Preview

Persuasive Paper

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
807 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Persuasive Paper
Persuasive Paper in Support of the Ban on Semiautomatic Assault Rifles

In the State of California, a semiautomatic rifle is considered to be an assault weapon if it occupies a detachable ammunition magazine or one of various other features, including a pistol grip, flash suppressor or grenade launcher (Feinstein, 2013). While staunch supporters of the 2nd Amendment often uphold that assault rifles have accounted for a very small percentage of firearm-related violent crimes, the author of this paper argues that semiautomatic rifles have become the weapon of choice in mass assault crimes (mainly in the United States) and therefore backs the ban on civilian ownership of these particular types of firearms. The Bushmaster Style AR-15 is among the most popular semiautomatic weapons in the United States and is labeled the civilian semiautomatic version of the military’s M-16 assault rifle. This weapon fires one round per trigger pull before reloading itself; so, while it cannot unleash a flurry of bullets like the M-16, it can fire as quickly as the gunman can pull the trigger, resulting in rapid fire. According to Richman (2013), in 2012, 4 of 10 shootings that made headlines across the United States involved AR-15-type rifles or semiautomatic weapons that could be affected by a proposed federal assault weapons ban. Those 4 shootings alone claimed the lives of 43 people and wounded 62 others. In comparison, the other 6 shootings combined claimed 17 lives and wounded 14. Not including the most recent shooting in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, where the assailant used the popular AR-15 to take a total of 27 lives, of which 18 were children, 5 of the 11 deadliest shootings in U.S. history have occurred very recently, since 2007 (Klein, 2012). While the loss of any life due to violence is a tragedy, the power of mass destruction inherent in semiautomatic assault weapons means they have no place in the hands of civilians. The need or want for a firearm in the



References: Egan, P. (2012). The monkey cage. Retrieved April 7, 2013, from http://themonkeycage.org/2012/07/21/the-declining-culture-of-guns-and-violence-in-the-united-states/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20themonkeycagefeed%20%28The%20Monkey%20Cage%29 Feinstein, D. (2013). Assault Weapons Ban of 2013. Retrieved from http://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/assault-weapons-ban-summary Klein, E. (2012). Twelve facts about guns and mass shootings in the United States. Retrieved April 7, 2013, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/12/14/nine-facts-about-guns-and-mass-shootings-in-the-united-states/ Richman, J. (2013, January 18). Assault weapons: What are they, and should they be banned? San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved April 7, 2013, from http://www.mercurynews.com/nation-world/ci_22396050/assault-weapons-what-are-they-and-should-they

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Beck writes, “After someone is shot, the story starts with details about the kind of gun used, the capacity of its magazine, and a rundown of how it was acquired” (10). Although people are blamed for the crime, Beck realizes that it is not the person that is investigated for media purposes, but the gun used in the crime. This book is primarily revolved around myths such as this one and others that are commonly linked to the discussion of guns gun control, but he also includes different twists and turns as well. While reading this book, the reader is able to learn more about the right to bear arms, given to them by the Founding Fathers of the United States, and the on-going issue of homicide, armed violence and overall gun…

    • 1121 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Persky, Anna Stolley. “An Unsteady Finger on Gun Control Laws.” ABA Journal 96.12 (2010): 14-6. ProQuest Criminal Justice; ProQuest Research Library. Web. 3 Dec 2012. <http://www.justice.gov/usao/ut/psn/documents/guncard.pdf>.…

    • 2163 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Assualt Weapons Ban

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The author takes multiple approaches to counter argue the reasoning behind the assault weapon ban. One of the reasons for the ban was that assault weapons looked too similar to machineguns. The author counter argues this reason by saying that assault weapons are the new 21st century sporting rifle. Another topic that came up was about implementing a stricter background check. The government believes that background checks in the United States have become too simple. The author counter argues that implementing a stricter background check will be of no use. The author says such stringent background checks are not capable due to the government’s database being rife with flaws. A factual claim that the author noted was about assault weapons being to militaristic. The author argues that assault weapons are not militaristic because they are not full auto.…

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Firearm injuries are one of the top ten causes of death in the United States (“Statistics”). Firearms are the second leading cause of traumatic death related to consumer product in the U.S. and are the second most frequent cause of death overall for Americans ages 15 to 25 (Violence Policy Center para.4). Every two years more Americans die from firearm injuries than the total number of American soldiers killed during the eight year Vietnam War (Violence Prevention Institute). In 2005, 11,346 people were killed by firearm violence and 477,040 were victims of a crime involving a firearm. In 2006, firearms were used in 68 percent of murders, 42 percent of robbery offenses and 22 percent of aggravated assaults nationwide (National Institute of Justice). “Homicides committed with firearms peaked in 1993 at 17,075, after which the figure steadily fell, leveling off in 1999 at 10, 11. Gun-related homicides have increased each year since 2002”(National Institute of Justice). The federal government needs to take action to prevent similar tragedies from happening in the future. In an effort to stabilize and decrease firearm related injuries and deaths in the U.S. a strong federal law to control guns is…

