Gun Control Amendment

The second amendment of the United States of America says, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” This is the law that makes an outline for what all of the other gun laws must be. So naturally, the words of this amendment are twisted to mean different things. These things normally being either for or against gun restriction laws. The side of the argument that is in favor of heavy gun control laws says that this amendment, “...only protects state’s rights to maintain militias and not an individual’s right to own any gun he or she wants to” (“Washingtonpost”). While the side that is against gun restriction laws says that this amendment, “...recognizes the inalienable natural right to self defense” (“Washingtonpost”). This discussion has become one of the most popular legal arguments being debated right now in the United States. In the year 2012 a study showed that the United States had the highest gun ownership rates in the world with there being 88.8 guns for every 100 people (“Washingtonpost”). Another study showed that ⅓ of citizens were armed (“Rollingstone”).This not even counting illegal guns obtained in the country. Another study showed that the United States was also the country with the highest firearm related homicide rates at 3.21 homicides for every 100,000 people. In fact the only country that even came close to the U.S.’s homicide rates was Canada at 0.51 homicides per 100,000 people. (“Washingtonpost). This being said, many American citizens in favor of strict gun laws believe that there is a direct correlation between these statistics and make the argument that more guns will only make matters worse. Permitting relaxed gun laws that allow things such as concealed carry have been shown to have a 2% increase in murders and a 9% increase in crimes such as rape, assault, robbery, auto theft, burglary, and larceny (“concealed guns”). Throughout 15 colleges 1,649 students were surveyed and 79% of them stated that they actually would feel less safe knowing that students, teachers, and visitors were allowed to carry a concealed weapon. Statistics back up this opinion proving that it is 4.5 times more likely to be shot during an assault if a victim tries to defend themselves with a gun. Having more guns, “risks escalating everyday disagreements into public shootouts” said the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. An example of this is January 13, 2014 when a retired police officer took out a gun and shot a man in the same movie theater as him for texting during a movie (“Concealed Guns”). “A bad guy with a gun is best stopped by a good guy with a gun.” This is a point often made by people in favor of gun rights.However no mass shootings in the past 30 years were actually stopped by a hero defending themselves with a gun. In the case of Gabby Giffords, who was a civilian with a gun, an innocent man was almost shot by Gifford as she was trying to shoot the original shooter (“Rollingstone”). Furthermore when asked 75% of incarcerated felons said that they would carry a gun if they believed their victim to be armed. It can then be estimated that if there were more concealed carries allowed there would also be an increased number of crimes where the criminal is using a gun (“Concealed Guns”). When researching the connection between states with strict gun laws and the amount of access youths have to guns, the access they have goes down the stricter the laws are. States were rated on a point system of how …show more content…
With approximately 25 Americans murdered each day due to gun violence, handing out more guns just does not seem like the right thing to do (“Progressive”). According to statistics the people of the United States already have guns and concealed carries. Guns do not kill people, people kill people, so it does not make sense that people should be given more guns. 80-90% of Americans agree that better background checks should be put into play to limit who is able to receive a murderous weapon (“Concealed