Gun Control And Gun-Related Crimes

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Gun control is a world known and difficult issue that the United States struggles with. Throughout history firearms have always played an important role in the lives of Americans. History also shows that the rising amount of gun owners correlates with the rising amount of gun related crimes. There are those who believe that enforcing tighter regulations and background checks will help in ending gun related violence. Then there are those who believe that they have “the right to bear arms”. That responsible gun owners should not have to suffer the consequences of such regulations. Neither argument has found a solution to solving the United States rate of gun crimes. Neither side of the argument seems to be seeing the larger picture. The debate…show more content…
It has been said that it is not the fault of the gun, but the person holding the gun that is to blame. Although this statement has a truth to it, it is a fact that a household that contains a firearm is at a much higher risk of having a gun related crime, or accident then a household that does not. In Gun Control and Gun Rights (Crooker, 2003, 5) it is said, “a gun kept in the home is forty three times more likely to kill a member of the household or a friend than an intruder”. This is especially true when there are children in the household. Even a responsible gun owner is at a higher risk of a gun related accident, just by having the firearm in the home. Most civilian gun owners believe owning a gun is necessary to protect themselves from an intruder or attacker. There are many stories where this proves to be true. “Ninety five percent of the time that people use guns defensively, they merely have to brandish a weapon to break off an attack” (Lott, 2010, 3). The possibility of being able to wield the gun at a time of attack, may or may not overcome the risk of owning one in the first place. The right to own a gun to defend one’s self, or family, may not outweigh the risk The mass murders committed in the past few years, have been in very public areas, where one does not normally carry a weapon, for self-defense or otherwise. Therein defeats the main purpose of owning one. The school shootings, such as one of the most recent, Sandy Hook Elementary School puts the second most blame, on the fact that such an unstable person was able to purchase not only multiple, but also such powerful weapons, legally(Gun Control, 2013). There will never be a time that a civilian will need the use of an automatic weapon. These weapons allow one person to easily, and effectively cause harm to many in a very short amount of time. Automatic weapons allow a shooter

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