    • 804 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    THESIS STATEMENT: This paper elucidates the causes for the gun violence is the presence of guns in our society, rather than the citizens who are using them for their bad intentions.…

    • 89 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The right to bear arms has evolved into a danger to American society. American tradition is the biggest argument against creating restrictions on weapons with the potential to create a large causality total in mass shootings, such as assault weapons. The Washington Post (2016) has done several write ups on the topic of assault weapons, gun laws and mass shootings; this paper will reference several of those. Per Christopher Ingraham (2016) assault weapons such as semiautomatic weapons have played a large role in the death total in mass shootings considering, their popularity among mass shooters and the ability to purchase them easily. News sites CNN and CBS provide most of the specific information on the shootings and shooters that is used in…

    • 159 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Gun Controll

    • 1598 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The article written by Jill Lepore, “Battleground America,” is about the history of guns, how they are used, and how they are viewed throughout the past up to the present. She talks about major gun companies and their effect on the amendment, and how guns themselves do not cause negative harm but the people who own and use firearms for the wrong reasons cause harm. Lepore uses many strong points about gun control throughout her article to present her information for her audience to feel as though guns are put into the hands of the wrong people, and does so by creating enforced credibility in her sources, using negative connotative language, and an informative feeling to her article rather than an arguing stand point.…

    • 1598 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Agresti, James., and Reid K. Smith. “Gun Control Facts.” Just Facts. Just Facts, 08/14/2012. Web. 1 Oct 2012. <http://www.justfacts.com/guncontrol.htm>.…

    • 3268 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Americans have a unique relationship with their guns, one not found in most similar first-world countries. American culture idolizes guns through the popularity of hunting, sport shooting, and owning guns for home defense. In America, many celebrate this freedom, but this freedom has a cost. Although America was founded on principles of liberty, the amount of lives lost to gun violence raises an alarming problem which Americans undoubtedly cannot ignore. This problem is not distant or far off from this audience either. According to a publication from Princeton and the Brookings Institute, the annual total of death or injury due to gun violence of those under 20 is over 20,000. (Behrman, Culross, and Reich 1). However, outside of only those…

    • 1131 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    With the growing number of mass shootings in America and violence around the world, the issue of gun control reform has been widely debated across all political parties. The arguments against reform almost always boil down to citing the constitution's second amendment; the right for citizens to keep and bear arms, whereas proponents of reform suggest the installment of new laws ranging anywhere to a simple mental screening before a person is given a license to complete withdrawal and ban on any form of assault weapons and guns, citing that it is far too easy for an individual to purchase a weapon and ammunition and then proceed to shoot middle school students and their teachers. In any case the topic is more complicated than either side will…

    • 951 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Crime is everywhere, but more recently gun violence has been plaguing our country. This paper will introduce you to the issue of gun violence in America. Little by little gun violence is dominating our country statistics from the National Institute of Justice state that gun violence has peaked in the past years"467,321 persons were victims of a crime committed with a firearm in 2011. In the same year, data collected by the FBI show that firearms were used in 68 percent of murders,…

    • 1888 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Since 1982, at least sixty-two mass shootings have occurred, thirty-two of them since 2006. (Aronsen). Jared Loughner was sentenced to life in prison after shooting nineteen people in January of 2011. Last July, fifty-eight people were shot and twelve killed while watching the new Batman movie in a theater in Colorado. In December, twenty-six people were murdered, including twenty first-graders, in a Connecticut elementary school (Follman). The issue of gun violence only becomes relevant after a horrific event such as these, then fades from public concern after about two weeks. The number of injuries and murders using guns in the United States is a large number, which can hopefully be lowered by implementing statewide, or even nationwide gun buyback programs, stricter carrying permit laws, and making it harder for the mentally unstable and convicted felons to legally obtain guns.…

    • 1023 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cited: "Gun Policy Facts and News." Gun Policy Facts and News. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 June 2013.…

    • 845 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gun Violence

    • 1143 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Many of people have heard the phrase, “Guns don’t kill people on their own; it takes a person to pull the trigger.” Even if people find this statement to be true, guns are an issue that needs to be addressed. A gun is simply an easy tool that a person can use and manipulate with hardly any thought. Many suggest taking away guns and promoting peace through government help while others think that the guns are what keep them safe. Situations arise everyday where people have witnessed, or know someone who has been effected by gun violence. Sadly many of the cases result in death or severe injuries. Many people would agree with the fact that guns are an easy means to commit a crime. Guns in general are too easy for people to obtain and use for violent deviant acts. Not only are guns responsible for violent deaths, but a considerable amount of accidents that take place every year, involving improper equipment or even placing guns in unsecure places. There needs to be better ways to regulate and control gun distribution around the world.…

    • 1143 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Gun Control

    • 1378 Words
    • 6 Pages

    "Gun Control - Just Facts." Gun Control - Just Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Sept. 2012. .…

    • 1378 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays

Related Topics