association (NRA). For example, guns can be an effective means of protection against criminals. In order to defend the innocent victims, guns may be the best option for self defense. It was reported that 34% of convicts across the jailhouses in the US said they had been "scared off, shot at, wounded, or captured by an armed victim"; 34% of convicts exclaimed that when thinking about committing a crime, they considered that they "might get shot at by the victim"; and 57% of felons consented with the statement, "Most criminals are more worried about meeting an armed victim than they are about running into the police" (Wright and Rossi). Many people feel safer with firearms and believe that it is the best means of protection. This is evidenced by the increasing sales of firearms in the USA. Other rebuttals to stricter gun control cite that Europe, with strong gun control, has a lot of multiple-victim shootings. “The common feature of all of those shootings in Europe is that they all take place in gun-free zones, in places where guns are supposed to be banned.” (Newtown Killings Spur Gun Debate , p.15)
Gun control is any law, policy, practice, or proposal designed to restrict or limit the possession, production, importation, shipment, sale, and/or use of guns or other firearms by private citizens. Guns can never go away but we can find solutions to massive proliferation and senseless deaths. How many more tragic shootings need to occur before more gun control laws are created? To lower the number of gun-related deaths, gun control laws need to become stricter. Gun Control needs to be stricter to stop individuals from self harm as well as to stop those who can harm others.
Bibliography
Gardner, Joshua.
"Do Video Games Make Kids Violent?" ABC News. ABC News Network, 17 Dec. 2012. Web. 06 Feb. 2013.
"Global Study On Homicide." Www.unodc.org. Ed. Johnothan Gibbons. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Jan. 2013.
James D. Wright and Peter H. Rossi, Armed and Considered Dangerous: A Survey of Felons and Their Firearms , 1986.
Jeunesse, William La. "Gun Sales Surge after Connecticut Massacre." Fox News. FOX News Network, 18 Dec. 2012. Web. 31 Jan. 2013. Karp, Aaron. "Guns in the United States: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law." Guns in the United States: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law. Cambridge University Press, 27 Aug. 2007. Web. 08 Jan. 2013.
Mclntosh, John. "Facts about Suicides and Gun Violence." Ichv.org. American Association Of Suicidology, July 2012. Web. 8 Jan. 2013.
Patten, David. "Newtown Killings Spur Gun Debate." Newsmax [West Palm Beach] Feb. 2013: 15. Print.
Ruderman, Alyssa. "11 Facts About Guns." Do Something. New York Times, Aug. 2010. Web. 31 Jan. 2013. Zornick, George. "Sixteen US Mass Shootings." Sixteen US Mass Shootings. N.p., 14 Dec. 2012. Web. 31 Jan.
2013.