Casey Anthony Trial

Hadiya Bell-Evans Professor Thomas English Composition I 9 June 2013 Gun Control Gun control is at the center of the National debate. It should be more difficult for citizens who live in the United States to buy and own guns. I believe it should be difficult for citizens in the United Stated because guns are used for all the wrong reasons today. I’ve had many pervious conversations with individuals and almost everyone I’ve talked to said that most crimes are committed using a gun. Innocent people often find themselves involved with the commission of a crime that involves guns. This reason is because people feel that in the midst of a crime the only power they have liable is using guns and without a gun they cannot get what they want. It should be more difficult to obtain a gun in the United Stated. One reason for that is because most crimes are committed with guns. Also, in a lot of the crimes that are committed with guns, innocent people are getting caught in the midst of it and getting hurt. It shouldn’t be easier to get a gun than a driver’s license or alcohol because a gun can harm a human being more alcohol.
Most crimes are committed with guns. “The FBI’s crime in the United States estimated that 66% of the 15,517 murders in 2000 were committed with firearms.” If it was harder to get your hands on a gun, over 50% of the murders that occurred wouldn’t have happened. “According to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) in 2000, 533,470 victims of serious violent crimes (rape and sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault) stated that they faced an offender with a firearm”(“Almanac of Policy Issues”) . Maybe if guns were not involved, the number of people that were hurt would not be that big. For example, in Philadelphia, Pa. at Wissahickon Park at 8:30 a.m. a 17 year old girl was attacked by a man while running, but she got away (“NBC10”). Coincidently he didn’t have a gun. I think if he had a gun, then most likely she wouldn’t have fought to get away because he could have shot her while running. If he had a gun this crime might have been rape or murder; but because he didn’t, it was just an assault. Another reason guns should be harder to get is because innocent people get hurt with guns. A child can see a parent’s gun and play with it and hurt themselves. An innocent person walking down the street can get caught in the middle of a shooting. For example, May 22, 2011 there was a shooting at a bar in Feltonville and nine people were injured. This incident started at 2:45 A.M. with two men arguing inside a bar and somehow it led to the streets. Witnesses said that hundreds of people gathered outside, then out of nowhere all they heard was gun shots (“6ABC”). Instead of just the two men that were fighting getting hurt, nine innocent people got hurt. I believe that was pointless and could have been avoided. Furthermore a family is morning due to a shooting that took place in Chicago on Monday, March 11th where a six month old baby was shot five times while her father was changing her pamper. The infant suffered until the next morning until she passed away. These are both cases where innocent people have been affected by gun violence. In 2008 there were 287 black homicide victims, resulting in a homicide rate of 39.90 per 100,000. Of these, 246 were male and 41 were female. “For homicides in which the weapon used could be identified, 87 percent of black victims (237 out of 273) were killed with guns. Of these, 50 percent (118 victims) were known to be killed with handguns” ("Too Many Blacks Victimized by Guns.") The last reason guns should be harder to get is because guns are easier to get than a driver’s license or alcohol, but they are more treacherous. You have to wait six months if you are under the age of 18 to obtain a driver’s license, but you can get a gun license within hours in the United States. You could get a gun license at the age of 18, but you have to be 21 to get alcohol. If guns are more dangerous than drivers’ licenses and alcohol, then why is it so easy to get your hands on one? In the year 2010 there were 12,996 murders in the US. Of those, 8,775 were caused by firearms. That means more than half of the killings in 2010 were committed with guns. Out of the 12,996 murders 646 of them were in Pennsylvania alone and 457 of them were using guns. If our hand gun laws were striker and it was harder to get guns that could have been over 8,775 people that would have not been killed (“Gun crime statistics”). The following are the steps for applying for a gun license first step is the process is returning a completed application, with a check made out to the City of Medford in the amount of $100.00. The next step is to take an approved Firearms Safety Course that is approved by the State Police. This is required by state law for all new issue permits after June 1, 1998. A background check of criminal and other histories is run, and a set of the applicants’ fingerprints must be sent to the state police. All applications are sent through central processing and certified by the Colonel of the State Police. After steps one and two are completed, a person from the Firearms Licensing Section will contact you for an appointment (Home MPD). There are people in the world who naively believe that, in the absence of guns, criminal violence would be much reduced. I tend to agree with that statement because most criminal violence involves guns in today’s society. This may turn out to be quite a wrong prediction, to the contrary, the strong would be able to bully the weak. Having guns does not guarantee freedom, just like having air to breathe does not guarantee survival. When guns are being used I don’t think the people who are using them use their mind. I believe that when someone is firing a gun and committing a crime they haven’t put thought into their actions. Guns are a serious matter and I do not think they care taken very serious by the government. If guns were taken more serious by the government it would be a lot more difficult for people in the United States to obtain a gun. Recently, a shooting took place in Williamsport at a Park where there were 50 or more kids playing. The incident ended with one of the boys being shot and killed over a girl at that and one of my very close friends is now in jail for the rest of his life. After the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, new state-level limitations on guns have been slow in coming, and they have mostly been concentrated in a handful of states that already have tough gun laws. Meanwhile, lawmakers in at least a half-dozen other states have gone the other way, proposing and in some instances passing bills that would expand where and when a person can be in possession of a firearm. But for residents in the massive majority of states, gun ownership looks unlikely to change much absent federal legislation. A person can still buy a pistol at a Nevada gun show without a background check or carry a rifle inside the New Hampshire state house, just as he or she could before Adam Lanza brought a Bushmaster .223 rifle into a Newtown, Conn., elementary school and opened fire. Gun violence has affected athletes also from MVP’s to Little League. For example, In 2009, gun violence claimed one of its approximately 30,000 yearly victims in this country former National Football League MVP Steve McNair. One of the best quarterbacks of the past 20 years, McNair led the Tennessee Titans to Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000, and within one yard of a potential tying or winning touchdown. McNair was a victim of the “private sale” loophole, that enabled his killer to get a gun without a background check.McNair attended Alcorn State, was drafted by the Houston Oilers in the first round of the 1995 NFL draft, and in 2003 was named co-Most Valuable Player. McNair played most of his career as a Titan, and retired in 2008 as a Baltimore Raven. On the night of July 4th, 2009, McNair was sleeping on his couch in Nashville when his girlfriend, Saleh Kazemi, shot him twice in the head and twice in the chest, killing him instantly. She then turned the gun on herself, committing suicide. Kazemi was 20, not old enough to buy a handgun legally from a licensed federal firearms dealer so she would not have passed a Brady background check. But she got her gun for $100 through a “private sale” by Adrian Gilliam, a convicted felon, in a mall parking lot. Gilliam also got the gun from the private sale loophole, as he was prohibited from purchasing a gun from a FFL. Recently, President Obama announced his support for laws requiring universal background checks on all gun buyers, banning military-style assault weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines, and punishing gun traffickers, there has been major discussion about the constitutionality of these proposals under the Second Amendment. In order to move forward on real change to our nation’s gun laws, it is very important that legislators understand that the president’s proposed changes are completely constitutional and are critical to stopping our nation’s gun violence epidemic. This violence has to be put to a stop and it is our job to make sure that people are not getting around these proposals and that our cities are safe. In conclusion, it should be more difficult to obtain a gun in the United States. If it wasn’t so easy to get a gun, then most of the crimes that are committed with guns most likely wouldn’t happen. We cannot stop people from being able to purchase guns but there should be some restrictions. First, there should be a magazine limit. Magazine limits would curb gun violence while not overly infringing on Second Amendment rights. Next, there should be mental health and expanded background check done to the person prior to the sale. It is very important to make sure that these weapons are not just being given out. Guns are used in most crimes today in the United States. Innocent people wouldn’t have to worry about getting caught in a gun crime. Another reason is because guns are more harmful than cars and alcohol, but are easier to get. The world would be a better and safer place if it was harder to get your hands on a firearm.

