Professor Rubin
Gun Control
Gun control is a term that describes the use of law to limit people's access to handguns, shotguns, rifles, and other firearms, through passing statutes that require, for example, gun purchasers to undergo background checks for criminal records, for guns to be registered, or a number of other methods. In the United States, gun control is a hotly contested political issue that can make or break the careers of politicians. The use of firearms is also a health issue, because more than 35,000 people die each year after being shot.
Among young people, the impact of guns is huge. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each day in the United States, fourteen people under the age of 19 die in gun related incidents. The rate of firearm related deaths for Americans age 14 and younger is twelve times that of children in other industrialized nations combined. Firearm injuries cost over $20.4 billion for hospital and other medical care and at least 80% of the economic costs of treating firearm injuries are paid for by taxpayers.
Kevin Johnson-USA TODAY states- Advocates on both sides of the gun-rights debate disagree over what is driving the trend. Gun rights groups attribute the steady increase to the growing popularity of hunting and other gun recreation uses, the impact of state laws allowing citizens to carry concealed handguns and concerns that the Obama administration will push for laws restricting weapons purchases. The United States is home to a tremendous number of guns. Current estimates place the number of guns in the United States at between 200 and 250 million. Since 1968 and 1992 gun ownership in the U.S. increased 135 percent, 17 million residents of Texas alone own 68 million guns.
The United States has one of the highest murder rates in the world and leads western nations in homicides. More Americans are shot in one day than Japanese are