Gun Control: Overview
Gun Control: Overview
The issue of gun control has been debated for a long time, probably ever since they were invented. The gun is a small, rather easy to obtain, weapon that is lethal if used in the right (or wrong) way. This makes the gun an extremely dangerous factor in our lives. If used improperly, a gun could be lethal to not only the target, but the user as well. The availability of guns has sky rocketed in the past decade or so, and the immense population of guns in our society make it a dangerous place to live. Gun violence claims approximately 38,000 lives in the U.S. each year, including 5,000 children and teenagers.(1) In the past few years, many steps have been taken to help reduce the risk of fatal accidents or intentions. One of these steps was the ban of assault weapons. Two years ago, congress passed a landmark bill, banning the sale, manufacture and, importation of semi-automatic assault weapons and large capacity ammunition clips. Due to this ban, the number of crimes traced to assault weapons has decreased almost 20% from 1994.(2) This ban was repealed by the House of Representatives. On march 22, 1996 another big legislation in the fight against guns was the Brady bill, which demands a 5 day waiting period for all handgun purchases. These legislation's are some what effective and in different ways. The only real way to eliminate most gun violence is to eliminate the availability of guns. Surely making guns illegal would do this but this raises a very important issue. If you outlaw guns, only the outlaws will have guns. Simply put, no matter how many bans you put out, there will always be the black market to support the criminals in the U.S. Needless to say the law abiding citizens of our country would be defenseless. The NRA has made sure that this will never happen. What the United States needs is some one to pass a bill that will protect all our citizens. Some men and women in Washington think they are that some one. Some think that
The issue of gun control has been debated for a long time, probably ever since they were invented. The gun is a small, rather easy to obtain, weapon that is lethal if used in the right (or wrong) way. This makes the gun an extremely dangerous factor in our lives. If used improperly, a gun could be lethal to not only the target, but the user as well. The availability of guns has sky rocketed in the past decade or so, and the immense population of guns in our society make it a dangerous place to live. Gun violence claims approximately 38,000 lives in the U.S. each year, including 5,000 children and teenagers.(1) In the past few years, many steps have been taken to help reduce the risk of fatal accidents or intentions. One of these steps was the ban of assault weapons. Two years ago, congress passed a landmark bill, banning the sale, manufacture and, importation of semi-automatic assault weapons and large capacity ammunition clips. Due to this ban, the number of crimes traced to assault weapons has decreased almost 20% from 1994.(2) This ban was repealed by the House of Representatives. On march 22, 1996 another big legislation in the fight against guns was the Brady bill, which demands a 5 day waiting period for all handgun purchases. These legislation's are some what effective and in different ways. The only real way to eliminate most gun violence is to eliminate the availability of guns. Surely making guns illegal would do this but this raises a very important issue. If you outlaw guns, only the outlaws will have guns. Simply put, no matter how many bans you put out, there will always be the black market to support the criminals in the U.S. Needless to say the law abiding citizens of our country would be defenseless. The NRA has made sure that this will never happen. What the United States needs is some one to pass a bill that will protect all our citizens. Some men and women in Washington think they are that some one. Some think that