Argumentative Essay: Guns In The Hands Of Children

Guns in the Hands of Children Guns in America take the lives of hundreds of kids every year. With “310 million guns in the United States” guns are a problem on their own never mind in the hands of a child or a criminal (Lithwick). The total firearm death rate in American is a staggering 10.2 per 100,000 inhabitants, which gives the U.S. the lead by a mile, with second place being Finland with only 3.6 per 100,000 (Grinshteyn). The problem is that children are obtaining a loaded gun, due to the negligence of the gun owner: “From September 1, 2014, to September 1, 2016, a child younger than 13 was the perpetrator in at least 300 acts of gun violence” (Spies). So in only two years the U.S. has suffered at least 300 acts of violence by children …show more content…
Children as young as three years old commit or become victims of unintentional murder with a firearm due to negligence. Jaxon Watson was only three when he shot and killed his sister Kimi. Jaxon had no idea that a gun has the ability to kill people. Even after her death he had no clue where his sister is, as he always asks his mother and grandmother where she is. How did a three year old get a hold of a gun? Joel Watson, Jaxon’s great-grandfather, had left the gun out in reach of the three year old’s hands. Joel was not charged with anything and neither was Jaxon. Kimi’s death was labeled an “accident” by the police and the case was closed (McCoy). Terrence McCoy, states that, “what happened to Kimi’s family has occurred at least 25 times [from] January 2015 [to December 2016].” Another victim is a Tennessee resident, eight year old MaKayla. An eleven year old neighbor, Benjamin Tiller, got mad at MaKayla because she would not let him see her puppies. After MaKayla said no to his request “he [Benjamin] grabbed a 12-gauge shotgun, aimed it out the widow and pulled the trigger” (Spies). The boy was charged with “first-degree murder,” but the boy’s father, who is the owner of the shotgun that killed MaKayla, was not charged with anything (Spies). Another heart breaking story involves a nine year old victim named Jaiden Dixon, and an adult psychopath killer …show more content…
"Rep. Deb Maggart says she supports your gun rights," it said. "Of course, he says the same thing."
She later lost the fight, and her career, simply because she was doing her job. In order to protect our youth we need laws to stop gun owner’s negligence. More and more states need to stop fearing the NRA and start passing laws to protect the children. A child’s life is more important than any political office. We are all humans and we often make mistakes, but the beauty of the human race is that we fix our mistakes. It was a huge mistake to not regulate guns long ago, but it is not too late. We must push our lawmakers into passing laws, like MaKayla’s law, that punish gun owners for negligence of their guns. Organizations like the NRA are hurting our democracy, and they are threating to take our freedom to express our voice. Maggart suffered unjustly due to her doing her job and expressing her voice. The 10.2 firearm death rate can be dropped to zero. Canada, who had a similar gun rights as U.S., has a 2.3 firearm death rate (Grinshteyn). That is almost three times less than the United States. Taking away all 310 million guns in the U.S., is not only unconstitutional and impossible, it is not the solution. The future of our kids is in the hands of our lawmakers. Either they ignore the facts that proves we need laws that charge gun owners