Period 11: Gun Control and Gun Rights

The debate concerning gun control and gun rights is nothing new in the United States. However recent acts throughout the years especially the Las Vegas shooting just a few days ago have proven that whatever the US is doing is not enough. The United States currently holds the world record for most mass shootings. For every 100 people 88 of them are said to own a gun. This is extremely unnecessary. We have established that the government's sole purpose is to protect our natural rights and promote the common good. The common good is not to live in fear. The argument may be posed that guns don't kill people, people kill people. However Americans are 25 times more likely to be murdered by a gun than in any other country. So is america just breeding killers or does the fact that guns are readily available have something to do with it? Nearly the rest of the world has found ways to prevent events such as what happened in Vegas. So why isn't the country most effected by such tragedies adopting the same protocols? It is understandable that there is no way of getting rid of guns completely nor is there any use in that. However acts such as the ones put in place by the Obama administration (which President Trump has already repealed) that prohibit certain individuals with severe mental disorders from getting guns would be a step in the right direction. Guns have a time and place and whenever the United States starts taking steps to keep them in their appropriate time and place then its people will no longer have to live in fear. 

@williams What first peaked my interest in your response was the line "The common good is not to live in fear". This statement really spoke to me because of everything that has happened with the Vegas shooting recently, and how many lives were put in danger that night. What is good for the people is to feel comfortable and protected in the country that they live in without the fear that their rights will be abused. We should not have to walk out of our house in fear that someone with a gun is going to shoot us at any given time, that's not fair. Looking at your first question, I think the fact that guns are so readily available have a lot to do with shootings. Americans own the most guns per person in the world, and that's why it is happening most often in the United States than anywhere else.

If you ask any individual the one word that enters the mind when thinking of an American citizen, it surely is the word FREEDOM. Freedom is defined as the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Unfortunately, this "power" of ours has been granted to the extreme of accepting deaths every few years and to be alright with that. Since Americans keep reliving the same story again and again, it almost becomes our natural assumption on all these mass shootings. For instance, an article stated, "1,516 mass shootings in the United States over the past 1,735 days.", if this does not open your eyes and come to a conclusion that we live in this horrific environment then nothing else should. Every disturbed individual with a clean criminal record can obtain firearms, and everyone can pursue a free massacre if they so choose. It's a deadly circle of violence, that has created Americans to fear with going to the movie theaters, the grocery store or even stepping out of their own home. There really is no conclusion, Americans at large are OK with the thousands of deaths every year, the losses that under size to terrorism or in military campaign year after year. It is clear that we will never remove guns from our culture with having enough guns in the United States for every man,woman and child to own one. For example,"The United States is simply awash in guns. There are almost as many privately owned firearms in this country as there are people living inside it." Americans may ask, so how many guns is enough? Clearly the answer is not more guns, yet the government keeps fighting for restrictions, and advocates more gun sales to occur. We have a second amendment that is honored as part of our constitution to allow people to own guns, varying from state to state. But between all these mass shootings occurring year after year,it's the price we're willing to pay for such an expansive view of the 2nd Amendment and that it is our choice. It's sad to say but when the next one happens we will watch,learn more about the victims, see the disturbed images of their grieving families, and will be a devastation once again left by in history. So, why does anyone not care to step up and enforce something tighter than making these laws more freely used? Unfortunately, this is the world we live in and this generation will continue to remember all the attacks staring from 9/11. But on the other hand though, gun control should not be the only incident thought of. Just think if guns were completely illegal, would this stop the problem? Guns are not the only weapon that could be used when planning an attack, if people want to kill they will do anything in their power to find something including a knife, a bow, or even a pair of scissors. There will be a point where us citizens can not tell the difference between a civil war in a another country and a normal day in the US. For instance, "The United States has a problem, and it's not because we have more mental illness, and it's not even because we're more violent," it simply is our freedom we obtain that is taken for granted and now it is hard to even control what will happen next. With the gun culture that has taken over, the reflexive love of our military and a strong patriotism that is well part of the U.S, is simply being destroyed by the need of violence that is separating society as a whole.


Q: What is the point of making laws if everyone disregards them and acts how they want anyways?

@emilysarver Your appeal to statistics about the mass shootings over that period of time is very eye opening. I also agree that the banning of firearms would not prevent mass shootings and attacks like we have seen in recent history. Like anything else, if someone wants it bad enough they are going to get it. Attacks like we have seen will continue to occur until the focus is placed on the difficulty of purchasing a firearm.

