Argumentative Essay: Gun Violence In The United States
Argumentative Essay: Gun Control Gun violence in the United States is a significantly large problem for our society. Many people die daily due to senseless gun crimes. Although I realize that the availability of guns isn’t the only factor that causes gun violence, I believe that making more responsible regulations is a step in the right direction towards making a difference. For this reason more gun control regulations should be enacted to ensure the safety of our citizens. The Center for American Progress reports that there appears to be a strong relationship between the strength of gun laws in the state and the amount of gun violence. They conducted a study and found that the states with higher gun violence incline to have much less strict gun laws than other states with less violence like New Jersey, Connecticut and Hawaii. A prime example of this would be that none of the states on the list with the highest gun violence require permits for handgun purchases. The main issue with the lack of regulations on who gets to purchase guns is that we don’t
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know if the people buying the guns have a history of criminal activity or mental illness for example. It is astounding to me that people can purchase guns with such facilitation without organizations attempting to first check if they are qualified mentally and criminally to use these. People, such as criminals, are aware of this fact and use this loophole to their advantage. It is the responsible thing to do to make sure that every person has to have a criminal background check done before being allowed to purchase a gun.
As things stand right now in our country federal law makes it mandatory for licensed dealers to complete background checks. This leaves out online sales, as well as sales that occur at gun shows. Statistics show that in 2012 about 6.6 million guns were sold to people that were not required to complete a background check before buying them. That’s a humongous risk for our society to be taking. A survey conducted by the organization Mayors Against Illegal Guns was given in prisons around our nation and it showed that that nearly 80% of those who used a handgun in a crime acquired it in a private transfer. It would really help our society as a whole to ensure that effective background checks are performed on every single individual who wishes to be a gun
owner.
Another factor that affects gun violence would be the effectiveness and reliability that all important records are reported to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. As I stated before, background checks should be made necessary for all gun purchases, however it will be of no help to us if the database that runs these is not being done so effectively. A report conducted by an organization, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, found that a lot of state and federal agencies fail to report important findings to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System or NICS. Sometimes agencies don’t report findings because they claim not to be aware that they should be. Another problem is that some agencies state not having enough manpower or funds to make their employees responsible for making these reports to the NICS. There should be guidelines that these agencies have to follow in order for them to know what offenses and findings they are mandated to report and consequences for those who fail to do so.
Another noteworthy problem that plagues our society is the prevalence of mass shooting which the FBI defines as any incident where at least four people were murdered with a gun. Most of these mass shootings are unfortunately performed by the perpetrators use of assault weapons. Two prime example of this would be the shooting that occurred in Newtown, Connecticut’s Sandy Hook Elementary School and the Aurora, Colorado movie theater, where twenty six and twelve people where ruthlessly murdered. Some assault weapons are similar and some are actually the same ones as the ones used by the military in battle. I believe there is no need for weapons with this much power and speed to fire such large amounts of ammunition should be allowed to be on our streets. They are dangerous to our society because they were created precisely to kill as many people as fast as possible and I don’t think that that is a risk we should be taking in allowing people with this possibility. They truly don’t serve any purpose then the one they were intended for, which is not something that the general public needs.
Although multiple measures and factors should be taken into account when trying to establish the causations of gun violence in the United States, there are multiple gun control measures that can be put into effect to reduce the risks that we expose our society too. Some helpful actions that would make our country a safer place would be requiring that everyone who purchases a gun through any legal means goes through a background check, ensuring that all agencies report their significant records to the NICS, and banning assault weapons. In conclusion, there are several steps we can take through gun control to help reduce gun violence in our communities.
Work Cited
Demand Action. Mayors Against Illegal Guns . Web. 15 Apr 2013. .
"States With The Most Gun Violence: 24/7 Wall St.." Huffington Post. N.p., 16 Apr 2013. Web. 17 Apr 2013.
know if the people buying the guns have a history of criminal activity or mental illness for example. It is astounding to me that people can purchase guns with such facilitation without organizations attempting to first check if they are qualified mentally and criminally to use these. People, such as criminals, are aware of this fact and use this loophole to their advantage. It is the responsible thing to do to make sure that every person has to have a criminal background check done before being allowed to purchase a gun.
As things stand right now in our country federal law makes it mandatory for licensed dealers to complete background checks. This leaves out online sales, as well as sales that occur at gun shows. Statistics show that in 2012 about 6.6 million guns were sold to people that were not required to complete a background check before buying them. That’s a humongous risk for our society to be taking. A survey conducted by the organization Mayors Against Illegal Guns was given in prisons around our nation and it showed that that nearly 80% of those who used a handgun in a crime acquired it in a private transfer. It would really help our society as a whole to ensure that effective background checks are performed on every single individual who wishes to be a gun
owner.
Another factor that affects gun violence would be the effectiveness and reliability that all important records are reported to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. As I stated before, background checks should be made necessary for all gun purchases, however it will be of no help to us if the database that runs these is not being done so effectively. A report conducted by an organization, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, found that a lot of state and federal agencies fail to report important findings to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System or NICS. Sometimes agencies don’t report findings because they claim not to be aware that they should be. Another problem is that some agencies state not having enough manpower or funds to make their employees responsible for making these reports to the NICS. There should be guidelines that these agencies have to follow in order for them to know what offenses and findings they are mandated to report and consequences for those who fail to do so.
Another noteworthy problem that plagues our society is the prevalence of mass shooting which the FBI defines as any incident where at least four people were murdered with a gun. Most of these mass shootings are unfortunately performed by the perpetrators use of assault weapons. Two prime example of this would be the shooting that occurred in Newtown, Connecticut’s Sandy Hook Elementary School and the Aurora, Colorado movie theater, where twenty six and twelve people where ruthlessly murdered. Some assault weapons are similar and some are actually the same ones as the ones used by the military in battle. I believe there is no need for weapons with this much power and speed to fire such large amounts of ammunition should be allowed to be on our streets. They are dangerous to our society because they were created precisely to kill as many people as fast as possible and I don’t think that that is a risk we should be taking in allowing people with this possibility. They truly don’t serve any purpose then the one they were intended for, which is not something that the general public needs.
Although multiple measures and factors should be taken into account when trying to establish the causations of gun violence in the United States, there are multiple gun control measures that can be put into effect to reduce the risks that we expose our society too. Some helpful actions that would make our country a safer place would be requiring that everyone who purchases a gun through any legal means goes through a background check, ensuring that all agencies report their significant records to the NICS, and banning assault weapons. In conclusion, there are several steps we can take through gun control to help reduce gun violence in our communities.
Work Cited
Demand Action. Mayors Against Illegal Guns . Web. 15 Apr 2013. .
"States With The Most Gun Violence: 24/7 Wall St.." Huffington Post. N.p., 16 Apr 2013. Web. 17 Apr 2013.