Around nineteen kids lose their lives every day in America due to guns (Ingraham, 2017). Most recently on March 20, an armed student before taken down by the school resource officer shot two others at Great Mills High School. One of the students, Jaelynn Willey, who was sixteen years old, died two days later (Walker " Ahmed, 2018). The rising number of firearm attacks portrays the society that Americans live in with the public safety being put at risk thus the debate over gun control laws being a significant point of discussion. The US has around 88.8 firearms per hundred citizens, which is about 270,000,000 guns. The figure is the highest per capita number globally. Approximately 22 percent are in possession of one or more firearms with 35 percent being men and 12 percent women (Lopez, 2018). Gun control laws objectives are to regulate or restrict the purchase, sale, or possession of guns through identification, to license, and registration requirements. The main point of contention in the gun laws lies between the gun control laws and the U.S Constitution Second Amendment clause that offers citizens with the rights to bear firearms ("The UN Drug Control Conventions," 2018). In this paper, the reasons why gun control laws should be implemented in the US such as reducing the number of deaths, reducing societal costs related to gun violence, guns make arguments likely to be violent, and nations with stricter gun laws have succeeded will be discussed. Opposition to the policy based on the Constitution Second Amendment’s right to gun ownership together with a rebuttal will also be explained.
Gun control laws would assist in reducing the number of civilian deaths in the country. According to the United Nations data, the United States homicide rate is almost six times of Canada and sixteen times that of Germany (Lopez, 2018). From 2012, over 1,600 mass shooting have been reported whereby the victims died (Lopez, 2018). Gun control laws would help in restricting the sale of guns through background checks and also reduce weapons from falling into the wrong hands such as mentally ill persons. Many lives will be saved if the state enacts this law with national security being restored.
The presence of a firearm makes arguments more liable to be violent. Conflicts are everyday things that people go through to express their feelings or come to a joint decision after finding a solution. However, assaults in America are three times more likely to involve usage of guns than in other countries (Lopez, 2018). That shows how people globally get into arguments; nonetheless, US citizens are more likely to pull out guns during a disagreement and injure or kill someone when they get angry. Thus, it is crucial for the government to pass the bill that controls gun ownership and usage in the country to reduce the deaths arising from conflicts.
Gun control laws should be enacted since legally owned firearms are often stolen at an alarming frequency and utilized by criminals to commit felonies. Around 300,000 to 600,000 guns are taken every year, which is more than 1,600 firearms daily, more than one per minute (Freskos, 2016). The number offers a weapon for every gun violence all over the states annually, several times over. When gun sale and ownership is restricted, fewer people will possess the guns thus reducing the number of firearms stolen. The laws will ensure few crimes involving weapons are reported due to limited weaponry in the country.
Gun control laws have proven to work in other countries. Nations with gun control laws that are restrictive have reported fewer gun violence, deaths, and homicide rate than America. For instance, in Australia, after a man aged 28-year-olds walked into a Port Arthur café and ate lunch, he pulled out a semiautomatic firearm and killed 35 individuals and injuring 23 more (Lopez, 2018). After the 1996 tragic event in the country’s history, the Australian lawmakers retaliated by enacting legislation, which banned some guns such as semi-automated shotguns and rifles. The state also impounded 650,000 of the banned firearms that were purchased before the new law through a compulsory buyback program whereby the guns were obtained from the initial owners (Lopez, 2018). Later on, the state established a database of firearms owned by every citizen and demanded a license for every new gun purchase. After the legislation was put in place, firearm homicide rate in the country fell by around 42 percent with the gun suicide rate also falling by 57% in a span of seven years (Lopez, 2018). When the US adopts Australian policy, fewer mass shootings in schools that is currently rampant and other gun deaths will be reduced immensely with little to worry about public safety. The US should enact the buyback program to reduce the number of guns owned by individuals.
The Gun legislation would reduce the societal costs, which are related to gun deaths and violence. The United States citizens pay a tax of around $12.8 million annually to cover deaths and violence costs related to gun attacks (Bertrand, 2015). The charges are related to gun violence include long-term prison cost whereby persons who are convicted of gun-connected felonies costs the taxpayers and the state over $5.2 bn yearly in direct costs. In mental health care throughout the states in the country, trauma from homicides lead to a cost a of more than $410 million yearly in direct expenses (Bertrand, 2015). Emergency services also add up the gun violence cost whereby a five-mile ambulance ride for one victim costs over $800 (Bertrand, 2015). When the amount is combined with fees related to other emergency services, the hospitalization costs will be rise to about $583,000 per each injury. In the long term, disability and medical expenses whereby sometimes the victims suffer injuries that are severe making them disabled for the rest of their lives, more than $1.7 million is needed (Bertrand, 2015). That is due to the skilled nursing care offered to them especially if they have a brain injury or paralyzed. If the gun victim is a patient under Medicaid, taxpayers will have to pay the costs. The gun control laws will assist in reducing the violence, injuries, and deaths thus fewer victims reported. Fewer causalities will lead to fewer funds that government and taxpayers will be spent; hence, money used in other nation-building initiatives.