@laurenwilliams I really liked how you brought in what we have been talking about with the "common good." As Americans, we should not have to worry about the risk of being attacked when we walk outside of our own homes. The fact that guns are readily available is the reason behind these attacks, and perhaps the only way that we can limit them is with some sort of higher control. There needs to be a severe background check in order to purchase guns, however a ban is unnecessary. I agree that guns have a necessary time and place and we are using them very incorrectly, and until they are used in the right manner we will live in fear.

@sarver I agree with the fact that, your expressing the fact about how humans break laws regardless if they are set in place or not, but for every law set in place that a human doesn't break that is a live saved. For example, you asked what is the pint for laws if we're just going to break them. Well you only hear about people breaking the laws; you never hear about all the humans who follow the laws. You are always going to have those select few who break the law, but you will also always have the many who follow the law.

@croll I believe that making something illegal will never make it go away, but it will manage it better. For instance, yes making something illegal should prevent it from happening, but it won't. This is, because of those select few @sarver who will go above and beyond to break the law. Although, some may get it through persistence, it will prevent many from not.

Gun control is only one of the many controversies going on in the United States right now. It is brought more to the forefront of our attention at the present, however, because of the recent shooting in Las Vegas. The shooter managed to kill over 50 people and injure more than 500. Considering the ongoing debate over gun rights and regulations, this tragedy has added more fuel to the fire. The topic causes such a debate because of the Second Amendment. Many Americans are around and have been given access to guns. According to CNN, for every 100 Americans there are 89 who own some type of firearm. Because of the American belief that we have the right to bear arms, recent attempts to regulate gun use has caused quite the stir. Although, there is a valid argument for the opposing side when it comes to the safety of our country. The United States has seen the most mass shootings in the past few decades than any other country. This is a huge problem because most American citizens can easily obtain a firearm. Granted, there are precautions set into place so that it is more difficult to get an automatic weapon than a semi-automatic weapon. The dangerousness of these guns vary, although, they are both hazardous to society if used improperly. A semi-automatic gun can only fire one bullet per trigger squeeze whereas a fully automatic weapon rapidly shoots bullets until the shooter releases the trigger. There are many regulations set into place to prevent just anyone from being able to obtain a fully automatic gun. It requires an extensive background check and it can be quite expensive to own a gun of this caliber. Several states have even banned the private ownership of automatic weapons. However, there is a way to make a semi-automatic weapon just as deadly as an automatic. A device called a “bump stock” was created and it attaches the the weapon, allowing it to fire at a rate that is comparable to an automatic. The Las Vegas shooter had one of these in his hotel room, which has provided even more controversy. Nevertheless, the question still stands that even if more gun regulations and limitations were set into place, would the people who go on mass shootings follow the proper protocol?

Some say the debate of gun control started all the way back when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated because it “increased public awareness to the relative lack of control over the sale and possession of firearms in America.” Recent tragedies at Las Vegas has brought the topic of gun control back onto the table. Throughout the years multiple gun control laws have been put in place, however these laws have not stopped gun violence. Some may say that it is not the guns that kill people, it is the people who kill people, but it is obvious that guns are the problem. There has been 1,516 mass shooting in the past 1,735 days. These shootings included 1,719 deaths and 6,510 injured. This is an insane amount of deaths and injuries in the period of 4 years. These numbers will only grow larger and larger if gun control is not reinforced. Buying a firearm is not difficult especially if you purchase them from gun shows. Background checks are not required when purchasing here, this means anyone can buy a gun no questions asked. The lack of background checks will be a potential threat to our safety. Making it harder to obtain guns should help lower the amount of shootings. According to a March 10, 2016 Lancet Study, “Implementing federal universal background checks could reduce firearm deaths by a projected 56.9%; background checks for ammunition purchases could reduce deaths by a projected 80.7%: and gun identification requirements could reduce deaths by a projected 82.5%.” The banishment of high capacity magazines could also prevent gun violence. ProCon.org states, “A Mother Jones investigation found that high- capacity magazines were used in at least 50% of the 62 mass shootings between 1982 and 2012. When high-capacity magazines were used in mass shootings, the death rate rose 63% and the injury rate rose 156%.” These mags “turns a killer into killing machines” said by David H Chipman, Senior Vice President of Public Safety for ShotSpotter and former Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) agent. Gun violence is inevitable because there will always be evil in the world, but enacting more gun control laws will significantly lower the amount we have today.