Work Cited
"Girl, 17, Attacked in Fairmount Park | NBC 10 Philadelphia." Philadelphia News, Local News, Weather, Traffic, Entertainment, and Breaking News. 27 Jan. 2012 Web
“9 Shot Outside Feltonville Nightclub.” 6abc.com. 18 Dec. 2011 Web
“Firearms and Crime Statistics.” Almanac of Policy Issues. 18 Dec. 2011. Web
“Pennsylvanian Permits/ Licenses This State Honors.” Handgunlaws.us. Web. 18 Dec. 2011
"Firearms Permits." Home MPD. 27 Jan. 2012
"Gun crime statistics by US state: Download the data. Visualised | World news | guardian.co.uk." Latest news, sport and comment from the Guardian | The Guardian.
"Too Many Blacks Victimized by Guns." 4Forums.com Political Debates and Polls. 27 Jan. 2012
“6-month-old girl dies after getting shot multiple times as her father changed her diaper outside a Chicago home” http://www.nydailynews.com

Cited: "Girl, 17, Attacked in Fairmount Park | NBC 10 Philadelphia." Philadelphia News, Local News, Weather, Traffic, Entertainment, and Breaking News. 27 Jan. 2012 Web “9 Shot Outside Feltonville Nightclub.” 6abc.com. 18 Dec. 2011 Web “Firearms and Crime Statistics.” Almanac of Policy Issues. 18 Dec. 2011. Web “Pennsylvanian Permits/ Licenses This State Honors.” Handgunlaws.us. Web. 18 Dec. 2011 "Firearms Permits." Home MPD. 27 Jan. 2012 "Gun crime statistics by US state: Download the data. Visualised | World news | guardian.co.uk." Latest news, sport and comment from the Guardian | The Guardian. "Too Many Blacks Victimized by Guns." 4Forums.com Political Debates and Polls. 27 Jan. 2012 “6-month-old girl dies after getting shot multiple times as her father changed her diaper outside a Chicago home” http://www.nydailynews.com