Gun control laws would also assist in reducing the gun crime rate in America. Many criminals feel in control by using guns to threaten or kill those who do not oblige to their demands (Bertrand, 2015). When the government passes the legislation, the crime rate will reduce since the thieves will not have a weapon to carry out their threats.
Despite the benefits that Americans would receive once the gun control laws are enacted, the legislation also will infringe the rights of Americans to gun ownership. The United States Constitution Second Amendment protects citizen’s rights when it comes to ownership of firearms. It states, "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" ("The UN Drug Control Conventions," 2018). Firearm ownership is a tradition, which is older than America itself and the 2nd Amendment shields it. As per the National Rifle Association, “more gun control laws would interfere with the rights of firearm owners” (Erickson, 2018). As per the Constitution, no arm of the government should infringe the rights of every citizen. Gun ownership is an individual right that must be respected to uphold the constitution. America is a free state with citizens being guided and protected by the law that the founders of the US established. The founders comprehended that the right bear arms were essential as other rights to freedom, press, religion, and other protections in maintaining liberty against the state encroachments.
In spite of the Second amendment offering Americans with the right to own a gun, it is not a boundless right to gun ownership. It is true that the gun control legislations are older than America and even the Constitution’s Second Amendment due to its ratification in 1791. During the colonial era, examples of gun control laws involved criminalizing transfer of firearms to the Catholics, Native Americans, African American slaves, indentured servants; restriction of loaded guns in Boston houses, banning the storage of gunpowder in homes, and door to door surveys regarding the number of weapons owned. However, with time changing and most of the practices being abandoned such as slavery, the gun control laws also need to change regarding the rights to bear arms. The debate on the Second Amendment has lasted for an extended period; however, it does not offer the citizens full rights to firearms. That can be attested through the ruling on the United States 9th Circuit Court of Appeals whereby a judgment was made on a 7-4 stand on June 9th, 2016. It stated that “the right of the general public to carry a concealed firearm in public is not, and never has been, protected by the Second Amendment" ("5 Arguments in favor of Strict Gun Laws ", 2018). Hence, the right to use a gun in California compelled every state resident to have a permit.
Conclusion
Gun control laws are essential in improving public safety in America’s schools, shopping malls, parks, and residential areas. Gun attacks in institutions that have been rampant have made many students fear for their lives before even attending classes. The legislation would assist greatly in reducing the number of gun-related deaths, societal costs (taxpayers and government costs) related to gun attacks, reduce the number of attacks during arguments, and nations that have tried the legislation have succeeded; hence, should be enacted in America. Nonetheless, despite, the advantages of passing the bill, opponents of the gun control laws such as the National Rifle Association have stated that it infringes the citizen's Second Amendment rights of the constitution, which protects their rights to bear arms. However, in spite of the opposition, the Second Amendment is not unlimited to the rights to gun ownership since the reasons to carry the guns in public has never been protected by the Second Amendment. When the legislation is passed, Americans will no longer live in fear.
References
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Walker, C., " Ahmed, S. (2018). There has been, on average, 1 school shooting every week this year. CNN. Retrieved 20 April 2018, from https://edition.cnn.com/2018/03/02/us/school-shootings-2018-list-trnd/index.html
The UN Drug Control Conventions. (2018). Transnational Institute. Retrieved 17 April 2018, from https://www.tni.org/en/publication/the-un-drug-control-conventions
Lopez, G. (2018). I’ve covered gun violence for years. The solutions aren’t a big mystery.. Vox. Retrieved 21 April 2018, from https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/2/21/17028930/gun-violence-us-statistics-charts
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Bertrand, N. (2015). A breakdown of the $229 billion gun violence tab that American taxpayers are paying every year. Business Insider. Retrieved 21 April 2018, from http://www.businessinsider.com/gun-violence-costs-america-more-than-229-billion-every-year-2015-4?IR=T
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Erickson, A. (2018). Analysis | How the NRA has shaped the world’s gun laws. Washington Post. Retrieved 21 April 2018, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/03/14/how-the-nra-has-shaped-the-worlds-gun-laws/?noredirect=on
